Walk the Walk
How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture
-
- 10,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
From “one of the most interesting sociologists of his generation” and a former cop, the story of three departments and their struggle to change aggressive police culture and achieve what Americans want: fair, humane, and effective policing.
What should we do about the police? After the murder of George Floyd, there’s no institution more controversial: only 14 percent of Americans believe that “policing works pretty well as it is” (CNN, April 27, 2021). We’re swimming in proposals for reform, but most do not tackle the aggressive culture of the profession, which prioritizes locking up bad guys at any cost, loyalty to other cops, and not taking flak from anyone on the street. Far from improving public safety, this culture, in fact, poses a danger to citizens and cops alike.
Walk the Walk brings readers deep inside three unusual departments—in Stockton, California; Longmont, Colorado; and LaGrange, Georgia—whose chiefs signed on to replace that aggressive culture with something better: with models focused on equity before the law, social responsibility, racial reconciliation, and the preservation of life. Informed by research, unflinching and by turns gripping, tragic, and inspirational, this book follows the chiefs—and their officers and detectives—as they conjured a new spirit of policing. While every community faces unique challenges with police reform, Walk the Walk opens a window onto what the police could be, if we took seriously the charge of creating a more just America.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
U.S. police officers kill more than 1,000 people every year, notes sociologist and former cop Gross (Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?) in this well-researched and hopeful study of efforts to reduce police brutality. Among other factors, he traces the problem to cops' "social isolation," which leads them "to believe that lawmen are the only people they can trust and that the most important thing is to protect their brothers in blue, even if it means lying to cover for wrongdoing." Spotlighting Stockton, Calif.; Longmont, Colo.; and LaGrange, Ga.; Gross details how the chiefs of all three cities' police departments replaced an "aggressive crime fighter" approach with "healthier, more socially responsible models." Under Operation Ceasefire in Stockton, police and community organizers reduced a "skyrocketing" murder rate by reaching out to gang members before violence occurred, offering them job training and other "carrots," while directly communicating the consequences for illegal behavior. In Longmont, a restorative justice program, coupled with a shift toward harm reduction in drug cases, helped turn things around. Gross's suggestions for reform also include more inclusive recruiting practices and grants for departments willing to experiment with new methods. Tightly focused and consistently persuasive, this is a crucial guide to solving a pressing social issue.
