"Cop in the Hood" is an explosive insider's story of what it is really like to be a police officer on the front lines of the war on drugs. Harvard-trained sociologist Peter Moskos became a cop in Baltimore's roughest neighborhood - the Eastern District, also the location for the first season of the critically acclaimed HBO drama "The Wire" - where he experienced real-life poverty and violent crime firsthand. He provides an unforgettable window into this world that outsiders never see - the thriving drug corners, the nerve-rattling patrols, and the heartbreaking failure of 911. Moskos reveals the truth about the drug war and why it is engineered to fail - a truth he learned on the midnight shift.He describes police academy graduates fully unprepared for the realities of the street. He tells of a criminal justice system that incarcerates poor black men on a mass scale - a self-defeating system that measures success by arrest quotas and fosters a street code at odds with the rest of society - and argues for drug legalization as the only realistic way to end drug violence and let cops once again protect and serve.
Moskos shows how officers in the ghetto are less concerned with those policed than with self-preservation and maximizing overtime pay - yet how any one of them would give their life for a fellow officer. "Cop in the Hood" ventures deep behind the Thin Blue Line to disclose the inner workings of law enforcement in America's inner cities. Those who read it will never view the badge the same way again.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"Remarkable. . . . Moskos manages to capture a world that most people know only through the distorting prism of television and film, where police officers are usually portrayed as quixotically heroic or contemptibly corrupt."---Daniel Horan, Wall Street Journal "Moskos's overview of policing problems covers everything from arrest quotas, corrupt cops and excess paperwork to the reliance on patrolling in cars. . . . Moskos blends narrative and analysis, adding an authoritative tone to this adrenaline-accelerating night ride that reveals the stark realities of law enforcement." * Publishers Weekly * "Riveting. . . . [A]n unsparing boys-in-blue procedural that succeeds on its own plentiful--and wonderfully sympathetic--merits." * Atlantic * "Truly excellent. . . . This is one of the two or three best conceptual analyses of 'cops and robbers' I have read. It is mandatory reading for all fans of The Wire and recommended for everyone else."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Moskos provides readers with an inside look into being a cop, just as Ted Conover (Newjack) gave readers an inside look into being a prison guard. Both books are equally compelling. Moskos, like Conover, became an insider. . . . Moskos writes with clarity, compassion, insight, and knowledge." * Choice * "Cop In The Hood, by Peter Moskos offers readers a riveting insight on experience as a police officer in Baltimore, Maryland's crime infested eastern district. . . . The insight of the author coupled with the actual quotes of real police officers provides the reader with an exceptional view of police behaviors and the day-to-day obstacles that officers face while policing the communities they patrol."---Monica J. Massey, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Today "For anyone interested is what being a police officer in Baltimore City is really like, Peter Moskos' in-depth, academic, and realist account in Cop in the Hood is a must-read. . . . Whether one agrees or not with Moskos' opinion on drug legalization, one will most certainly enjoy this enlightening and authoritative work on policing a rough area of Baltimore City."---Sean O'Donnell, Baltimore Republican Examiner "Anyone interested in the study of disadvantaged neighborhoods should read this book, if only to understand the ways in which police influence the daily life in modern cities."---Andrew V. Papachristos, American Journal of Sociology
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Produkt-Hinweis
Maße
Höhe: 216 mm
Breite: 140 mm
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ISBN-13
978-0-691-12655-5 (9780691126555)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Peter Moskos is assistant professor of law, police science, and criminal justice administration at the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is a former Baltimore City police officer.
