BEHIND THE BADGE

BEHIND THE BADGE                                 MICHAEL COVER


If you think you know what life is like for a police officer, think again.

Drawn from twenty-four years of experience working for a Southern California police department, Behind the Badge: A Policeman’s Legacy is a window into the true-life drama of life in the ranks of one of the country’s most dangerous jobs. No longer the realm of Mayberry R.F.D., but not yet the world of Blade Runner, this is the story of real men and women doing real jobs at the start of the twenty-first century.

Attempting to break through the stereotypes we’ve all been inundated by over the years, Cover shows us what really goes on when an officer is taking care of day-to-day business. Battling armed criminals, dogs, bureaucracy, and sometimes even public opinion, the job was seldom easy, but the duty was always important. 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a good book with true stories about cases that he worked on over 24 years. From the very first through the end and how he started as a patrolman and worked his way up. You get a real sense of what it is like being a police officer and all of the good and bad or difficulties that go with the job. You also get a feel of how the job changed over the years due to new rules they had to follow as well. I think I liked the beginning the most because he takes you back to the application, background check, different interviews, seeing the same people then those people are no longer there. You are left with only a handful and then it is off to the academy. Doing push-ups because your cuff case was not fasten, or some other reason. Thinking this is foolish but knowing that in the end those little things are important when you are chasing someone and your cuffs, of some other piece of equipment falls out for not being secured. He takes you through the fun part, pepper spray and gas. I say fun because that is the only way to look at it because some day you will be again in that same situation where you will get sprayed and it could be by your partner, and your mind somehow takes you back to that moment and you don’t panic. At the time though you don’t know that, that there is a reason for everything they made you go through. Let me tell you when he speaks of CN and CS they are not very nice but you need to know what they are like in case your mask gets pulled off or you don’t have time to mask up, pray the wind is blowing the direction. Most of his other stories took me back to stories I had, but I think for anyone wanting to get into the field of law enforcement this would be a excellent book. Thank for your years of service. I got this book from netgalley.   I give this 5 stars.