Policing in America

POLICING IN AMERICA, by Clemens Bartollas and Larry Hahn, Allyn and Bacon, 1999, is overall a suitable text for teaching college freshmen and sophomores. It is in brief style with approximately 27 pages per chapter and is written in understandable language for this level of education. Because it doesn't delve deeply into any one specific area, an introductory class is appropriate for it's use. The book covers all the necessary subjects for beginning criminal justice students,and might be good for use in an academy setting as a supporting text. However, the inclination of the authors was more to the political left than might be suitable for a 'middle of the road' presentation. Significant emphasis was made to point out that law enforcement suffers from many short-comings sometimes to the detriment of objective education. The authors, on occasion, accepted at face value, the impressions and perspectives of writers more sympathetic with the offenders than with the criminal justice practitioners,and thereby opened themselves to unnecessary scrutiny with regard to their overall subject material. My students seem to like the book and my practice is to present both sides of any issue, so the students can make their own minds up about what to actually believe or not. I am a three-time chief of police in three different states, with advanced degrees in Justice, and a BS in Business. Additionally, I have graduated from the FBI National Academy and the Southern Police Institute's Administrative Officer's Course. I teach, or have taught, at every level of education. I recommend the book, with only slight reservation, for use as a college introductory level course text.