Customer Reviews

Surviving Street Patrol: The Officer's Guide to Safe and Effective Policing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having read the author's prior work of similar format and content ("Street Work"), I was a little worried it might simply be a re-hash of the same material. However, the previous book was so good, I felt that the new one was worth a look. It is, in fact, new and updated material. All of it is relevant to actually working on the street.

For those not currently working in law enforcement, or interested in it as a future career, you might also find it worthwhile. While the main purpose of the book is not to illustrate "what it's like to be a cop", you can find it if you read between the lines. Lots of the topics provide insight as to _why_ law enforcement officers do certain things when on the street.

The format, which works very well, is about 60 self-contained topics (magazine column size). Each is to the point and full of information that makes it clear the author has "been there, done that".

If I had to pick 5 or 6 books for new peace officers to read, this would be on the list. It is excellent for both training as well as review for experienced officers. It is filled with lots of stuff that many of us remember when we get reminded...

I hope Mr. Albrecht has more of these up his sleeve...

The author is well-known tactics instructor: his previous works include Contact & Cover, a fundamental book on officer survival, which he co-wrote with John Morrison. He has extensive experience as a street cop, so the advise you get from this book are field-tested throughly.

The book is comprised from over 50 articles which have been published in a police magazine before (San Diego Police Officers Association publication 'The Informant'). This approach is a two-edged sword. On the other hand this book covers a wide variety of issues, but on the other hand, because most articles are only about 3-4 pages long, the advise you get is quite basic in nature. This creates a problem that the more experience you have on police work, the less useful this book is for you. However, no matter how expeirenced you are, you are still likely to learn something new, or are at least reminded of something that you have forgotten a long time ago.

The articles have been arranged in a alphabetical orded according to the title of the article. In my opinion, it would have been wiser to group the articles by the subject they are covering. Now you get a chapter on avoiding blood-transmitted diseases, followed by article about court survival, followed by article on ground fighting, and so on. And, to make things worse, sometimes it is surprisingly hard to tell what a given article is covering just by the name. So, if you are looking for advise on certain subject, it can be hard to find the right article, if you don't know the name of the article.

Another complaint is that the book is printed in a font that is a bit too small to my taste. It's not too small to read, but if you want to make sidenotes or underlinings to the book (which I like to do), it can be hard because the size of the text.

To sum it up, I would say that for a novice cop, this book is a treasure chest, but experienced cops will benefit from reading it also.

Chapters are short and to the point.
I disagree with the others when they say they feel this book is best for beginners. I feel this book is better for those who have been on the job for 5 or more years. I say this because nearly everything covered are things taught in the academy (at least the one I graduated from). Therefore, this would be a good refresher for those who have been on the job for awhile and may have forgotten some of the academy.

Quite simply, its the only book I've ever read outside of college on my personal time that I've taken notes from for my own application to work. Worth reading and keeping. I highly suggest it for future and current officers. It's best geared for the future, or rookie officers. But veterans can get great tips out of it too.

This is a good book for those who have less than five years experience on a police department. Most of the material is explained fairly well and is easy to understand. I would like to see the author write a more advanced book, it appears he has the experience and ability.

Recommended for new police officers or those who need to refresh themselves on good tactics.

SURVIVING STREET PATROL IS A GREAT BOOK. IT'S UP TO DATE, AN EASY READ AND FULL OF VALUABLE INFO THAT WILL KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES AND OUT OF A PINE BOX. I HAVE BEEN ON THE JOB FOR SIX YEARS AND, AFTER READING THIS BOOK,I REALIZED I HAVE BECOME TOO COMPLACENT. ACCORDING TO THE BOOK,MOST OFFICERS WHO ARE KILLED ON THE JOB HAVE FIVE PLUS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. DON'T LET IT BE YOU! BUY THIS BOOK AND REFRESH YOUR, "I KNOW EVERYTHING" MIND AND STAY SAFE.

I really enjoy this book. It is easy to read, and has great humor. I would strongly recommend this book to all Officer's whose primary responsibility is street patrol.

4 STARS ****

I found this book to be a great review of things learned in police training. As a new officer, I found much of the information to be very helpful. It's like a book of advice from a cop that seems to have been there and done that. After reading this book, I feel like I'm on track to having a long, successful career as a cop.