Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "What was it like just before you did it, inside that cocoon you'd spun around your brain?..." (more)
Key Phrases: San Diego, New York, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Norm Stamper, formerly chief of the Seattle Police Force and deputy chief of the San Diego Police Department, has written a story unlike any other. Part memoir, part polemic on the state of policing in America, Breaking Rank melds progressive politics with hard-boiled reportage in the tradition of Charles Bukowski and Elmore Leonard.

With provocatively titled chapters like "Why White Cops Kill Black Men" and "Sexual Predators in Uniform," Stamper reveals a force that can be racist, corrupt, overly militaristic, and chauvinist, yet is also made up of brave and good men and women. He reflects upon what it is like to kill a man, why drugs should be decriminalized, the correct approach to prostitution and gun control, and how the force should be trained for the future. Stamper’s prescriptions for change are both reasoned and challenging, but at no time does Breaking Rank become didactic— it is a riveting story told from the perspective of one of America's top cops on the street.

About the Author

Norm Stamper began his law enforcement career in San Diego in 1966 as a beat cop. In 1994, he was named chief of the Seattle Police Department, where he set about implementing many of the initiatives he writes about in Breaking Rank. Retiring in 2000, he now lives in a cabin on a mountain in the San Juan Islands in Washington State.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560256931
• ISBN-13: 978-1560256939
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars easy to read, September 23, 2005

By	John (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

I met Mr. Stamper once briefly about 11 years ago in San Diego at a conference and decided to learn more about an interesting, knowledgeable, and experienced police professional. I'm glad he wrote this book and I recommend it.

Like Norm (I can't imagine anybody calling him anything else) I retired after three decades of professional policing. I began in 1970.

The three decades from 1970 to 2000 were tumultuously (yes, tumultuously) productive in the genuine professionalization of American policing. The profession is still blue collar shift work in many ways in most places, according to my own reading and experience, but it shouldn't be and seems to be heading in the right direction in many places. Myself, I am a proponent of the problem oriented approach. There are other approaches, and that is what makes for genuine professionalization -- vigorous (and tumultuous sometimes) effort.

Norm's personality is on display in his book, as well as his expertise. This is a warm book with plenty of humor, as well as a serious book with the kind of advocacy backed up by research and experience that we need from those of us who are serious about the improvement of American policing.

One big negative but constructive criticism: no index.

One lesser criticism: the chapter on "Undercover." Norm tells a compelling and true story in that chapter, however, having some experience in "UC" work myself, I would have written from the point of view of management analysis of cost-benefit. Most undercover work is very expensive and produces not very much genuine product. I distinguish here between process and product. UC might produce lots of arrests, but it seldom solves any problems. Process vs. permanent results. It should be used sparingly and with well-thought-out direction.

There is nothing new in Norm's book in terms of breaking new ground, but it is unique anyway, in that it is an easy read for those who should read it -- public administrators and elected officials -- who don't normally (no pun intended) have the time to do a lot of research and don't know much about what goes on within their very expensive and mysterious public safety services.

Norm -- Mr. Stamper -- hits the right nails on their heads. What Joseph Wambaugh does for policing in some of his fiction, Norm does here in a popular, non-fiction way.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stamper's Right On Target, August 8, 2005

By	Kevin Scott "Kevin Scott" (San Diego) - See all my reviews

Stamper offers an honest and personal view of policing in America. His first-hand account of police culture makes for excellent reading. Oddly, this self-proclaimed progressive offers many conservative approaches to tackle crime in our country including the decriminalization of drugs, a stance supported by Friedman, Buckley, and Shultz. Breaking Rank proved to be balanced and pragmatic. As a conservative, I was surprised to find how often I agreed with Stamper's recommendations.

Breaking Rank is a must read for all police and public administration courses that tackle the subject of crime prevention.

As a native San Diegan, I'm proud of Stamper's accomplishments and his contribution to police reform.

Kevin Scott

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blueprint for Progressive Policing, August 7, 2005

By	Charles J. Dunsire "Charles Dunsire, writer" (Issaquah, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stamper's book should be required reading for all young law enforcement officers who, in particular, aspire to positions of future leadership of America's police forces. It offers guidelines for progressive changes, including greater emphasis on community policing, the rampant crime of domestic violence, and less militaristic models of police department organization. Stamper also makes persuasive arguments for such controversial policies as the elimination of capital punishment and the decriminalization of drugs. The author was a working cop and police administrator in San Diego and Seattle, where he was chief of police. This reviewer had the opportunity, as a newspaper editorial page editor, to observe Stamper's outstanding performance in the latter role. His account of his personal experiences is arresting - no pun intended - and often very entertaining.