Police: A Field Guide Revised Edition

A radical guide to the language of policing

This field guide arms activists—and indeed anyone concerned about police abuse—with critical insights that ultimately redefine the very idea of policing. When we talk about police and police reform, we speak the language of police legitimation through euphemism. So state sexual assault becomes “body-cavity search,” and ruthless beatings “non-compliance deterrence.”

In entries such as “police dog,” “stop and frisk,” and “rough ride,” the authors exp...