On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries
We Own This City by
The astonishing true story of "one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation" (The New York Times), from the Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter who exposed a gang of criminal cops and their yearslong plunder of an American city "A work of journalism that not only chronicles the rise and fall of a corrupt police unit but can stand as the inevitable coda to the half-century of disaster that is the American drug war."--David Simon, author of Homicide, co-author of The Corner, and creator of The Wire Baltimore, 2015. Riots are erupting across the city as citizens demand justice for Freddie Gray, a twenty-five-year-old Black man who has died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. Drug and violent crime are surging, and Baltimore will reach its highest murder count in more than two decades: 342 homicides in a single year, in a city of just 600,000 people. Facing pressure from the mayor's office--as well as a federal investigation of the department over Gray's death--Baltimore police commanders turn to a rank-and-file hero, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, and his elite plainclothes unit, the Gun Trace Task Force, to help get guns and drugs off the street. But behind these new efforts, a criminal conspiracy of unprecedented scale was unfolding within the police department. Entrusted with fixing the city's drug and gun crisis, Jenkins chose to exploit it instead. With other members of the empowered Gun Trace Task Force, Jenkins stole from Baltimore's citizens--skimming from drug busts, pocketing thousands in cash found in private homes, and planting fake evidence to throw Internal Affairs off their scent. Their brazen crime spree would go unchecked for years. The results were countless wrongful convictions, the death of an innocent civilian, and the mysterious death of one cop who was shot in the head, killed just a day before he was scheduled to testify against the unit. In this urgent book, award-winning investigative journalist Justin Fenton distills hundreds of interviews, thousands of court documents, and countless hours of video footage to present the definitive account of the entire scandal. The result is an astounding, riveting feat of reportage about a rogue police unit, the city they held hostage, and the ongoing struggle between American law enforcement and the communities they are charged to serve.
Call Number: HV8148.B2 F46 2021
I Got a Monster by
The explosive true story of America's most corrupt police unit, the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), which terrorized the city of Baltimore for half a decade. When Baltimore police sergeant Wayne Jenkins said he had a monster, he meant he had found a big-time drug dealer--one that he wanted to rob. This is the story of Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a super group of dirty detectives who exploited some of America's greatest problems: guns, drugs, toxic masculinity, and hypersegregation. In the upside-down world of the GTTF, cops were robbers and drug dealers were the perfect victims, because no one believed them. When the federal government finally arrested the GTTF for robbery and racketeering in 2017, the stories of victims began to come out, revealing a vast criminal enterprise operating within the Baltimore Police Department. Cops planted heroin to cover up a fatal crash that resulted from a botched robbery. They stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, faked video evidence, and forged a letter trying to break up the marriage of one of their victims to keep his wife from paying a lawyer. And a homicide detective was killed the day before he was scheduled to testify against the crooked cops. I Got a Monster is the shocking history of the rise and fall of the most corrupt cops in America from Baynard Woods and Brandon Soderberg.
Call Number: HV7936.C85 W66 2020
Hands up, Don't Shoot by
Understanding the explosive protests over police killings and the legacy of racism Following the high-profile deaths of eighteen-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, both cities erupted in protest over the unjustified homicides of unarmed black males at the hands of police officers. These local tragedies--and the protests surrounding them--assumed national significance, igniting fierce debate about the fairness and efficacy of the American criminal justice system. Yet, outside the gaze of mainstream attention, how do local residents and protestors in Ferguson and Baltimore understand their own experiences with race, place, and policing? In Hands Up, Don't Shoot, Jennifer Cobbina draws on in-depth interviews with nearly two hundred residents of Ferguson and Baltimore, conducted within two months of the deaths of Brown and Gray. She examines how protestors in both cities understood their experiences with the police, how those experiences influenced their perceptions of policing, what galvanized Black Lives Matter as a social movement, and how policing tactics during demonstrations influenced subsequent mobilization decisions among protesters. Ultimately, she humanizes people's deep and abiding anger, underscoring how a movement emerged to denounce both racial biases by police and the broader economic and social system that has stacked the deck against young black civilians. Hands Up, Don't Shoot is a remarkably current, on-the-ground assessment of the powerful, protestor-driven movement around race, justice, and policing in America.
Call Number: HV8141 .C56 2019
The Black and the Blue by
During his 28-year career, Matthew Horace rose through the ranks from a police officer working the beat to a federal agent working criminal cases in some of the toughest communities in America to a highly decorated federal law enforcement executive managing high-profile investigations nationwide. Yet it was not until seven years into his service- when Horace found himself face down on the ground with a gun pointed at his head by a white fellow officer-that he fully understood the racism seething within America's police departments. Through gut-wrenching reportage, on-the-ground research, and personal accounts from interviews with police and government officials around the country, Horace presents an insider's examination of archaic police tactics. He dissects some of the nation's most highly publicized police shootings and communities to explain how these systems and tactics have hurt the people they serve, revealing the mistakes that have stoked racist policing, sky-high incarceration rates, and an epidemic of violence. "Horace's authority as an experienced officer, as well as his obvious integrity and courage, provides the book with a gravitas." -- The Washington Post "The Black and the Blue is an affirmation of the critical need for criminal justice reform, all the more urgent because it comes from an insider who respects his profession yet is willing to reveal its flaws." -- USA Today
Call Number: HV7911.H617 A3 2018
Chokehold by
With the eloquence of Ta-Nehisi Coates and the persuasive research of Michelle Alexander, a former federal prosecutor explains how the system really works, and how to disrupt it Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it s supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread - all with the support of judges and politicians. In his no-holds-barred style, Butler, whose scholarship has been featured on 60 Minutes, uses new data to demonstrate that white men commit the majority of violent crime in the United States. For example, a white woman is ten times more likely to be raped by a white male acquaintance than be the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by a black man. Butler also frankly discusses the problem
Call Number: HV8141 .B88 2017
Race, Riots, and the Police by
Reflected almost daily in headlines, the enormous rift between the police and the communities they serve¿especially African American communities¿remains one of the major challenges facing the United States. And race-related riots continue to be a violent manifestation of that rift. Can this dismal state of affairs be changed? Can the distrust between black citizens and the police ever be transformed into mutual respect?
Howard Rahtz addresses this issue, first tracing the history of race riots in the US and then drawing on both the lessons of that history and his own first-hand experience to offer a realistic approach for developing and maintaining a police force that is a true community partner.
Howard Rahtz served for nearly two decades with the Cincinnati Police Department, retiring in 2007 as commander of the Vice Control Unit. He currently teaches at police academies in the area and speaks nationally on police reform. He is the author of Community Policing: A Handbook and Understanding Police Use of Force.
Call Number: HV6477 .R34 2016
Cop in the Hood by
Cop in the Hood is an explosive insider's story of what it is really like to be a police officer on the front lines of the war on drugs. Harvard-trained sociologist Peter Moskos became a cop in Baltimore's roughest neighborhood--the Eastern District, also the location for the first season of the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Wire--where he experienced real-life poverty and violent crime firsthand. This revised and corrected edition of Cop in the Hood provides an unforgettable window into the world that outsiders never see--the thriving drug corners, the nerve-rattling patrols, and the heartbreaking failure of 911. Moskos reveals the truth about the drug war and why it is engineered to fail--a truth he learned on the midnight shift. He describes police academy graduates fully unprepared for the realities of the street. He tells of a criminal justice system that incarcerates poor black men on a mass scale--a self-defeating system that measures success by arrest quotas and fosters a street code at odds with the rest of society--and argues for drug legalization as the only realistic way to end drug violence and let cops once again protect and serve. Moskos shows how officers in the ghetto are less concerned with those policed than with self-preservation and maximizing overtime pay--yet how any one of them would give their life for a fellow officer. Cop in the Hood ventures deep behind the Thin Blue Line to disclose the inner workings of law enforcement in America's inner cities. Those who read it will never view the badge the same way again.
Call Number: HV7911.M644 A3 2008
Streaming Videos
- The President and the People: A National Conversation David Muir moderates a town hall meeting with President Obama and people who were directly affected by recent tragedies involving law enforcement in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Baltimore. Cameron Sterling, Diamond Reynolds, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Clifton Kinney, Coffey Anderson, Toya Graham, and Police Chief Edward Flynn each take an opportunity to address the president with their concerns and questions about the future of our nation with regards to race relations, policing, guns, and inequality.
Article Databases
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Articles on any subject. This is a good place to start.
- Baltimore Sun This link opens in a new window
Baltimore's newspaper, which is good for local news and issues from 1990 - today.
For articles published 1837-1992, see ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Baltimore Sun. - Combined Video Search on Library Catalog
You can search for all titles from Films on Demand, Academic Video Online and Digital Theatre plus.
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Articles and ebooks about humanities topics like arts, history, language, law, literature, philosophy, and politics.
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Articles on any subject. This is a good place to start.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Sun This link opens in a new window
Primary source articles covering the politics, society and events of the time period 1837 - 1992.
- Social Science Database
Articles on social science topics like communication, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology.
- SocINDEX This link opens in a new window
Articles on sociology topics including criminal justice, gender studies, racial studies, social services, and social work.
- Sociology Database This link opens in a new window
Articles on sociology topics including criminal justice, gender studies, racial studies, social services, and social work.
Online from CCBC Libraries
The Use and Abuse of Police Power in America by
Providing a timely and much-needed investigation of how U.S. law enforcement carries out its public safety and crime fighting mandates, this book is an invaluable resource for students, educators, and concerned citizens. Does America face an epidemic of police officers abusing their powers and disregarding constitutional rights, especially in communities of color? Or are such accusations unfair, especially given the enormous challenges of enforcing the law in 21st-century America? This book provides a unique frame of reference for understanding how some of the issues between the police and the public emerged, identifying events that have shaped current relationships between the police and the public, as well as the public's expectations and perceptions of the police. An authoritative resource for understanding modern law enforcement and its relationship with American communities, this volume addresses subjects including the legal underpinnings of various law enforcement actions and practices; the so-called militarization of police departments; the increased use of force and surveillance to combat crime and terrorism, and to generally "keep the peace"; and the perspectives of Black Lives Matter activists and other critics of American law enforcement. The entries provide readers with expert analysis of current topics related to the intensifying debate about the American police state; examine the scope of law enforcement issues that have existed for centuries, and explain why they continue to exist; and cover new mandates for exercising police power, enabling readers to critically analyze what is presented to them in the media. Included throughout the book are excerpts from important laws, speeches, reports, and studies pertaining to the subject of the use and abuse of police power in the United States Provides a single-volume, go-to source for insight into police-citizen relations in the United States, from the 17th century through to today Documents major turning points and historical events influencing the evolution of police power Provides both supportive and critical perspectives on contemporary trends in law enforcement activities, attitudes, and practices Enables a fuller comprehension of law enforcement in an era of significant political and social upheaval, much of which is tied to racial, ethnic, or economic factors
Publication Date: 2017-05-12
Ethical Issues in Policing by
Police Studies constitute an important area of academic inquiry and policing raises a large number of ethical questions, yet to date there has been a paucity of research on the subject. This significant volume provides an integrated mix of ethico-philosophical analysis combined with practitioner knowledge and experience to examine and address the large number of difficult ethical questions involved in modern-day policing. Key features: ¢ Outlines a distinctive philosophical theory of policing which promotes the human rights dimension of police work. ¢ Analyzes the phenomenon of noble cause corruption and ways to combat it. ¢ Examines the role of restorative justice. ¢ Discusses the related notions of police authority and police discretion. ¢ Assesses the use of coercive and deadly force. ¢ Provides a detailed discussion of recent issues such as privacy and confidentiality in the context of new communication and information technologies, and entrapment. Philosophical in approach and written in an accessible style, the book will be a valuable guide for all those with an interest or involvement in Police Studies, Criminology, Philosophy and Ethics.
Publication Date: 2017-03-02
After the Rebellion by
What happened to black youth in the post-civil rights generation? What kind of causes did they rally around and were they even rallying in the first place? After the Rebellion takes a close look at a variety of key civil rights groups across the country over the last 40 years to provide a broad view of black youth and social movement activism. Based on both research from a diverse collection of archives and interviews with youth activists, advocates, and grassroots organizers, this book examines popular mobilization among the generation of activists - principally black students, youth, and young adults - who came of age after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Franklin argues that the political environment in the post-Civil Rights era, along with constraints on social activism, made it particularly difficult for young black activists to start and sustain popular mobilization campaigns. Building on case studies from around the country--including New York, the Carolinas, California, Louisiana, and Baltimore--After the Rebellion explores the inner workings and end results of activist groups such as the Southern Negro Youth Congress, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Student Organization for Black Unity, the Free South Africa Campaign, the New Haven Youth Movement, the Black Student Leadership Network, the Juvenile Justice Reform Movement, and the AFL-CIO's Union Summer campaign. Franklin demonstrates how youth-based movements and intergenerational campaigns have attempted to circumvent modern constraints, providing insight into how the very inner workings of these organizations have and have not been effective in creating change and involving youth. A powerful work of both historical and political analysis, After the Rebellion provides a vivid explanation of what happened to the militant impulse of young people since the demobilization of the civil rights and black power movements - a discussion with great implications for the study of generational politics, racial and black politics, and social movements.
Publication Date: 2014-07-11
Predictive Policing by
Predictive policing is the use of analytical techniques to identify targets for police intervention with the goal of preventing crime, solving past crimes, or identifying potential offenders and victims. These tools are not a substitute for integrated approaches to policing, nor are they a crystal ball. This guide assesses some of the most promising technical tools and tactical approaches for acting on predictions in an effective way.
Publication Date: 2013-10-15
