Above the Law
Police and the Excessive Use of Force
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
The now-famous videotape of the beating of Rodney King precipitated a national outcry against police violence. Skolnick and Fyfe, two of the nation's top experts on law enforcement, use the incident to introduce a revealing historical analysis of such violence and the extent of its survival in law enforcement today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Highly publicized cases in Los Angeles, Detroit and Nashville during the past year make this study of police violence, which is likely to become a classic in law enforcement literature, especially timely. Skolnick, a University of California law professor, and Fyfe, a former New York City police officer who teaches criminal justice at Temple University, examine vigilante justice, the practice of ``third degree'' interrogation and ``public order'' policing; in so doing they place their subject in a historical context and exhibit an awareness of the changing styles of police work. They consider factors contributing to police brutality, causes of this abusive behavior (such as the ``war on drugs'' mentality) and remedies. In a conclusion that may surprise some readers, they aver that police violence has decreased over the past few decades because of improved police management, particularly with increased numbers of minority mayors and police chiefs.
