Police Craft

A veteran police officer gives his thoughtful, balanced views on police shootings, racial profiling, community relations, and every other aspect of policing in Police Craft: What Cops Know About Crime, Community and Violence. Written by Adam Plantinga, the author of the acclaimed 400 Things Cops Know, Police Craft is a thought-provoking and revelatory examination of policing in America, as seen by a working police officer. Plantinga, a police officer for 17 years and a serving sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department, gives an inside view of the police officers job, from handling evidence and conducting interrogations to coping with danger, violence, and death. This book explores a wide range of topics related to police work, from the techniques of policing to the culture of the profession, the sociology of crime and criminals, and the psychological toll on police officers. Not hesitating to confront controversial issues, Plantinga presents a police officers views on police shootings, racial profiling, and relationships between police and the community -- and offers reasoned proposals on what the police and the public can do better. Hard-boiled, humorous, and compassionate, Plantinga wrestles with the complexities and contradictions of a job he loves in which he witnesses so much suffering. Transcending todays strident pro-cop/anti-cop rhetoric, Police Craft will give every reader a greater respect for the police and greater understanding of the job they do.