Customer Reviews

Surviving: Drunk Drivers-Gutter Politics and Police

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Raymond Schaffer's book describes, in great detail, of his battle with corrupt cops and politicians. As head of a police academy that serviced forty police agencies in seven counties he describes how three of the local police chiefs conspired with a newly elected sheriff, who was a mere puppet to the polititians, to destroy his career because of his refusal to succomb to their corrupt and childish whims.

I read in astonishment as he talked openly about his deep seated hatred toward those who were relentless in their attack on him and how he was forced to the brink of a mental breakdown because of the abuse. It was a difficult book to put down.

An apt title for a book written by someone so familiar with the gutter.
Take a trip through the politics of a small county's political underground with a bitter man consumed with hatred and vengeance as your guide. Follow him as he attempts ot justify his position in the Broome County (NY) Sheriff's Department and play the victim as he reaps the consequences of his own poor choices.
Having become familiar with the entire set of circumstances from the luxury of an being an outsider, and having known the author for more than 18 years as well as the other players in this tale, it has become evident that his masterpiece will go down in the literary world right beside the works of Ted Kaczynski and Jason Klebold.

Raymond Schaffer's autobiographical book is the story of an honest cop who refused to play along with the politically corrupt game in the Broome County, New York sheriff's department ruled (as the author describes him) by a cruel, vindictive and buffoonish sheriff named David Harder. At 554 pages it is a long read, and the real story of Schaffer's journey into agency hell doesn't begin until 200 or so pages in.

By then, whether you've read every word or skimmed some of the minutiae I personally would have edited out, you will know Ray Schaffer very, very well. He examines himself with unflinching, even brutal, honesty. His is a journey into the underworld of police and political incompetence. Following the election of a sheriff whose opponent he had supported, he found himself in a department run by incompetent and none-too-bright leaders driven by narcissism and peopled with underlings most of whom are a**-kissing slugs.

The author also describes a journey of self-discovery that took him to the brink of a mental breakdown only prevented by timely psychotherapy. 

In the first half of the book writing is amateurish but not off-putting. But once Schaffer begins to describe his war against the sheriff and his minions a writing transformation takes place. There is a passion and urgency in his prose that the first third of the book lacks. With considerable insight and courage, he describes his thoughts, emotions and even his violent retribution fantasies.  

Readers unfamiliar with just how rotten a law enforcement agency can become may not believe that such a thing is possible. His story will seem like the rambling of the delusional Alice who falls asleep and dreamed herself in Wonderland ruled by the insane Queen of Hearts. When the Queen commands "off with their heads," no real blood is shed.
 
The insular worlds of these few law enforcement agencies is all too real. Their monarchs can decide to ruin the lives of their subordinates. I can attest, from my work as a police stress therapist helping honest cops cope with morally bankrupt departments, that while these agencies are thankfully a small minority, they do exist.

When Shaffer's enemies pull out all the stops to destroy his career, and truly wallow in the most appalling of gutter tactics to break him down him emotionally and spiritually, the book is hard to put down.

My dad's book deals with an honest cop who fought a corrupt sheriff named David Harder.

I thought the book was fairly well written and was impressed with dad's honesty as he discussed his emotional journey through some very difficult times as this corrput sheriff destroyed his career.

I found his story to be inspirational and spiritually enlightening.

The book can be broken down into two parts: The first, discussed the authors upbringing and his steadfast determination to become a cop. The second, describes in detail, and with brutal honesty, of his rise and fall within his department, and of the corrupt sheriff who destroyed his career. It's extremely rare when a law enforcement officer speaks so openly about his feelings and I was impressed with his honesty. It's unfortunate that there are chiefs and sheriffs out there who are so incompetent, yet have the power to destroy such a promising career. I thought the book was extremely interesting.