by Ric Robinson
Review by Daryl W. Clemens
Chapters:
Racial Profiling- The Color Of A Criminal
Homeland Insecurity- The Price Of Freedom
Passenger Planes Are Safe And Clinton Didn’t Spit In Her Mouth
Criminals Are Best When Cooked Well Along With Their Attorneys
Dirty Harry Was Right: Nothing Wrong With Shooting As Long As The Right People Get Shot
Cincinnati’s Race Riots- A City Held Hostage
Don’t Blame Cops for Inner City Turmoil- It’s The Mayor’s Fault
Ask A Crack Baby About Legalizing Drugs Then Tell Me It’s Not Violent
Why Did She Have Two Black Eyes? ‘Cause She Didn’t Get It The First Time
Lessons Of Columbine Five Thousand School Bomb Threats Later
High Speed Pursuit- A Real Killer
The U.S. Supremes Suck! Well, Not All Of Them
I found that I enjoyed the book, even if I don’t necessarily agree with all of it.
Ric is a former State Trooper, and radio talk show host. In fact the book reads very much like it was taken directly from talk show segments. (I never heard Ric’s show, so perhaps it was). If you enjoyed Ric on the radio, you will no doubt like the book.
Ric has a tendency to start talking about a subject, and then drift off into semi/unrelated war stories. The war stories are where you get a glimpse of what life as a cop is really like. Too bad their aren’t more of them. The editing in the book could also use a helping hand. I caught a few mis-spelled words, and I wasn’t even really looking hard.
The book doesn’t deal directly with criminal investigation or forensic science, although in Chapter 4 he talks a little bit about prisoners released due to DNA evidence. He explains, albeit briefly, why this doesn’t necessarily mean they were innocent.
The book is really about Ric’s views on a variety of social/political subjects. For life as a cop I’d have to recommend “What Cops Know” or “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” over this book. However, if you are interested in the social and political forces that drive policing, then this book is for you.