The Police in America provides a comprehensive introduction to the foundations of policing in the United States today. Descriptive and analytical, the text is designed to offer undergraduate students a balanced and up-to-date overview of who the police are and what they do, the problems they face, and the many reforms and innovations that have taken place in policing. Using timely articles and excerpts, the authors take readers beyond the headlines and statistics to present a comprehensive and contemporary overview of what it means to be a police officer.
Synopsis
The Police in America provides a comprehensive introduction to the foundations of policing in the United States today. Descriptive and analytical, the text is designed to offer undergraduate students a balanced and up-to-date overview of who the police are and what they do, the problems they face, and the many reforms and innovations that have taken place in policing. Using timely articles and excerpts, the authors take readers beyond the headlines and statistics to present a comprehensive and contemporary overview of what it means to be a police officer.
About the Author, Samuel Walker
Charles M. Katz is an assistant professor in the Administration of Justice Department at Arizona State University West. He currently serves as the director of the department’s graduate program. Katz earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1997. He is currently involved in two studies examining responses to community gang problems. He is the project director for a National Institute of Justice study of the police response to gangs in four sites: Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Inglewood (California). In addition, he is working with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the City of Mesa (Arizona) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mesa Gang Intervention Project. His publications include numerous articles on community policing, policing gangs, and drugs and crime.
