Our Enemies in Blue [Paperback]

Kristian Williams (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press; 1 edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887128859
• ISBN-13: 978-1887128858
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,542,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Officer Friendly?, February 15, 2005

By 

Zen Prole (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Enemies in Blue (Paperback)

Williams' book is a grown-up's antidote to the standard histories of policing. Criticism of this well-researched book *must* rely on shrill misdirection, i.e. "he's an anarchist," because there is really no other avenue. There is no slack in this work and it is a fine companion piece to Katya Komisaruk's "Beat The Heat: How To Handle Encounters With Law Enforcement." Five Stars, no hesitation.

38 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You may not agree., June 23, 2005

By 

Adam L. Lobaugh "rsklnkv" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Enemies in Blue (Paperback)

This book will appeal to those of you who are already educated to the reality that police exist for one reason and one reason alone : To maintain the current class order and hierarchies of society.
Let's be honest here. Poor people go to jail. Not the rich.
The idea that this book is filled with "distortions, lies, urban myths, twisted logic,absurd claims and bizare conlusions" (as one reviewer wrote) is certainly true if you've spent your life living in those wonderful, white, suburban hoods. If, however, you grew up in the neighborhoods consisting primarily of poor, black folk, you'll have no trouble seeing where the author is coming from. The fact that people either love or hate this book speaks volumes in and of itself. It proves many of the points the writer is trying to make. The police no longer 'protect and serve' the citizens of this country. If they ever did. They protect and serve the masters of America. The rich policy makers. The ruling white class.
You may not believe this, but that does not make it any less true.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right On Point, July 30, 2005

By 

John M. Dailey "The Oppressed" (NYC Police State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Enemies in Blue (Paperback)

Mr Williams exposes not only the extreme ignorance among the general population (as evidenced by the one-star reviews) of the United States regarding police abuse and corruption, but the institutions that benifit from the existance of a police force. It's no accident that those in positions of power rely on brute force to keep the "rabble" in line. Since 9/11 the violations into people's lives in the form of "sneak-n-peek searches", the TIPS program, spying into library reacords - and then threatening the librarians with prosecution if they inform anyone of this activity - is completely outrageous. The increasing number of unjustifiable searches and seizures, arrests and killings by the police in their "War on Drugs" fiasco has led to the biggest increases in prison populations and deaths. A greater increase in law enforcement does not mean a more protected populace; on the contrary, the more cops you have on the streets the more crime there is. Remember, police forces don't want to eliminate crime all together, because then there would be no reason for a police force, and all the graft and corruption that exists within them. Also, the culture of the police acts as a safe haven for those who have an authoritarian mentality. So, when the powers-that-be want your head clubbed by a cop, he shouldn't be that sympathetic towards your condition.