| Copyright © 2006 - 2009 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Peter C. Moskos is a professor of Law
and Police Science at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice in New
York City. His research specializes in
police culture, police patrol and crime
prevention, drug violence, community
policing and terrorism, police/minority
relations, and qualitative methods.
and Police Science at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice in New
York City. His research specializes in
police culture, police patrol and crime
prevention, drug violence, community
policing and terrorism, police/minority
relations, and qualitative methods.
| Professor Peter C. Moskos John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Peter Moskos was born in Chicago and graduated from
Evanston Township High School. He earned his
bachelor’s degree in sociology at Princeton University
(magna cum laude 1994) and his masters and Ph.D in
sociology at Harvard University (2004).
He worked as a Baltimore City police officer from 1999
to 2001, patrolling midnight shift in Baltimore’s high-
crime Eastern District. Peter left the police force to
return to his graduate studies at Harvard.
Evanston Township High School. He earned his
bachelor’s degree in sociology at Princeton University
(magna cum laude 1994) and his masters and Ph.D in
sociology at Harvard University (2004).
He worked as a Baltimore City police officer from 1999
to 2001, patrolling midnight shift in Baltimore’s high-
crime Eastern District. Peter left the police force to
return to his graduate studies at Harvard.
above) Baltimore’s Eastern District Sector Two Midnight
Shift, May 2001. From left to right: E. Menzer, M. Vaughn, J.
Dolly, J Woollen, Sgt C. Moore, K. Snyder, G. Boyd, P.
Moskos, M. Guizzotti. Not in photo: D. Bauer, G. Clinedist, K.
Lane, S. Sistek, W. Washington.
Shift, May 2001. From left to right: E. Menzer, M. Vaughn, J.
Dolly, J Woollen, Sgt C. Moore, K. Snyder, G. Boyd, P.
Moskos, M. Guizzotti. Not in photo: D. Bauer, G. Clinedist, K.
Lane, S. Sistek, W. Washington.
Cop in the Hood
(Princeton University
Press) is Moskos’s first
book and examines
urban crime-prevention
and police-specific
variables linking drug
laws to high-levels of
African-American
violence and
imprisonment.
(Princeton University
Press) is Moskos’s first
book and examines
urban crime-prevention
and police-specific
variables linking drug
laws to high-levels of
African-American
violence and
imprisonment.
Cop in the Hood is an explosive insider’s story of what
it is really like to be a police officer on the front lines
of the war on drugs. Harvard-trained sociologist Peter
Moskos became a cop in
Baltimore’s roughest neighborhood—the Eastern
District, also the location for the critically acclaimed
HBO drama The Wire—where he experienced the real-
life poverty and violent crime firsthand. He provides
an unforgettable window into this world that outsiders
never see—the thriving drug corners, the nerve-
rattling patrols, and the heartbreaking failure of 911.
Moskos reveals the truth about the drug war and why
it is engineered to fail—a truth he learned on the
midnight shift in Baltimore. He describes police-
academy graduates fully unprepared for the realities
of the street. He tells of a criminal-justice system that
incarcerates poor black men on a mass scale—a self-
defeating system that measures success by arrest
quotas and fosters a street code at odds with the rest
of society—and argues for drug legalization as the
only realistic way to end drug violence and let cops
once again protect and serve. Moskos shows how
officers in the ghetto are less concerned with those
policed than with self-preservation and maximizing
overtime pay—yet how any one of them would give
their life for a fellow officer. Cop in the Hood ventures
deep behind the Thin Blue Line to disclose the inner
workings of law enforcement in America’s inner cities.
Those who read it will never view the badge the same
way.
it is really like to be a police officer on the front lines
of the war on drugs. Harvard-trained sociologist Peter
Moskos became a cop in
Baltimore’s roughest neighborhood—the Eastern
District, also the location for the critically acclaimed
HBO drama The Wire—where he experienced the real-
life poverty and violent crime firsthand. He provides
an unforgettable window into this world that outsiders
never see—the thriving drug corners, the nerve-
rattling patrols, and the heartbreaking failure of 911.
Moskos reveals the truth about the drug war and why
it is engineered to fail—a truth he learned on the
midnight shift in Baltimore. He describes police-
academy graduates fully unprepared for the realities
of the street. He tells of a criminal-justice system that
incarcerates poor black men on a mass scale—a self-
defeating system that measures success by arrest
quotas and fosters a street code at odds with the rest
of society—and argues for drug legalization as the
only realistic way to end drug violence and let cops
once again protect and serve. Moskos shows how
officers in the ghetto are less concerned with those
policed than with self-preservation and maximizing
overtime pay—yet how any one of them would give
their life for a fellow officer. Cop in the Hood ventures
deep behind the Thin Blue Line to disclose the inner
workings of law enforcement in America’s inner cities.
Those who read it will never view the badge the same
way.
Publishers Weekly : Moskos frankly records his
experiences with poverty, violence, drugs and despair
in the gritty ghetto. Moskos's overview of policing
problems covers everything from arrest quotas,
corrupt cops and excess paperwork to the reliance on
patrolling in cars, responding to a barrage of 911
calls, rather than patrolling on foot to prevent crimes.
Moskos blends narrative and analysis, adding an
authoritative tone to this adrenaline-accelerating night
ride that reveals the stark realities of law enforcement
while illuminating little-known aspects of police
procedures.
Times Higher Education : [G]enuinely
eye-opening...Moskos offers a compelling account of
why a uniformed police patrol 'does little but
temporarily disrupt public drug-dealing'--and hence
why the 'war on drugs' is so helplessly self-defeating.
Tyler Cowen Marginal Revolution : Truly excellent.
This is one of the two or three best conceptual
analyses of "cops and robbers" I have read. It is
mandatory reading for all fans of The Wire and
recommended for everyone else.
Orlando Patterson, Harvard University : A
devastating critique of America's failed war on drugs.
Cop in the Hood is a powerful and truly unique
document in the sociology of criminal justice. Using an
original blend of personal experience, adroit cultural
interpretation, and hard-edged sociological analysis,
Moskos sympathetically dissects the social context of
the drug users' world, and shows us this tragedy close
up from the police perspective.
George Pelecanos, writer and producer for "The
Wire" : Cop in the Hood is a thoughtful, highly
entertaining record of a police officer's year spent
patrolling one of the country's toughest urban
districts, delivered by Moskos, who wore the uniform.
For those who are interested in crime and how things
work, and for readers seeking a reasoned look at the
war on drugs and its implications, this is the handbook.
Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a
Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets" : This
riveting tale of policing begins honestly and continues
with great sincerity and pathos. A sensitive and timely
account of the daily trials of police work by someone
who knows Baltimore's streets firsthand, Cop in the
Hood challenges journalists, social scientists, and
others who profess knowledge of the inner city to walk
those streets before making bold declarations and
righteous claims for policy and redress. A must-read.
Alex Tabarrok, George Mason University,
cofounder of "marginalrevolution.com" : Peter
Moskos, a sociologist by training, somewhat
inadvertently became a police officer. Cop in the Hood
is the fortuitous and fascinating result. It gives the
reader the real dope from someone with the training
and ability to put the street into the larger context.
Highly recommended.
Jim Leitzel, University of Chicago : Cop in the
Hood is an extremely valuable study centered on
patrolling a drug-infested Baltimore police district.
Readers interested in drug policy, criminology, or
policing cannot help but to learn a lot from this book. I
know that I did, and I am grateful to the author. Many
of his insights are eye-opening. His voice is unique
and essential in debates concerning drug-policy
reforms.
experiences with poverty, violence, drugs and despair
in the gritty ghetto. Moskos's overview of policing
problems covers everything from arrest quotas,
corrupt cops and excess paperwork to the reliance on
patrolling in cars, responding to a barrage of 911
calls, rather than patrolling on foot to prevent crimes.
Moskos blends narrative and analysis, adding an
authoritative tone to this adrenaline-accelerating night
ride that reveals the stark realities of law enforcement
while illuminating little-known aspects of police
procedures.
Times Higher Education : [G]enuinely
eye-opening...Moskos offers a compelling account of
why a uniformed police patrol 'does little but
temporarily disrupt public drug-dealing'--and hence
why the 'war on drugs' is so helplessly self-defeating.
Tyler Cowen Marginal Revolution : Truly excellent.
This is one of the two or three best conceptual
analyses of "cops and robbers" I have read. It is
mandatory reading for all fans of The Wire and
recommended for everyone else.
Orlando Patterson, Harvard University : A
devastating critique of America's failed war on drugs.
Cop in the Hood is a powerful and truly unique
document in the sociology of criminal justice. Using an
original blend of personal experience, adroit cultural
interpretation, and hard-edged sociological analysis,
Moskos sympathetically dissects the social context of
the drug users' world, and shows us this tragedy close
up from the police perspective.
George Pelecanos, writer and producer for "The
Wire" : Cop in the Hood is a thoughtful, highly
entertaining record of a police officer's year spent
patrolling one of the country's toughest urban
districts, delivered by Moskos, who wore the uniform.
For those who are interested in crime and how things
work, and for readers seeking a reasoned look at the
war on drugs and its implications, this is the handbook.
Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a
Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets" : This
riveting tale of policing begins honestly and continues
with great sincerity and pathos. A sensitive and timely
account of the daily trials of police work by someone
who knows Baltimore's streets firsthand, Cop in the
Hood challenges journalists, social scientists, and
others who profess knowledge of the inner city to walk
those streets before making bold declarations and
righteous claims for policy and redress. A must-read.
Alex Tabarrok, George Mason University,
cofounder of "marginalrevolution.com" : Peter
Moskos, a sociologist by training, somewhat
inadvertently became a police officer. Cop in the Hood
is the fortuitous and fascinating result. It gives the
reader the real dope from someone with the training
and ability to put the street into the larger context.
Highly recommended.
Jim Leitzel, University of Chicago : Cop in the
Hood is an extremely valuable study centered on
patrolling a drug-infested Baltimore police district.
Readers interested in drug policy, criminology, or
policing cannot help but to learn a lot from this book. I
know that I did, and I am grateful to the author. Many
of his insights are eye-opening. His voice is unique
and essential in debates concerning drug-policy
reforms.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Police Authors Personal Websites |
Police Author
Peter C. Moskos
Peter C. Moskos