Book Description
In this true story of our nation's love affair with firearms, Clayton E. Cramer debunks the myths and takes readers along a winding historical trail full of surprising revelations and riveting anecdotes, explaining the roots of America's gun culture.
Customer Reviews:
The Story of Guns in Early America.......2007-10-06
Clayton E. Cramer has an MA in history from Sonoma State University and has taught history in Boise State University. He published several academic books on history and firearms. His knowledge allowed him to reveal the lies in Bellesiles' book. The 'Acknowledgments' thank those who helped to make this book more entertaining. Cramer notes the changes from the Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1752. Cramer's discussion on Bellesiles' revisionist history begins this educational book. Bellesiles misquoted the historical record to provide false facts for his now discredited book (p.xii). Bellesiles used probate records that were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake (p.xv)! Another scandal was the dishonesty of university historians (p.xvi). [Upton Sinclair wrote a book in 1922 on corporate control of universities.] Cramer explains the difficulty of evaluating written records from 300 years ago (pp.xviii-xx).
Part I deals with Colonial America (1607-1775). America followed the English tradition of a militia, people armed for their protection against Indians and England's enemies (p.3). Gun ownership was required by the 18th century (p.4). Chapter 2 tells of the class and race prohibitions on gun ownership. Some whites were distrusted for religious reasons. Indians were banned from owning guns (Chapter 3) but acquired them through commerce. They were armed for their fights with other tribes (p.42). Chapter 5 tells of the probate records that record personal property; there are problems with these records (p.55). Ads in newspapers may be more reliable, as well as gunpowder import records (p.56). Chapter 5 lists the hunting practices. Murder rates were higher then (p.78). Fights occurred over political concerns (p.80), and tenant uprisings in NY. Pistols were common (p.83). So too were accidents (p.86). Part II documents the Revolutionary War. There are many detailed records on gun ownership. These chapters cover Guns in New England, the Middle Colonies, the South, and the Continental Army and Militias. "Guns were the great equalizers of social status" (p.166).
Part III covers the Early Republic (1783-1846). There are chapters on Militias, Ammunition, Pistols, Guns and Sport, and Guns and Violence. The militia system was superior to a regular army in three ways (p.178). They were low-cost, they were plentiful, and they were widespread. The militia was politically reliable (p.180)! There were arguments against a standing army (p.183). Gunpowder mills were common in most states (Chapter 11). Chapter 12 examines the availability of pistols in America. Hunting was very common and universal on the frontier (p.201). Violence was all too common because of an "honor culture" (p.224). Dueling was quite common, the laws against it nearly useless (a jury would not convict if it conducted honorably). "Regulators" enforced the laws (p.229). Violence was common, often because of slander (p.232). [No mention of the rate of violent death in England or Europe.]
The 'Epilogue' notes that America was a society where guns were common for military defense, defense of a home and family, as a symbol of citizenship, and for violence. Newspapers, law books, memoirs, travel accounts, and advertisements documented the common ownership of guns. The 'Bibliography' lists the Primary and Secondary sources (pp.244-255).
[Neither Bellesiles or Cramer tell how America was a peaceful refuge from the wars and oppressions of Europe.]
Who will debunk the debunkers?.......2007-07-28
Michael Bellisiles wrote a book that, for some reason, scared the NRA. Bellisiles argued that America's gun culture didn't develop until around the time of the Civil War. He did not argue that America does not have a gun culture. Why the right got so exorcized about whether gun lust has a 17th century or 19th century origin is beyond me. But anyway, Mr. Cramer, we are told, figures prominently in the anti-Bellisiles crusade. This is not a good omen. Yes, Bellisiles lost his post at Emory -- that's in the liberal stronghold of Georgia, folks, where their idea of a historian is Newt Gingrich (can you say 'political pressure?' I knew you could.) Yes the Bancroft prize was withdrawn (ditto). Does any of this lend credence to the claims of Mr. Cramer and his NRA allies that Bellisiles work has been revealed to be a complete 'sham' and discredited in toto? Not at all. The official disciplinary committee that backed his dismissal from Emory took issue with only a few items in Arming America, notably one specific chart of probate data that proved to be in error. The vast majority of professional historians though, however they may feel about the bits of Arming America that have been repeatedly challenged, concede that the vast bulk of this large book is accurate. That leaves Cramer more or less alone in trying to debunk the whole enchilada. As the other negative reviews here indicate, there's a lot of questionable assertion going on here. If Cramer draws different conclusions from the same facts Bellisiles notes, we might compare the logic behind the arguments. Both authors note that laws in early America encouraged gun ownership for the purpose of strengthening militias -- lest the Brits return etc., as they did in 1812. Cramer seems to think this proves guns were popular. Bellisiles argues that the fact people had to have all this coaxing to acquire guns indicates the public was not keen on acquiring them of their own accord. Did the laws passed in the 1960s and 1970s encouraging the addition of safety devices and improved fuel economy in automobiles indicate that these features were in demand, or the opposite?
I wonder how many of the folks who laud Cramer's expose of Bellisiles have actually read Arming America and compared the two cases, and how many only have Cramer's version of Bellisiles to go on. This seems to me a pretty common phenomenon on both right and left: we tend to take reports of someone else's supposed outrageous conduct for granted and join the outrage, without carefully examining whether the actual facts fit the outraged reporter's description.
Interesting ideological footnote: look at the Amazon 'Better together' feature that offers to pair the book on the page you're viewing with another similar book. For Armed America, Amazon suggests another pro-gun book. For Arming America, Amazon suggests... Armed America. Not a bad idea if was reciprocated, eh. So go ahead and buy this book if you're interested in the topic, but buy Bellisiles book as well, and try to think for yourself.
Good book, but it won't convince those who "know" it isn't so.......2007-07-16
A few years ago Michael Bellsiles wrote a book claiming that early Americans didn't own guns, didn't have them, and that historical documentation proved it. He was widely discredited even by many of his anti-gun peers when it was found that much of his research was false or totally inaccurate.
Clayton Cramer spent five years researching the same records Bellesiles "used" and found totally opposite results, guns were very common all over the colonies (the book covers a period from the 1600's to the 1840's). Divided into 3 sections, Colonial America, the Revolutionary war, and the early Republic- Cramer gives exhaustive detail on what America was really like. The author is even careful to note that sometimes a modern reader can't be sure just what some statements from the past meant.
There are a lot of footnotes (unfortunately he gives no indication of just how hard it is for the average person to get at the original documents to read them, he does mention that Bellesiles usually reported just the opposite of what sommething actually said in print.) and a 12 page bibliography to back up his statements.
My worst problem with the book was that the few included photographs are too dark, hard to get any detail from them. It's a good fascinating book that I don't regret owning, it just won't convince anyone who doesn't believe it is true.
Excellent scholarly work.......2007-05-13
This is definitely a book for people who enjoy history through original sources. Mr. Cramer brings together a wealth of material that many "professional" historians can't seem to be bothered with.
Guns and Apple Pie--You left out Baseball and Mom, Mr. Gun Nut!.......2007-05-11
The title alone is so over the top and ridiculous as to invite uncontrollable laughter. Cramer is the almost perfect incarnation of the type "Creepily gun obsessed loner" of which we see many poorer examples in the cheerleading reviews posted here.
Really, these people are to be pitied, lonely and frightened little boys trying to be men and failing so utterly, caressing their rifles in the darkness in the absence of human warmth and comfort, fantasizing psychotically about being John Wayne or Rambo and constantly being drawn back to the cruel truth that they are merely anti-social, hateful, angry, psychologically unbalanced hermits, many of whom will never know emotionally real human companionship, and who are far more likely to use their guns to intimidate or kill their family members or blow their own brains out than to heroically defeat Evil in the form of a 15 year old kid trying to steal a ten speed bike off their front porch at night. What a sad bunch.
Book Description
From a diverse team of writers whose expertise spans law enforcement and cross-cultural relations, comes a book with comprehensive coverage of sensitive topics and issues related to diversity and multiculturalism facing police today and in the 21st century. It contains insightful as well as practical information and guidelines on how law enforcement professionals can work effectively with diverse cultural groups, both inside their organizations as well as in the community. Focusing on the cross-cultural and racial contact that police officers and civilian employees have with citizens, victims, suspects, and co-workers from diverse backgrounds, this book contains information on racial profiling, hate crimes, community-based policing, undocumented immigrants and immigrant women, urban dynamics, and gays and lesbians in law enforcement. For law enforcement managers, supervisors, officers, and instructors.
Customer Reviews:
A MUST-HAVE FOR ANY CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONAL (Police Tactical & Cultural Diversity Trainer).......2007-09-29
"Multicultural Law Enforcement - Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society" (Fourth Edition) is an absolute must-have for any police academy, corrections, or college law enforcement program. No other textbook covers such a wide range of topics in such depth concerning how criminal justice professionals are affected by diversity in the society and workforce. As a law enforcement officer with experience ranging from major metropolitan street patrol to Captain in charge of training, I have traveled extensively throughout the West Coast providing training to correctional and law enforcement officers in cultural diversity as well as arrest and control tactics, self-defense, and gun and baton retention. It is my professional opinion that this extraordinary volume will not replace, but instead will complement, the training necessary for street survival tactics, and that professionals who are trained with MULTICULTURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT (MLE) will be more likely to avoid resorting to the use of force. As presented in MLE-4, law enforcement professionals can better understand issues of respect and avoid perceived disrespect due to a lack of cultural awareness. Increased awareness often causes involved parties to be more cooperative and/or exhibit less resistance.
MLE is superior to other materials used in "sensitivity training" in the profession, in several respects. It provides "cultural diversity training" rather than "sensitivity" training, which has been shown to be counter-productive in military and paramilitary training, according to two Pentagon Reports. Each edition of MLE has addressed "hot-button" issues and made recommendations that would surely have prevented unnecessary lawsuits if only more officers had been trained with this text.
On September 19, 2007, the headline of the Los Angeles Independent read: "Jury Award Stands: An LAFD firefighter will receive $6.2 million after winning a harassment case." - These types of payouts that occur each year are specifically due to the type of ignorance of those who limit their professional portfolio to street survival techniques. We would all be better off if these millions of taxpayer dollars were instead spent putting more officers on the streets, providing more and better training, and offering superior equipment to improve officer and public safety.
All law enforcement administrators will realize the liability, and vicarious liability, that comes from not embracing the type of cultural diversity training explained in this easy-to-understand and highly beneficial text.
Criminal Just Instructor and State Police Lieutenant.......2007-04-22
I will simply say this about this text. This information is a must read for all who entertain the thought of being a police officer, be it city, county, state or federal. This text is crucial as an "additional tool" for officers; educating one's self in multi-cultural diversity is a good thing especially when taking into account the incredibly diverse population in the U.S. (A dozen scenarios of unecessarily escalated contact with police officers come to mind...)
I am a Lieutenant with the Indiana State Police and an adjunct criminal justice professor at a local college. My students are all interested in becoming police officers. For the most part they come from small towns in mostly white areas. The benefits of specific awareness/respect of other cultures will only help them should they reach their goal to become officers. The better educated more culturally aware officers are truly the most effective ones. Great investigators know how to relate to all kinds of people. This textbook gives us some insight into the communication barriers and cultural hot buttons as well as general behavioral aspects of others. I consider this topic a fundamental building block for a well rounded police officer. Through awareness and understanding we can perform our jobs better and better serve all of our citizens. (our duty) I think some of the previous reviews of this book must be from officers who are too stubborn to change or too disinterested to study. Most officers mistakenly believe that their skills at marksmanship, hand-to-hand self-defense, pursuit driving skills, physical fitness etc., are the most important attributes of a good police officer. Statististically speaking, officer safety and effectiveness improve dramatically by reversing the order and placing "communication" first in line. This text helps to point out better ways for officers to communicate to the people they are sworn to protect and serve. This improved communication has a residual increased officer safety. "I'd rather talk them into jail than fight all the way there..." My thoughts.
One star too many.......2007-02-20
This book is garbage. It contains nothing that will help a police officer do their job safer or more effectively. This book is just a feel-good publication.
someone not quoted in the book.......2006-10-26
I thought this book was the most horrible thing I've ever read. The lies, half-truths and hypocrisies should have this book listed under fiction. How bad is this book. When you have to have someone, that is a source for the material in the book, come online and give it a positive review it can't be worth a damn. That's right. David E. Barlow (who hides in the halls of academia) is quoted throughout this book and found it necessary to come here and defend this book by giving it a 5 star review. Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. And the truth never needs defending.
Better than I expected.......2006-05-08
This was among the 7 pieces of source material on my most recent exam. It was better than I expected. I looked at it from the perspective that I should use a person's culture to my advantage. With a familiarity of culture specific issues, I can make myself a more effective police officer. I found the author's writing to be of high quality, but book did not make me more culturally diverse. If you are looking for a book that teaches you how to be a police officer, this is not it. If you are looking for a book that might explain why the Iranian guy got mad at you last week, this is the right one.
Average customer rating:
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Police And Policing Law (The International Library of Essays in Law and Society)
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Book Description
In this fascinating new book, Vincent Henry (a 21-year veteran of the NYPD who recently retired to become a university professor) explores the psychological transformations and adaptations that result from police officers' encounters with death. Police can encounter death frequently in the course of their duties, and these encounters may range from casual contacts with the deaths of others to the most profound and personally consequential confrontations with their own mortality. Using the 'survivor psychology' model as its theoretical base, this insightful and provocative research ventures into a previously unexplored area of police psychology to illuminate and explore the new modes of adaptation, thought, and feeling that result from various types of death encounters in police work. The psychology of survival asserts that the psychological world of the survivor--one who has come in close physical or psychic contact with death but nevertheless managed to live--is characterized by five themes: psychic numbing, death guilt, the death imprint, suspicion of counterfeit nurturance, and the struggle to make meaning. These themes become manifest in the survivor's behavior, permeating his or her lifestyle and worldview. Drawing on extensive interviews with police officers in five nominal categories--rookie officers, patrol sergeants, crime scene technicians, homicide detectives, and officers who survived a mortal combat situation in which an assailant or another officer died--Henry identifies the impact such death encounters have upon the individual, the police organization, and the occupational culture of policing. He has produced a comprehensive and highly textured interpretation of police psychology and police behavior, bolstered by the unique insights that come from his personal experience as an officer, his intimate familiarity with the subtleties and nuances of the police culture's value and belief systems, and his meticulous research and rigorous method. Death Work provides a unique prism through which to view the individual, organizational, and social dynamics of contemporary urban policing. With a foreword by Robert Jay Lifton and a chapter devoted to the local police response to the World Trade Center attacks, Death Work will be of interest to psychologists and criminal justice experts, as well as police officers eager to gain insight into their unique relationship to death.
Customer Reviews:
Law Enforcement & the Psychology of Death. Hmmm . . ........2007-03-09
Vincent Henry is a retired NYPD officer with over 20 years experience. His book - Death Work - is an analysis of the death experience and how it affects law enforcement personnel, specifically members of the NYPD. He takes a look at 5 categories of officers:
- rookies
- sargeants
- homicide detectives
- crime scene technicians
- police survivors (officers who killed suspects, were almost killed by suspects, or who witnessed the death of another officer)
and analyzes how the death experience impacts them psychologically, and how it affects their performance/perception as police officers. All in all, it's insightful and quite thorough. The majority of the book appears to have been written prior to 9/11, but there is a 30 page epilogue where he discusses what he did that day, and how that event impacted the NYPD as a whole. Clearly, police officers in an urban setting become familiar with death fairly quickly.
As a policeman and son of a policeman, Henry is able to give the reader an insider's view of the culture within the NYPD. Additionally, he makes it clear his research was done with the blessing of the NYPD's command hierarchy, and he was given wide latitude to interview and join other officers during the course of their specific duties. One thing I found interesting - Henry makes it clear his objectivity is less than it could be. He obviously cares a great deal about his topic, and an underlying theme throughout the book is his desire to pass this knowledge on to future policemen so they can become better cops. The many people he interviewed are not referred to as subjects, he calls them "collaborators", and his interviews took place not in an office at a college somewhere, but on the streets while these people were on duty.
This is definitely an interesting book. Henry's familiarity with both psychology and law enforcement give his conclusions extra weight they might lack coming from a purely academic researcher. If there are flaws in the book, they're in the length and the style. At over 400 pages, it's a serious read on a serious subject. As to style, the writing is a bit unwieldy. This book wasn't intended for the layman; Henry is a scholar writing for a more academic audience. That doesn't make this a bad book at all - if you work in a first response profession (police/fire/EMS) you'll be able to relate to the psychological responses he describes. But if you're expecting something catchy and breezy like Joseph Wambaugh, this ain't it. I'm just sayin'.
Book Description
Movies play a central role in shaping our understanding of crime and the world generally, helping us define what is good and bad, desirable and unworthy, lawful and illicit, strong and weak. Crime films raise controversial issues about the distribution of social power and the meanings of deviance, and they provide a safe space for fantasies of rebellion, punishment, and the restoration of order. In the first comprehensive study of its kind, well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter examines the relationship between society and crime films from the perspectives of criminal justice, film history and technique, and sociology. Shots in the Mirror begins with an overview of the history of crime films and the emergence of various genres, surveying important films from the silent era, the early gangster films of the '30s, classic film noir, the work of Hitchcock, and recent innovations by Scorsese, Tarrentino, and the Coen brothers. Keeping pace with the evolution of crime films, Shots in the Mirror has been updated to respond to recent developments, trends, and shifting circumstances in the genre. This new edition expands the scope and increases the depth and variety of the previous edition by including foreign films in addition to American movies. Rafter also integrates an entirely new body of literature into the study, reflecting the rapid expansion of scholarship on law-related films over the past three years. She has added a chapter on psycho movies, a previously unrecognized subcategory of crime films. Another new chapter, "The Alternative Tradition and Films of Moral Ambiguity," focuses on recent sex crime films. This new final chapter grows organically out of the first edition's distinction between traditional crime films, with their easy solutions to social problems, and those more unusual critical films which belong to the bleaker, morally ambiguous, alternative tradition. Rafter examines more than three hundred films in this study, considering what they have to say, socially and ideologically, about the causes of crime, and adding valuable contributions to the on-going debate on whether media representations of violence cause crime. Shots in the Mirror is both a marvelous history of crime films and a trenchant analysis of their complex relationship to larger society.
Customer Reviews:
Crime films.......2001-02-21
A must read for students - and fans - of crime films! I enjoyed it a great deal!
Enjoying Crime Films.......2001-02-08
This wonderful book grew out of a college course that Nicole Rafter developed on crime films and society. It will interest general readers, too--those of us who enjoy crime films and are curious about their history and enduring appeal. The book, covering American film from the early 1900s through 1998, begins with an introductory chapter on the history of crime films, followed by chapters on specific genres, such as cop films and courtroom dramas, and other topics.
Rafter's guiding focus is the interaction between crime films and their eras' dominant beliefs and controversies. Crime films mirror cultural ideas about crime and help shape them. Thus, she features films that have received critical or popular recognition and provide provocative entree to significant social issues of their times. Crime films, Rafter argues, are social tools, as well. They help build consensus, expose our differences, and chart new courses of action. While readers will not always agree with Rafter's interpretations and analyses, they will become more sensitive observers, more active players in the ongoing exchange between crime films and everyday social life. In addition, readers will come away from this engaging book with a long list of films to see and to rethink. (Rafter mentions over 300 crime films in all, discussing over 100 in some depth.)
On a personal note, I share the author's observation that students in criminology are well versed in crime films and interested in their import. SHOTS IN THE MIRROR provides a marvelous vehicle for capitalizing on their interest and broadening the study of crime, as well. The book's historical perspective and its sensitivity to issues of race and gender could also prove useful for other courses in the social sciences.
Scholarship & Hollywood: Crime Film as a Social Mirror.......2001-02-05
Nicole Rafter's text offers a rigorous analysis of important social issues facing not only scholars and students of criminality and criminal justice but members of our own communities as well. Film- like other media- provides a viable avenue for academic study and discourse and should be used both as a tool for instruction as well as a subject for critical inspection. Rafter addresses seminal, contemporary "crime and justice" issues by considering the various genres of crime films, namely cop films, courtroom dramas, prisons, and crime itself. She contends that crime films in each of these genres make two general arguments. First, they all criticize society to a certain extent, whether the issue concerns excessive use of force by the police or the violent crime rate. Secondly, these films provide the audience with resolution by displaying the triumph of "justice" over corruption and brutality. As Rafter explains, crime films offer us an uncomfortable sense of gratification.
One of the many strengths of this text concerns its accessibility to both members of the academy and the general public. Rafter's text steps outside the boundaries of criminology and criminal justice and embraces a variety of disciplines and perspectives. As she maintains throughout her book, crime films reflect our ideas about social, economic, and political issues, and they shape the way in which we think about them. By examining the interrelationships between film history and technique, social history, criminal justice and criminological theory from multiple interdisciplinary perspectives, Rafter offers a fresh and (enjoyably) enlightening approach to the study and understanding of crime, criminality, and criminal justice within the context of film. Albeit a scholarly text, Rafter's book reads like a novel; extremely engaging in its description of crime films throughout various genres and generations, readers from various academic disciplines and those outside academia alike will find this book to be both widely entertaining and intellectually rigorous and stimulating.
Book Description
In Stoning the Keepers at the Gate, police psychologist Lawrence N.Blum, Ph.D.looks at the role of law enforcement in modern times and argues that, while bad cops need to be rooted out, blanket condemnation of the police threatens the very liberties that make such condemnation possible, as well as the safety of the American public in their homes and lives. Blum argues that the enormous stresses officers experience -- from violent physical attack to unrewarded or miusunderstood acts of heroism -- require special understanding, an understanding that is often missing from police departments themselves.
Blum provides a unique insight into the dynamics, practices, and activities within police agencies that influence police officers' actions, and that often hide the real sources of police behaviors that are thought of as faulty, insensitive, or inappropriate.
A passionate call not only for understanding but a reappraisal of whose actions are scrutinized within and outside of police agencies, police accountability, and the nature of policing itself in the twenty-first century. Stoning the Keepers at the Gate is a dynamic and fascinating analysis of the role of law enforcement today.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read For All Police Administrators and Officers.......2006-02-24
This book was so accurate to what happens in the real life of what happens to an officer under duress from the police environemnt as well as the public's view of law enforcement. This book was a mental saver for me as I had to endure nearly four years of public and departmental scrutiny for my actions with a life or death lethal encounter with a suspect. I have had 7 years of law enforcement experience with the Chandler PD in Arizona and was the first officer charged since Wyatt Earp in the state of Arizona with an on duty shooting. I was crucified in the media, by my department and city and was laid the blame for all that was wrong with law enforcement in the state. A jury trial and acquital as well as a state police board review proved that the only wrong doing was actually from my peers in the department, city as well as the county attorney who made my case a platform for political endeavors as well as media's facination with categorizing which case they will champion and who they will make a scape goat. In Arizona, a good cop is a dead cop, which makes for good press. I have suffered tremendously and have found little support in attempts to get a law enforcement career again due to the politics. Lawrence Blum's books (Force Under Pressure and Stoning the Keepers Gates) have been a blessing only second to reading my Bible that have helped me make sense of my emotions, tribulations and my future. I use his material when I speak to other officers, church groups and even prisoners to help them understand the same things I now do. Good book, good reading, and a good way to save your sanity and possiblily the sanity and life of a fellow officer in need.
Great Morale Boost.......2003-01-07
Having spent 27 years with Cincinnati PD and now a Sheriff's Office, I can not recommend this book highly enough for every law enforcement officer in the country. Even though this book seems geared toward the public on understanding their relationship with law enforcement, it does an excellent job of cheerleading those in law enforcement who are still committed to doing police work. Every city manager, county commissioner, council member, etc. should read this book to see why they should stand behind their law enforcement agencies if they want to improve them. It's hard to hit a home run if the home team fans keep 'booing.' As Americans we need to cheer the everyday heroic acts of law enforcement officers, not just when it's politically correct. Dr. Blum explains why the 'occuptaional bigotry' against police by some in the media creates a lack of spirit in officers that causes them to hesitate to do their jobs, which may cost them or other innocent people their lives. Stoning the Keepers at the Gate is a great morale booster for anyone in law enforcement.
Book Description
Perhaps no other book in policing has captured more admiration and market share than O.W. Wilson's "Police Administration". Now Wilson's text has been revised by three top scholars in the field. This long awaited revision combines the nuts and bolts approach of the original with an up-to-date theoretical and policy perspective that makes it accessible to students and practitioners alike.
Book Description
The FBI's former top serial-killer hunter shares his unique perspective as both a lawman and a member of the clergy counseling convicts--revealing the dangerously thin line between good and evil.
Roger L. Depue spent decades tracking down America's most depraved criminals. First as a small town police chief, then as a S.W.A.T. team member, and ultimately as head of the FBI's famed Behavioral Sciences Unit--the unit responsible for profiling and hunting serial killers--where he pioneered revolutionary law enforcement programs and techniques that remain in use today by the FBI and police departments across the globe. In his quest to comprehend the true nature of good and evil, Depue embarked on a mid-career spiritual sabbatical to become a Brother of the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles, counseling maximum security inmates. With his combined experiences as both a law enforcement professional and a member of the clergy, Depue explores the criminal mind and soul as no one has ever done before.
Customer Reviews:
Less profiling than autobiography.......2007-05-25
I enjoy profiling books and recommend John Douglas' Mindhunters and Obsession . This book has very little for the reader to learn except minor tidbits like how to tell (via "overkill") that the unsub was known to the victim. The book has a long backstory on the authors childhood, dating, marines, etc. and he seems like a bully. The last 1/3 of the book is his religion taking over which is boring. None of the life story or seminary time relate to criminal investigations, which is probably why you are interested in this type of book. The John Douglas books cover fascinating, yet horrible crimes while giving insights into clues to the traits of the criminal - thus are far more interesting than this book by Depue.
This guy is a clown.......2007-03-23
He gives the insights of a profiler fine and good. But he is sickeningly boastful the whole book, not just in his description of profiler work, but before he even gets to that point. Its nothing but obvious delusion. Of course you have to try to make the book interesting, but you're NOT Charles Bronson, you're NOT Mike Tyson. I had to stop reading and skip forward in the book because I got tired of reading about how he won a fist fight in high school and then he said Claire Michigan was the closest thing the state had to the wild west, how he got beat up by two guys but should have paid attention because he could have taken them. That aspect of the book is nauseating. You would think he knocked out Muhammed Ali. I would skip this book if I had it to do over.
Another Profiler's Life Story.......2007-01-19
I am sure I have read the 'life story' type books of most of the well known profilers. I have to admit Roger L Depue was not a name I had come accross in any like books written in the same era. In fact I discovered only one well know book where his name appeared, then only a brief mention.
That aside if you have an interest in this type of book this one is worth the read.
The book essentially follows the life of Roger Depue from his childhood through his career as a rural police officer to the FBI. As most peoples' lives have there interesting aspects certainly anyone with the live experience of the author could not miss out in this area. Therefore I would see this book as esentially a biography. Certainly, in the book, there are many interesting examples of how profiling works and written in a style that is very easy to understand. The book also delves off into how his career and life events produced many 'turnings in the road'.
One of the more interesting parts of the book I found was the author's brief summation of a number of the 'big name' profilers of that era. I found it interesting some get mentioned by their christian names and others by surname only. I guess we can form our own opinions as to why.
Overall, yes 'Another Profiler's Life Story', but if you have an interest in that area, and don't mind a good dose of his personal life, go ahead and have a read. Might not be the best of these books but I found it interesting enough to go cover to cover in three 'sittings'.
Fabulous book.......2006-06-26
I just can't say enough GOOD about this book!!!!! It was a great page turner and hard to put down once started. I thought it would be primarily about profiling, but the added twist of how that affected his life and faith is phenomenal....
The Jury's Still out on Profiling's Value.......2006-01-04
The book details Depue's life in law enforcement, beginning with growing up with a father who was a Detroit policeman, followed by his own first police job in a small town, rising to chief, moving to the FBI, becoming head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in 1979 for 10 years, and finally retiring to start and head a crime investigation firm.
Actual cases are used throughout the book, as well as some of his conclusions - eg. psychopaths tend to degenerate as the police close in (Bundy's final murders occurred as a rampage in a Florida sorority house, totally unlike his initial well-planned and conning cases), violent criminals have a common thread of child abuse and often head injury as well (though not all abusers become violent), "overkill" at a murder is a sign that the victim knew the perpetrator.
Depue was involved in the Martha Moxley murder case while a consultant, and his FBI staff interviewed a number of killers (including Ted Bundy) while developing their conclusions.
Depue is clearly a very skilled detective. However, the jury is still out on whether criminal profiling is useful. The research literature on the topic is limited and somewhat negative; in addition, more than one leading police official has declared that he knew of no instance where profiling led directly to apprehension (though it often confirms what is eventually found).
Book Description
This manual is aimed at trainers and administrators in police service who are trying to build a solid explosive detecting K9 team. Ron Mistafa covers Canadian and US laws regarding possession of explosive materials and devices, criminal acts related to these and using a K9 team in fighting these crimes. The book will assist in building and training a K9 explosive detector team from the ground up. This book was written to help those departments who do not yet have an explosive detection dog, or who are not completely satisfied with their present system of training standards. The book is not the answer, but is more a series of helpful hints to set your unit on its way to more meaningful training and confidence. It places a lot of emphasis on effective and efficient training, which in turn produces very confident Detection Teams who search with high degrees of efficiency, effectiveness and safety. This book is designed for the experienced handler or trainer, but can be easily followed by the beginner as well. However, as with any dog unit aspect, always train with someone who has a lot of experience or is an expert, especially in explosive detection.
Book Description
A former Chicago cop exposes shocking truths about the abuses of power within the city’s police department in this memoir of violence, drugs, and men with badges. Juarez becomes a police officer because he wants to make a difference in gang-infested neighborhoods; but, as this book reveals, he ends up a corrupt member of the most powerful gang of all—the Chicago police force. Juarez shares the horrific indiscretions he witnessed during his seven years of service, from the sexually predatory officer, X, who routinely stops beautiful women for made-up traffic offenses and flirts with domestic violence victims, to sadistic Locallo, known on the streets as Locoman, who routinely stops gang members and beats them senseless. Working as a narcotics officer, Juarez begins to join his fellow officers in crossing the line between cop and criminal, as he takes advantage of his position and also becomes a participant in a system of racial profiling legitimized by the war on drugs. Ultimately, as Juarez discusses, his conscience gets the better of him and he tries to reform, only to be brought down by his own excesses. From the perspective of an insider, he tells of widespread abuses of power, random acts of brutality, and the code of silence that keeps law enforcers untouchable.
Customer Reviews:
A courageous, sophisticated memoir with the soul of a novel........2006-11-06
Anyone who wants an inside look into the often-disturbing culture of inner-city policing should not hesitate to purchase this book. Mr. Juarez writes candidly and courageously about the problems and conflicts of law enforcement, but he also writes a moving account of his own personal journey. Stories of the author's upbringing in a working class, inner-city Chicago neighborhood are heavily drawn upon as Jaurez comes to analyze and ultimately question the morality of the entire criminal justice system, from the beat cop to the courthouse to the national agenda of the War on Drugs and War on Crime. The power of this book lies in the author's ability to take a sophisticated, broad view of the institutional prejudices of the American criminal justice system while providing deeply personal, and jarringly unfiltered accounts of life on the street.
This book is brutally honest and pulls no punches as it provides specific details of the underhanded practices of crooked cops: framing suspects, violent abuse, violent intimidation, theft, bribery, and vandalism. The book also details what seems like the very routine practice of falsifying reports to cover-up the offenses listed above, justify an unlawful arrest, or to guarantee a conviction. Mr. Juarez takes pains to emphasize that the overwhelming majority of the victims of such crimes are impoverished minorities. He even details how policies are emplemented specifically to avoid targeting middle and upper-class offenders.
Even though the officer exposes what seems to be widespread corruption and an institutional bias against poor minorities, I found it very fair. Juarez in no way exempts himself and provides numerous accounts of his own misdeads and his complicity in not speaking out when confronted with other officers' criminal acts. He also provides many examples of honest, hardworking cops and seems to conclude that the biggest problem facing criminal justice lies less with the individuals that make up the system than with the system itself.
As said in the title of this review, this memoir reads like a page-turing novel. Even given the disturbing details of misdeads and injustice, there were strong elements of an uplifting nature in this memoir as well. The author's own personal journey is inspiring and admirable. If only more of us had the courage to take an honest look at ourselves and the shortcomings of the institutions that surround us, we would find our culture in a better place. One can only hope this book might inspire others to that calling.
the truth is crazier than fiction!!!.......2006-09-16
this book is wild. the author joins the police force and discovers a world of privilege and violence. he often uses these things to his advantage, though he isn't violent and racist like many of the other cops. then he ends up getting fired for a really dumb reason (although he probably should have been fired for not doing his job earlier!)
overall this book shows a police force that keeps down minorities and punishes people for stupid things like smoking pot. also they use force in a completely inappropriate fashion for their own pleasure. the one that sticks out in my mind is when they come across a homeless guy trying to stay dry, and they totally ruin his day for no reason except cruelty. another time, a couple of cops destroy these black guys' nice car just for the hell of it. it's pretty obvious where the likes of NWA got their lyrical inspiration! whether you think the author is immature or not isn't really the issue. by the way he handles his romantic relationships, it's pretty obvious he was immature! but he was also a good guy surrounded by a bunch of jerks who enabled each other in their "brotherhood," much like A STREET GANG. ironic, huh? as for judging the police force, well this book was written a while ago. it's possible things have changed a lot since then. i don't know. these cops certainly aren't the calm, super-rational, protocol-following types you see on the show "cops," that's for sure. there are good and bad people in any profession. there are great cops. of course regardless of what kind of job the police are doing, many laws and societal changes need to take place in america, instead of basically arresting people for being poor and the author addresses that this book is full of drama and interesting stuff. i enjoyed it.
honest hard hitting account.......2005-12-18
I want to thank Mr. Juarez for writing such and honest hard-hitting account of his years as an officer in the Chicago Police Department. You have shown that anyone who puts on the badge must confront not only the bad actors in our society but also the demons
nestled in one's own psyche. This is cautionary tale with a deeply redeeming ending; a must-read for anyone who is considering a career in law enforcement.
An honest look at the individual's contribution to a damaged system........2005-09-23
The storyline itself is enough to make a compelling read: ex-cop lays bare his once-secret past while exposing the prejudices of a flawed justice system. But Juarez's memoir is more than a salacious tell-all. It's an honest accounting of his own role within this system, and shines a desperately needed spotlight on the lack of personal accountability within our civic institutions.
Juarez has been called selfish and jaded by members of his own department for describing in intimate detail the brutal beatings, racially-motivated harrassment, theft and drug use rampant within the Chicago PD. But what these critics fail to acknowledge is that Juarez places these personal experiences against a framework of documented descrimination within the department and without. The juxtaposition of his detailed, in-your-face narrative against these statistics reveals how each of us bears responsibility for the larger status quo.
While the transition between chapters occasionally calls attention to the fact that this is his first book, Juarez's unflinching honesty, vivid descriptions, and educator's insight reveals an American system with real problems that must be addressed. It comes at a time when our country is in dire need of self-reflection, and it offers a fantastic example of how each and every one of us contributes, for better or for worse, to our larger community.
Hard to Believe: A Chicago Cop Actually Tells the Truth.......2005-08-30
This book confirms all the horror stories told in the ghettoes of Chicago about the city's biggest and most brutal gang. This is gang is unlike any other in the city, however, because it works for the prosecution, so its violence is usually deemed legal. It is the CPD.
Juan Antonio Juarez's true narrative of the life of a Chicago cop may shock the middle class. The abuses he describes, however, are well known to any kid on the street in Humboldt Park, Pilsen, ABLA Homes, or any other part of the city where the privileged fear to tread, and the poor are forced to live. When the victims of police misconduct tell their own stories, their accounts are often dismissed because they "lack credibility". By chronicling the abuse of power that he both witnessed, and participated in, while on the force, Juarez has done us all a great service.
I especially appreciate this book because during the same years that Juarez was working for the police department, I was teaching in many of the same hard-hit neighborhoods. Among my students the corrupt and brutal practices of police were so well known and despised, that I recall even some of my Irish-American and Polish-Americans students, whose own fathers were cops, gladly joining a picket line at city hall to denounce the racism inherent in Chicago law enforcement.
I'm personally thankful that Juarez exposes the corrupt practice euphemistically referred to as "the power of the pen." To the Chicago cop this does not mean the art of rhetorical persuasion, but rather systematic falsification of police reports and in order to intimidate and convict anyone who dares to question their actions or who is simply unfortunate enough to get in their way. I applaud this, not only because the police have threaten me for speaking out, but even more so because I have known people who were beaten as badly as Rodney King for merely asserting their own constitutional rights or the rights of their children. Inevitably, the victim was labeled the aggressor and charged with "disorderly conduct" or "mob action" as a cover for police violence. The police sadistically taunted and harassed one woman I knew because she dared to complain when they gunned down her unarmed son and then created a preposterous story to blame the kid for his own death.
Because of my own experiences, Juarez's descriptions of the abuse the cops inflict on the people they are supposedly paid to protect did not surprise me, his account of the vast privileges heaped on the even the rookie beat cop in exchange for favors, however did surprise me. If one were to draw out Juarez's argument to it logical extreme, then the Chicago cops function as the strong arm of a racist and totalitarian political machine.
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- Bush at War
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- Corrections in America (11th Edition) (Corrections in America: An Introduction)
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