The Sordid Hypocrisy of to Protect and to Serve

The Sordid Hypocrisy of To Protect and To Serve ... ...is a savage indictment of the worst police practices in America. The Los Angeles Police adopted the motto To Protect and To Serve in 1955. In 1991 the videotape beating of Rodney King horrified the nation and tarnished -- perhaps forever -- the LAPD's reputation. Since then Albuquerque, New Mexico police have randomly shot citizens and have received bonuses and time off for their behavior; a car chase in Cleveland, Ohio, in November, 2021 involved 62 police vehicles and resulted in two unarmed citizens dead; Eric Garner died in a police chokehold in Staten Island in July, 2014; unarmed 18-year-oldMichael Brown was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, August 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice shot by a Cleveland policeman in November, killed by the policeman within two seconds of arriving on the scene; and other horrific examples of police misconduct. The book contains the texts of two complete (federal) Dept. of Justice investigations: the Albuquerque New Mex. Police Department and the Ferguson, Mo., police department and corruption in the Ferguson city government. It also contains a list of the multi-millions in wrongful death lawsuits paid by major American cities, funds which could have been been spent elsewhere. 380 pages. The book is powerful --and extremely timely. It is a companion book to At the Dangerous Edge of Social Justice: Race, Violence and Death in America, by the same author, published in 2013.