Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District
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"A devastating critique of America's failed war on drugs. Cop in the Hood is a powerful and truly unique document in the sociology of criminal justice. Using an original blend of personal experience, adroit cultural interpretation, and hard-edged sociological analysis, Moskos sympathetically dissects the social context of the drug users' world, and shows us this tragedy close up from the police perspective."--Orlando Patterson, Harvard University"Cop in the Hood is a thoughtful, highly entertaining record of a police officer's year spent patrolling one of the country's toughest urban districts, delivered by Moskos, who wore the uniform. For those who are interested in crime and how things work, and for readers seeking a reasoned look at the war on drugs and its implications, this is the handbook."--George Pelecanos, writer and producer for The Wire"This riveting tale of policing begins honestly and continues with great sincerity and pathos. A sensitive and timely account of the daily trials of police work by someone who knows Baltimore's streets firsthand, Cop in the Hood challenges journalists, social scientists, and others who profess knowledge of the inner city to walk those streets before making bold declarations and righteous claims for policy and redress. A must-read."--Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets"Peter Moskos, a sociologist by training, somewhat inadvertently became a police officer. Cop in the Hood is the fortuitous and fascinating result. It gives the reader the real dope from someone with the training and ability to put the street into the larger context. Highly recommended."--Alex Tabarrok, George MasonUniversity, cofounder of marginalrevolution.com"Cop in the Hood is an extremely valuable study centered on patrolling a drug-infested Baltimore police district. Readers interested in drug policy, criminology, or policing cannot help but to learn a lot from this book. I know that I did, and I am grateful to the author. Many of his insights are eye-opening. His voice is unique and essential in debates concerning drug-policy reforms."--Jim Leitzel, University of Chicago Publishers Weekly A Harvard-trained sociologist, Moskos set out to do a one-year study of police behavior. Challenged by Baltimore's acting police commissioner "to become a cop for real," he accepted. During his six months in the police academy and 14 months on the street, he "happily worked midnights, generally the least desirable shift" in one of the city's least desirable precincts: the Eastern District (where HBO's The Wire is filmed). Moskos frankly records his experiences with poverty, violence, drugs and despair in the gritty ghetto. During "field training," he first encountered "drug dealers, families broken apart, urban blight, rats, and trash-filled alleys. Inside homes, things are often worse." Moskos's overview of policing problems covers everything from arrest quotas, corrupt cops and excess paperwork to the reliance on patrolling in cars, responding to a barrage of 911 calls, rather than patrolling on foot to prevent crimes. Moskos blends narrative and analysis, adding an authoritative tone to this adrenaline-accelerating night ride that reveals the stark realities of law enforcement while illuminating little-known aspects of police procedures. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Acknowledgments ixThe Departed 1Back to School: The Police Academy 19New Jack: Learning to Do Drugs 38The Corner: Life on the Streets 64911 Is a Joke 89Under Arrest: Discretion in the Ghetto 111Prohibition: Al Capone's Revenge 158Epilogue: School Daze 184Notes 197Bibliography 215Index 239
