Political Sabotage: The LAPD Experience; Attitudes Toward Understanding Police Use of Force: (Paperback)

~ Richard Melville Holbrook (Author) "The first chapter provides the background and reasons for writing the book..." (more)
Key Phrases: Los Angeles, Rodney King, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

While Political Sabotage cannot be the answer for all in understanding social crime and violence, or police use of force to control it, it does attempt to provide a focus and single source toward that goal.

What facts and experience create the subtleties and, to some, "the mystique of police culture?" Is a true unprofessional "code of silence" part of it, and is that culture an intentionally closed club for those wearing the badge of authority in the Los Angeles Police Department? Were that "culture" and the use of force in the attempt to control crime and violence responsible for its downfall? And does diversity and affirmative action exist as co-conspirators? Or will it all remain as the unknown result of the influence and impact of the emotional and ideological attitudes found in our American society and its sometimes politicized, attorney dominated, and unjust justice system?

What part did political sabotage play in orchestrating what some in their academic isolation and a supporting media then label as, "the ineffective administration of a corrupt LAPD?" And what led that leadership, through a moderate level of hesitation and silence to a federal consent decree and various "commission investigations," and to every activist and media embellished blame, to forgo concerted effort to retain the best parts of what had once made the LAPD the most innovative, respected, effective and efficient police organization in America?

These questions have long had more truthful answers and more complete explanations.

About the Author

Richard Melville Holbrook was born in 1937 on the family farm ten miles outside North Platte, Nebraska. He soon moved with his parents to Brentwood, a community on the west side of Los Angeles, California.

After graduating from San Fernando High School in a San Fernando Valley suburb, he spent four years in the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force, educated and assigned as a Medical Service Specialist, trained as a medical and surgical emergency room technician, spending an additional two years in obstetrics assisting with deliveries, and formally trained in the care and treatment of premature infants.

At the age of 23, and as all new police recruits were required to undergo at that time, he passed the more stringent background, mental and physical tests and was hired by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), retiring as a Lieutenant II after a 30-year career that saw him working in six of LAPD's 18 field divisions. For eight years he was assigned to divisional vice units and Administrative Vice Division in citywide organized crime enforcement. An additional four years of his career were spent in charge of the Specialized Instruction and Coordination Unit at the Police Academy. Other assignments included Community Relations, Internal Affairs, Planning and Research, and Scientific Investigation divisions.

In addition to Bachelor of Public Management and Master of Public Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, the author is a graduate of advanced law enforcement courses such as Special Weapons and Tactics, and Costing Police Services.

During ten years of his career, he taught management and supervision, decision making, and was an instructor for policy and law in the use of force. After retiring from the LAPD, he held corporate investigative and management positions in private security, ending his career as the General Manager of Operations for Southern California in a worldwide security firm with over 3,000 security officers and their supervisors under his management responsibility, deployed in over 23 private security services contracts.

He lives in Sylmar at the Northeast corner of Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Debbie, and daughters Stephanie and Lisa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 646 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412006074
• ISBN-13: 978-1412006071
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,251,148 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Author's comment, July 1, 2004

By	Richard M. Holbrook (Weatherford, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From the author: I can't say that it's a literary jewel, but Political Sabotage does chronicle and explore the historical facts, law, and sociological attitudes that led to charges of "systemic corruption," "brutality" and, ultimately, to an ineffective and still partly demoralized and inefficient Los Angeles Police Department. Through academic and police experience the ongoing politically formed and anointed commission and Federal Consent Decree attempts at LAPD's "reform" are examined through understanding and adjudicating related examples in the use of police force while defining the true culture and constitutional role of law enforcement. Even those experienced in the justice system might learn something more and relate to one or more of the relevant events and conflicted attitudes in society's mostly failed attempts to effectively control crime and violence in the United States. Take care, and be safe out there.