Customer Reviews

Fort Apache Bronx, NY

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Written during the early 1970's, Fort Apache captures in vivid detail what it was like to work in the then busisest and deadliest precinct in New York. Walker describes the neighborhood and the cops who police it with uncanny accuracy. You will ride along with him to shootings, stabbings, muggings,and homicides.Walker captures the frustration and the dedication of the cops assigned to the 41st as they race from call to call in the seemingly endless parade of crime. A must read for those who enjoy true police stories.

This book is a short and easy read but is packed full of story after story of the downs and downs of life amidst urban decay. Tom Walker does a great job of bringing the reader through the mean streets, the roach infested apartments, the mid-evil precinct house and describing the people in great detail. It was a unique time and place and one that people who don't live in New York could never understand. This book for me, not having been old enough to be aware of Ft Apache, opens a window into a very small, dirty, violent time in that city's history. It was also a time, which the author does acknowledge, that chewed up and spit out cops in bulk. While Walker does express a compassionate picture of the streets and people there, the book is probably be more interesting to law enforcement types than those interested in history or the social perspective of life in the Bronx during that era. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in New York, urban history, law enforcement history or NYPD History as I am.

Walker's days in Fort Apache coincide with my growing up years in the South Bronx. Yes, the Bronx was burning! And yes, there were crooks and there were caring, kind people who'd give you the shirt off their backs. This book is gripping and filled with unbelievable stories, however, as we Bronxites know, very real. My hat's off to you Tom Walker. I highly recommend this book!