andreweverett360 Book Review, Crime & Law Enforcement

Back from the Brink: Inside the NYPD and New York City’s Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop


Back from the Brink: Inside the NYPD and New York City’s Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop
by Peter Moskos

I have previously read Commissioner Bratton’s memoir Turnaround on the dramatic reduction in crime during the 1990s in New York City. Back from the Brink features many more perspectives on the subject in their own words. Criminal justice professor Peter Moskos interviewed 50 people at various levels of law enforcement and beyond. Besides these primary sources, the author’s extensive research includes a nine-page bibliography of secondary sources.

This book makes it evident that while superior management of the police department played a central role in crime reduction, this did not happen in a vacuum. There was support from politicians, prosecutors, the Bryant Park and Times Square business improvement districts, the leadership of Port Authority bus terminal, and FBI/NYPD task forces—all working toward a common goal making the city safer.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Crime & Law Enforcement

Turnaround


Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic
by William J. Bratton

I think of Turnaround as a management book by a highly-accomplished chief executive (police) officer. The book reads like an autobiography, from Bill Bratton’s childhood in Boston, until after his falling out with Rudy Guiliani. Through his experiences, I learned a lot about police work and his management style

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