Book: "Cop in the Hood" by Peter Moskos
Review: 2 bill-stars (out of 5)
Website: www.copinthehood.com ... it looks like the author (or someone) has a blog there

This book is a great idea... some pointy-headed academic asks to study the cops, and they tell him, "OK, but you have to become a cop to do it."

The book is a collection of anecdotes and the author's remedies for improving "the hood", his beat in the worst part of Baltimore.
Alas, the book is very dry and not that interesting.

My very favorite story/stat from the whole thing... the guy was on the job for more than a year and he "never locked up anyone for the first time."
Everyone he encountered on the job already had a police record. Everyone was somehow involved in the drug/gang racket. It seems impossible, but his beat in a Baltimore ghetto was that fucked up.

He ends with a comparison of the "war on drugs" with 1920's prohibition. I agree with you buddy, but good luck. We're going in the other direction. You can't even smoke a cigarette in a bar any more: Smoke-Free Naperville. BTW, I faux-eagerly await the "Drink-free Naperville" campaign to stamp out the pariah of drinking in bars... a far more dangerous and deleterious activity.

What about the children!
yow, bill

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