Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture

Former Berkley, CA, police officer Gross (sociology, Colby Coll.; The New Pragmatist Sociology) notes that the United States has a much higher rate of police killing per capita than any other wealthy democracy. Police killings are, in fact, the largest cause of death for men between the ages of 25 and 29, and that likelihood increases significantly for people of color. This book discusses how the residents in the disadvantaged neighborhoods of Stockton, CA, Longmont, CO, and LaGrange, GA, view the attitudes and actions of their respective police departments. As a result of this study, these three areas’ police departments created reforms to treat citizens and suspects with more dignity, held community meetings to address racial inequality, and stressed de-escalation over force when arrests are made. This book shows what policing could be.