Cops: Their Lives in Their Own Words

by Mark Baker

Based on interviews with more than one hundred police officers, a cross-section representing male and female officers, small town and big city cops, Blacks and whites, patrolmen and anti-terrorist specialists, the author reveals the worlds of the police

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Biography, Police

303 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Mark^^^^^Baker

Reviews

[Checkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an citizen of the United States and I work in the U.S. as a police officer. So in my review when I refer to police officers and society I am referring to the United States. Just a little disclaimer.

I read this book several times in the fourteen years between it's initial release and being sworn in as a cop in October 2000. I loved this book and I daresay it was one of the books that inspired me to seek a career in law enforcement. It's still a great read, but in 2012 it's dated. I hate to say it, but it's a fact.

Most of the interviews were conducted in the early Eighties. There's a whole new generation of police officer out there now. Attitudes have changed,weapons and other tools have changed, technology has really changed, training has changed, and society has changed (somewhat at least).

When I first read this book back in 1986 my father was still a cop with eight years to go before he retired. At the time the book was dead on. Now, though it is still truthful in spirit, I feel like officers have changed in many respects. It would be nice to see an update. I would also like Mr. Baker to go farther out into this country of ours and speak to cops in the Western U.S., the Southeast and so on. I get the impression that many of his interviews were conducted with N.Y.P.D. officers and Long Island cops. Contrary to what some may think law enforcement is different in various parts of the nation, just like attitudes and beliefs are different in our many regions. It's still a very good book. Don't let my quibbles discourage you from reading it.

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The writer/editor Mark Baker interviewed a varied group of policde officers--this book being the result.

The technology has changed so the book is dated there, but human nature does not change as fast. As each officer tells his or her story, the 'feel' of police work came through. Cops still deal with fear; criminals; boredome; bureacracy and yes, us the general public.

The varied typles of accounts and the different speakers quoted added interest to this book for me. Of course, Mr, Baker could not cover everything or this would be a ten volume set. But he does give a nice 'slice of life' look into the world of COPS.

Btw, the subtitle is :"Their lives in their own words" so if forceful and vulgar language will really offend you---it is here in this book.

Despite the language, I learned some things and found it worth reading. Not too technical--no graphs or chars but a good starting book if the criminal justice system, cops and legal matters is of interest to you.

Give it a try--you will probably like it more than you think. I did.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I expected here. I knew it was dated and I knew it was short "stories" from numerous law enforcement officers. I was surprised at the suspected honesty and at first I liked the candid talk. However, with any book, candid talk like what's included here can only go so far. Without proper "writing" it gets old..... fast. Numerous times I really had a hard time understanding what the hell an officer meant. The slang is pretty much understandable from context clues but the writing was horrible. We have to understand that the "writing" is actually a bunch of different peoples "speech" which of course is quite different. But in book form it makes for hard reading.
I liked the order of the stories too - it went in a nice clean line from when officers start out to what they're dealing with in different areas to near retirement and retirement.
There were also quite a few things I'd really never stopped to think about before. I've always had a great respect for police, firefighters, EMS, etc., afterall, they're doing a job I certainly wouldn't want to do. But I never really thought about some things to this extent.
Overall I'd say that to enjoy this (IMO) you should be not easily offended, not too strict with how you want your books to read, and be VERY interested in the personal stories from officers.
Note - the "easily offended" comment is because, as I said above, there is much honesty from what I read. Black cops/criminals calling whites "honkies" and white cops/criminals calling blacks "niggers". This will obviously offend some people but if you can get past all of this......

[Eric Bettencourt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like NAM, also by Mark Baker, there's some truly grizzly accounts that are now forever seared into the darker corners of my imagination. But its not all mayhem and horror. There's loads of hilarity smuggled in with the action and thankfully plenty of warm accounts where hopeful lives were positively transformed by some selfless act of heroism. What's beyond argument is there are some great officers who applied to their positions of (almost absolute) power to make a real and actual difference in the lives of those they'd be sworn to protect. Conversely its clear how easily, under the grind of the never ending street beats and the flawed system of law and order, this ideology can be eroded even in the most well intentioned cadets. Cops was rapid-paced (rapid fire for the pun?) with little room for catching your breath between stories; sometimes there are three or four to a page. Big Picture Take away? Being a cop isn't for everyone and it isn't a good place for a huge number of chaps who willingly join the force with vigor. Mostly Cops just confirms something I already knew; all cops are people and A LOT of people are assholes. Not all. But seriously though... A lot.

[Gouty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the same as his other book Nam. Instead of going around and interviewing vets, he interviews cops and has them tell him a story. After I read a few reviews on Amazon it struck me that since these interviews took place in 1984 it is probably out of date as far as modern law enforcement goes, but is still very much worth the trouble of finding this book. 20 years later and I still crack up when I think of the story in there about the pedophile who the cops got to do a "d**k print", or the story about the rookies first day on the job when he had to deal with a woman having conjugal relations with a great dane on the front lawn, the best part it wasn't her great dane nor her front lawn. I think it is out of print, but definitely worth getting.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is in oral interview snippet format. It is interesting, but somewhat dated material. The book was published in 1985 and many of the stories sound like they are from the 1960’s and 1970’s. For example, several of them are in direct contradiction to Tennessee v. Garner in that they talk about warning shots and firing at suspects for things like breaking into a car. They also discuss beating suspects who “need it” and domestic violence as “something that’s bad to see but you can’t really arrest people for it.” If you’re interested in a snapshot of law enforcement 30-40 years ago that was written 27 years ago, this is a decent book. Just be warned things operate quite a bit differently today, or at least I would hope that they do in most places.

[Darell]

I wasn't sure what to expected out of this book but I knew it was dated and I knew it was short stories from numerous law enforcement officer experience. This is a book about cops for cops and by cops. Its an great book, true life cop short stories with hundreds of them in super crazy stuff.Most of the stories was from the late 80's. How being a cop has changed a little bit now with audio/video recordings in police cars and everyone recording on their cell phones. It tells about what's there job and how they approach different situations and how they handle them.

[Tbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, true life cop short stories, hundreds of them, super crazy stuff---Most of the stories from the late 80's , being a cop has changed a little bit now with audio/video recordings in police cars and everyone recording dont tase me on their cell phones and whatnot......regardless this book I give 4 stars

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this book for a sociology class on crime and it really made me appreciate policework. not because of any humanitarian reasons. but because the job sounds so boring for 99% of the time. and because all people can be jackasses -- cops and citizens.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

kinda like the show of the same name these glimpses into patrol cop lives has no context. it risks being all texture and no content. the impressive quantity and breadth of scope of the first person vignettes seem framed for voyeurism not enlightenment.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This supposed to be like "what Cops Know" but better

Out of print :(

[Alex Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capsule review: Interesting, but not as good as Nam.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book.

[Who · Rating 3 out of 5]

gritty, gritty anecdotes which make you wonder- "did this really happen?"

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in high school, and even then it feels slimy. The cops telling these stories often don't even realize that they are the villain. I haven't re-read it in years, but some of the stories have stuck with me.

[Mickey Bits · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this genre and try to read all of the books that take interviews with police officers and turn them into books about the policing experience. This one was not the best but did not disappoint. Perhaps because I am older now and less fascinated with the job as I was when I was in college.

[Shawn Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, smart, intense and incredibly true to the real stories cops face regularly in the United States. Ive been a deputy sheriff for over twenty-five years. You can't make this stuff up!

[Michael Lent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Research. Good but dated as others have noted. Probably the best updates to these personal accounts are to be found on Quora or Reddit.

[Tyler Drennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as it was first person stories from police officers and it wasn’t sugar coated. I read it quite some time ago, but I definitely liked it.

[Josh A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bakers most overrated work, not saying it’s bad but it is not as good as DA or Nam. It has many good parts but it just lacks the hook that the other two books have and it just seems to boil down to “hurr durr I thought cop work would be like Miami vice” for 250+ pages

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Baker is Studs Terkel crossed with Elmore Leonard. Love this shit.