Why is it so difficult to hold bad cops accountable? In this provocative and enlightening book, we learn about the world of civilian-led police accountability in New York City and why it rarely succeeds. Through harrowing real stories of police misconduct investigated by the authors themselves, as well as an exploration of the modern CompStat-focused system of incentives and the self-protective police bureaucracy, we are left understanding the deep-seated cynicism and hopelessness that cops and the public experience. We can do better than this, as the authors suggest at the end. Let’s hope so.” —Cathy O’Neil, New York Times bestselling author of Weapons of Math Destruction
“Deeply thoughtful and compassionate… a frighteningly readable account of the problems inherent in policing the police.” — Ron Kuby, civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host, and television commentator
“Cop Cop is an essential and long overdue look behind the curtain of how hard police work to maintain the ‘blue wall’ of silence and how attempts at reform, accountability, or abolition are structurally undermined.” —Matthew Guariglia, historian, activist, and author of Police and the Empire City
“Staggering, infuriating, and essential reading for anyone interested in law enforcement, accountability, and good government.” —Ali Winston, award-winning investigative journalist, and co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night
