Citizens Defending America: From Colonial Times to the Age of Terrorism [Hardcover]

Martin Alan Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2005

Today, concerns over homeland security have led thousands of Americans to volunteer for various citizen emergency response groups, such as the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Community Emergency Response Teams, fire units, etc.  In Citizens Defending America, Martin Greenberg focuses new attention on the subject of citizen volunteerism by chronicling the nature and purpose of volunteer police units—authorized organizations of a public or private nature that work at deterring crime and/or preventing terrorism for little or no monetary compensation—in America since 1620.  A number of these historical groups responsible for maintaining the civil order of the day—slave patrols, frontier posses, vice suppression societies, the American Protective League, for example—now seem controversial when viewed through a contemporary lens.  Greenberg uses the history of such groups to reflect upon the nation’s past and to consider the possibilities for a safe and secure future.  He also emphasizes the role of young people in the fields of security and safety, and stresses the need for more qualified, trained volunteers to help cope with man-made and natural disasters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Martin Greenberg’s study of citizen policing is a superlative combination of scholarship—deeply rooted in historical background—and creative concern for modern public policy. Every policymaker and concerned citizen who would like to live in a safer America in this age of international and domestic terrorism can benefit from Greenberg’s lucid, engaging, and eminently sensible analysis.”
—Dennis C. Rousey, Arkansas State University

“Professor Greenberg synthesizes disparate and scattered material on volunteer police into a historically cogent framework. This book is a must read for serious students and scholars of policing.” 
—Phillip C. H. Shon, Indiana State University

“Scholarly and well written . . . highly commendable contribution to the policing literature on a somewhat controversial but significant, and possibly understudied, dimension of policing.”
--D.O. Fredrichs, Choice, March 2006

From the Back Cover

"Martin Greenberg's study of citizen policing is a superlative combination of scholarship--deeply rooted in historical background--and creative concern for modern public policy. Every policymaker and concerned citizen who would like to live in a safer America in this age of international and domestic terrorism can benefit from Greenberg's lucid, engaging, and eminently sensible analysis."--Dennis C. Rousey, Arkansas State University

"Professor Greenberg synthesizes disparate and scattered material on volunteer police into a historically cogent framework. This book is a must read for serious students and scholars of policing."--Phillip C. H. Shon, Indiana State University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 364 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press; 1 edition (September 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082294264X
• ISBN-13: 978-0822942641
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,093,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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