If you're not an ex-cop, the following inexpensive pocketbooks provide a
tremendous amount of insider information. Reading these books will help to
bridge the gap between novice CrimeFighters and experienced cops.
Of course, no matter how many books you read it won't make you the equal of
an experienced cop! But, these books (among others in this catalog) will
give you valuable insight on police work in general. That's the first step
- to understand cops, what they do, and how they go about it. If you're
going to be an active CrimeFighter, (indirectly) working with cops, you
need to know all you can what it's like being "on the job". And even if you
don't plan on being an active CrimeFighter, it's still worth while to read
a few of these books to learn what a cop's job is like.
These specially selected books reveal an enormous amount of regular and
irregular police procedure. They contain TRUE stories of hundreds of
investigations. By reading them you can learn a few things - like what to
do and what not to do. If you've led a sheltered life, you'll learn street
language, ghetto slang, and narcotics terminology. Besides being exciting
and fascinating reading, they are excellent Crimefighters' educational
material. If you plan on being an active Crimefighter, read all of them.
An important thing you'll learn is that cops are ordinary human beings, not
supermen or superwomen. The following books lets you take a peek at a cop's
emotions that the public seldom sees. You'll learn that they can cry, and
are scared at times, just like anyone else. But they're trained to do their
job no matter how they feel about it. When you get inside their heads (by
reading their books) you'll understand that YOU are no different from them
- except for the training and dedication. You too, can do police work. Not
everyone can qualify to be a cop, but everyone can be a CrimeFighter!
* * * * * *
Books - on Cops by Cops
COPS, Their Lives in Their Own Words, by Mark Baker (author of NAM and
WOMEN.)
"From the beat to vice to homicide - the unforgettable true story of
America's police."
From the back cover:
"What they can't say on television, what they won't write in novels, cops
have now told Mark Baker.
From the idealistic rookie to the burnt-out veteran, here are the
unforgetable voices of over 100 police men and women across the country...
cops who shoot and are shot at, who pick up the pieces of shattered bodies
and shattered lives, who face danger, the fear, and the depravity... who
live every day in the frightening, hard world of COPS."
"Here is courage, despair, hope, sacrifice, sex gone crazy, and the most
violent kind of brutality... in COPS, Mark Baker has given us the most
readable, riveting, and memorable book ever written about law enforcement."
- Harry Crews
"Vividly told in the earthy, hard-hitting language of the streets... a
fascinating insider's view of what it's like to be a cop." - ALA Booklist.
"The stories race, sirens screaming and blue lights flashing, from the
page... graphic... fascinating." - United Press International.
"Colored by a black humor that suggests the true cost and benefits of being
a cop... occasionally cynical, tender... fearsome." - People
"Sometimes shocking, sometimes shockingly funny, always accurate. A delight
to read." - Robert Daley, author of "Prince of the City".
"A compelling tour of the badlands... BIZARRE... TERRIFYING." - The New
York Times. (COPS)(5022) $6
* * * * * *
WHAT COPS KNOW, by Connie Fletcher, by Pocketbooks (1990).
From the back cover:
"THEY SEE WHAT WE DON'T SEE. AND THEY PAY THE PRICE.
Cops know how innocent kids get killed by gangs because of an accidental
wave of the hand. Cops know that more women kill themselves on Mother's day
than any other day of the year. They know how professional thieves crack
safes, how much a Mafia hit is worth to the hit man, and what a body looks
like without its head or arms.
"There is no bottom. There is no low. You never know what you're going to
see next. There's no worst - it does amaze me what people do to other
people."
Here in their own words, American policemen and women describe their life
and work among misfits, junkies, prostitutes, killers, psychopaths, and
victims in luxury neighborhoods and on the meanest turf. From law enforce-
ment to the laws of the streets, these undercover and uniformed cops talk
about sex crimes, child abuse, drug dealing, con schemes - the incredible
things they see and deal with every day of the year, every year on the job.
"For anybody who ever wondered what it's like behind a badge, this is the
book. "WHAT COPS KNOW" pulls no punches." San Francisco Chronicle.
(KNOW)(5001) $5.50
* * * * * *
PURE COP, (the sequel) by Connie Fletcher, (1991)
From vice to bomb squad, from broken bodies to shattered dreams - America's
police tell what it's like to be a PURE COP
To be a pure cop means knowing that sixty percent of street walkers are
really men, that bomb-makers always leave their signature on a bomb, that
car crashes do the worst things imaginable to human bodies. Pure cops know
it, they live it, and now, they tell what it's like.
This is not TV, this is the real thing: in their own words, inside their
minds, into the action, here are the fears and the unrelenting violence
cops have to deal with every day. They will change the way you think about
police work.
Chicago special-unit cops talk shop is a sure-footed sequel to WHAT COPS
KNOW ... enthralling dispatches from behind the shield: a true-crime
treat." Kirkus Reviews
"A Raw dose of cop talk, as cops tell it like it is - crude and colorful,
bloody and bold." - Booklist
"The most colorful and concrete book I've ever read on police work" -
Andrew M. Greely.
(PURE)(5002) $5
* * * * * *
THE MAKING OF A COP, by Harvey Rachlin, (1991)
From the back cover:
"The making of a Cop is an accurate account of the rigorous discipline and
intensive instruction in the police academy and of how that teaching
changes the lives of the young men and women who will soon be out there on
the streets." Mark Baker, author of Cops.
Who are the men and women of the New York City Police Academy? What does it
take to survive this unforgiving urban boot camp and emerge a rookie, ready
for a beat on some of the meanest streets in the nation?
To find out, journalist Harvey Rachlin followed four raw recruits from the
Academy to the streets. His dramatic day by day account, THE MAKING OF A
COP, thrusts us into a world of age-old traditions and sudden-death
decisions.
From the intricacies of criminal law to the blazing of .38's on the firing
range, we watch new recruits slowly shed their innocence and open their
eyes to a new and perilous world of perpetrators, lowlifes, search and
seizure, combat reloading. We pound a rookie beat with them - subduing a
crack-crazed mugger, battling the legal machinery to preserve a "good"
bust. We see them absorb the knowledge which may one day save our lives -
or their own.
Taking us through the rigors, the grueling decisions and gut wrenching
fear, THE MAKING OF A COP is a compelling portrait of a group of men and
women striving to become the finest in blue - in a city always alive with
danger and decency, despair and hope.
"A sympathetic chronicle.. THE MAKING OF A COP presents a realistic look at
a supremely difficult job" - Publishers Weekly. (MAKING)(5003) $5
* * * * * *
THE MOON IS ALWAYS FULL, and
BLACK FRIDAY COMING DOWN, by David Hunter, (1990)
Both books by the same author tell true stories of moments of panic, fear,
hilarious situations, cop's cynicism, and the satisfaction of a cop's job.
The first book THE MOON IS ALWAYS FULL talks about the nut cases who "come
out of hiding when the moon is full". To a cop, the moon is ALWAYS full.
BLACK FRIDAY COMING DOWN is the sequel. The name of this book relates to
Friday nights, when week-end action starts -- and all Hell breaks loose.
Both books tell short stories of actual cases and provides an inside look
into the trials and tribulations of a cop. Both books contain surprises,
sad stories, happy stories, and grisly stories. It's what a cop's life is
like - in snapshot stories. Walk a beat with David Hunter, and learn what
it's like to be a cop.
From the back cover:
"TRUE STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINE OF THE LAW...
Every day, cops encounter a world more bizarre, more dangerous, and more
outrageous than most people ever imagine. In BLACK FRIDAY COMING DOWN,
David Hunter blasts away at the stereotypes - and exposes the REAL
experience of being a cop... as only a real cop could tell it.
Here are the true stories - the action, the comedy, the tragedy... an
unforgettable portrait of life behind a badge.
When you're a cop, you wind up with a one-of-a-kind view of the world.
BLACK FRIDAY COMING DOWN will throw you into the thick of it..."
"Brings the reader directly into the inner world of the street policeman"
- Midwest Book Review.
"A glimpse of Police work second only to duty in uniform." Birmingham News.
(F.MOON)(5004) $5
(FRIDAY)(5005) $5
* * * * * *
TRUE BLUE, by Ed Nowicki, 1992
"The book that's become an underground legend among cops. True stories
about real cops. No punches pulled. No apologies made. Ed Nowicki has
captured the heart and soul of Police work." Lt. Ernest A Spiotto, Chicago
Police Department. From the back cover:
Cops dare to tell it like it is...
"Stan approached the driver's door with his ever-present, friendly smile.
The smile was promptly destroyed by a shot fired from a .357 magnum
directly in his mouth. Jack screamed through the car's radio microphone,
'10-1, officer shot. Officer needs help.' Mixed emotions of frustration,
anger, hatred, sorrow, and pity overwhelmed him as he helplessly watched
his partner's life fading away."
They risk it all on streets that have become war zones...
"Ken ran into the street to help the screaming boy who was trapped under
the left side of the Chevy van that was balanced on the curb. It was
teetering slightly, and could come down on the boy at any moment. He had
almost reached the boy when he heard the sound of an engine, and the Chevy
began to rock."
Where a split-second decision can make the difference between an official
commendation and a hero's funeral...
"Two shots rang out and Ted felt something hit the back of his left
shoulder. Adrenaline was now surging through his body. He knew he had been
shot, and he knew he was going to take care of this punk. As he found the
ammo wallet, the Camero began taking off down the road again at a high rate
of speed. Ted carefully took aim and fired the last round from his Chief's
Special."
This is law enforcement as you've never seen it... and cops as they rarely
reveal themselves -- not always by-the-book, but always human."
(TRUE BLUE)(5025) $4.99
* * * * * *
VICE COP, by Bill McCarthy and Mike Mallowe, (1991)
From the book covers:
"MY TWENTY-YEAR BATTLE WITH NEW YORK'S DARK SIDE
The authentic, intensely personal story of twenty-year veteran Bill
McCarthy and his one-man war against crime as former head of the toughest,
dirtiest, most dangerous police unit on earth: New York's Public Morals
Division - New York Vice!
An insider's gritty portrait of life on streets in the Big Apple. From the
filthiest drug dens and sex shops to the highest level of organized crime
and government corruption, McCarthy has seen it all and tells it straight.
About the dirty cops who deal drugs and kill for hire; the pornographers
who traffic in young children; the underworld bosses who really run the
city and the public officials who let them. It's all here. And it's all
true."
"Raw, steamy, vivid and colorfully written" - Anthony Bouza, former
Assistant Chief, NYPD.
"A savage, savvy walk on the wild side of New York Vice ... a must read for
anyone who really wants to know what goes on after dark." - Chris Borgen,
CBS News.
"The most explosive expose of life on the New York City Police Department
ever published!
"Well-written, witty and kinky... teeming with information!" - Kirkus
Reviews
(VICE)(5006) $6
* * * * * *
DRUG WARS!
THE COCAINE WARS, Paul Eddy with Hugo Sabogal and Sara Walden, (1988)
From the back cover:
"DEATH. POWER. MONEY - THE COCAINE WARS.
It is the world's most valuable commodity. It is a business bigger than the
Ford Motor Company. It is cocaine, and a single, ruthless, savagely
sophisticated entity controls the empire: the Colombian Cartel. For two and
a half years, the authors lived on the front lines of this story, and they
provide an astonishing, disturbing inside look at the Cartel and its
operators: the millionaires and enforcers, the smugglers and informers.
THE COCAINE WARS takes us from the jungles of South America where the coca
is grown to the streets of Miami where drug money has corrupted at least
one in every ten cops. With unlimited wealth and power at stake, whole
governments can be bought and sold, and almost every man has his price.
THE COCAINE WARS is investigative reporting that reads like a crime
thriller but has the shocking impact of today's headlines. For the first
time, here is the full story of the traffic in cocaine, the story of the
war being waged - and lost - on the streets all across America."
(COCAINE)(5007) $5
* * * * * *
DEEP COVER, by Michael Levine, (1990)
From the back cover:
"AMERICA'S WAR ON DRUGS - THE TRAGIC, SHOCKING FIASCO
If there were a textbook on undercover work, Michael Levine would have
written it. For twenty-five years he was an insider in the DEA - their
TOP undercover cop. A man with a proven record of arrests - personally
accounting for more than 3,000 criminals serving 15,000 years in jail. A
man who now calls America's war on drugs "the biggest, costliest, most
dangerous failure of American policy since Vietnam.
IN THIS BOOK, HE PROVES IT.
He takes us with him on one of the most dramatic, ambitious cases ever
mounted - an operation in which the drug kingpins of three countries were
caught red-handed... and tells us why they were never brought to justice.
The result is THE explosive expose of why we're losing the war on drugs -
told in the words of an American who devoted his life to winning it."
Unquote
(DEEP)(5008) $6
* * * * * *
UNDERCOVER, by Michael Levine, (1988)
From the back cover:
"THE GRIPPING TRUE STORY OF A FEDERAL AGENT'S ONE-MAN WAR AGAINST DRUGS
For twenty-three years DEA agent Michael Levine has waged war against the
drug empire with unrivaled success. A tough kid from the Bronx, he grew up
to use his cunning, his karate, and savage street smarts to bring to trial
over 3,000 criminals while posing as a Mafia soldier, a Puerto Rican
middleman, a Colombian dope dealer and a priest.
This is the stunning true story of Levine's legendary career, an account of
the drug underworld that is as compelling and personal as it is contro-
versial. From crack houses and street corner deals to Manhattan penthouses
and Beverly Hills mansions, this extraordinary book shows us the daring,
the deceptions, and the triumphs of the unsung hero of our times.
A spine-tingling book that reads more like fiction than non-fiction...
(Michael Levine is) a real-life Clint Eastwood." Inside Books.
Wild, wooly, and as gritty as the mean streets down which Levine hunts his
prey." Kirkus Reviews." Unquote.
(UNDERCOVER)(5009) $5
* * * * * *
UNDERCOVER is a NARC CrimeFighter Training Manual. In it, Levine mentions
highlights of training sessions and specific tips and pointers to other law
enforcement agencies, and to PTA's on how to REALLY fight the war on drugs.
How? Hound, harry and harrass "recreational" drug users. Make them suffer.
Take away all the pleasure they get from drugs. Find them, prosecute them,
and personally SUE them for all they've got. When there's few drug users
there'll be fewer dealers. Hitting them from the top down doesn't work.
Like Levine says, it's time we tried new tactics: Hit them from the bottom
up, and eradicate the base that supports the dealers. This book tells us
how CrimeFighters can do it!
* * * * * *
DRUG AGENT U.S.A., by Richard F. Radford and Jack Crowley, (1989)
From the back cover:
FROM THE
SECRET FILES OF AN UNDERCOVER DRUG AGENT
"The battlefields stretch from dark city streets to shady suburban lanes.
His pursuit of the enemy is fearless. And no other enemy is as violent, as
determined.. or as deadly. He is a drug agent - one of America's unseen,
unsung heroes.
During his eighteen years in the vanguard of the DEA's war on drugs, agent
Jack Crowley has seen it all, having directed some of the most significant
and successful busts in the land. Now he takes you on a rare, first-hand
tour through a gritty world of deception, greed, and complex plans for
battle that can put an enemy behind bars... or explode in a barrage of
gunfire.
These are one man's stories. And every one is true." Unquote.
(AGENT)(5010) $5
* * * * * * *
Comment: Jack Crowley fights on a different front than Michael Levine, and
his stories reveals another side of the war on drugs - home-made pills and
home-grown pot! There's a lot of educational material in this book. If
you're really interested in being an undercover NARC agent, get it.
* * * * * *
A.K.A. NARC, by Ray "Tex" Brown & Raymond Angus, (1991)
This one is a rousing tale of a trucker accidentally turned bounty hunter,
and later recruited to focus his attention on the war on drugs. Fascinating
reading -- every page of it -- and telling it like it really is today.
From the back cover:
"The drug pushers and smugglers agree: there ought to be a law against Tex
Brown. Just call him Tex -- the good ol' boy with a .25 automatic in his
stetson.
From a contract to kill in Houston to bloody drug battles in Mexico, from
cocaine smugglers to crooked Customs Agents to white slavers, Tex Brown has
seen them all -- from the inside out.
One of the most effective undercover men in the Southwest, Tex is a long
distance trucker who began his career by hunting down bail jumpers. He now
cruises the West in his Mack truck, running cargo and contraband, looking
for criminals and building cases in the war against drugs. This is his true
story -- of highways, pushers and hookers, of a shocking brutal Mexican
policeman and of the wild topless bar Tex opened with the help of the law.
Going where no ordinary lawman could go -- for he carries no badge -- Tex
Brown has stood face to face with the most dangerous law breakers in the
West, and used a fast gun and amazing courage to bring them to justice."
(AKA)(5011) $5
* * * * * *
L.A. SECRET POLICE, (Inside the LAPD Elite Spy Network), by Mike Rothmiller
and Ivan G. Goldman
From the book covers:
"They were ruthless and corrupt, ruined lives and reputations, and
inflicted mindless brutality. The S.S.? The K.G.B.? Guess again...
it's the L.A.P.D.!
In Los Angeles, police corruption is much more than unmarked envelopes
stuffed with cash. It's a total corruption of power...
One night in Orange County, a helmeted figure on a motorcycle pulled
alongside an unmarked LAPD car and emptied a machine pistol at the cop
inside. Elite OCID Detective Mike Rothmiller lived to tell the story. Now,
with veteran journalist Ivan Goldman, he rips the lid off of Chief of
Police Daryl Gates' LAPD - and reveals, for the first time, the dirty
secrets of the elite unit whose crushing power and vast influence kept many
of America's most prominent citizens in its iron grip:
The OCID (Organized Crime Intelligence Division), a secretive unit within
the Los Angeles Police Department, used an elaborate spy network and
illegal surveillance devices to spy on everyone from Robert Redford and
Jerry Brown to Connie Chung and Mohammed Ali. No crime was necessary. Any
public figure or Hollywood star was fair game...
OCID wanted to know who was straight, gay, left, right, friend, foe.
Sometimes it shredded its own files - but the most sensitive files were
untraceable, out of reach of ACLU pests and court orders...
OCID planted a mole in Mayor Tom Bradley's staff and collected dirt on City
Council members...
Supposedly privilege information from banks, airlines, credit card
companies and the IRS was readily available to, and used by, the OCID..."
(LASP)(5012) $6
* * * * * *
EXTREME JUSTICE, The Secret Squad of the L.A.P.D. That Fights Violence with Violence, by Frank Sacks. Based on the screenplay by Frank Sacks and Robert Boris.
"The official book tie-in to the film EXTREME JUSTICE... The TRIMARK
