This account of the struggle to bring law and order to a city rich with gold rush money, at odds with Mexican bandits, and teeming with forty-niners and confederate sympathizers chronicles the chaotic early days of Los Angeles, which boasted the highest homicide rate in America by 1850. From profiles of the frontier-style lawmen hired to stop the initial mayhem to an analysis of the city's modern sheriff's office -- the largest in America -- this book draws comparisons between the uproar of the early days, the racial tensions that erupted during the Watts riots, and the safety issues that preoccupy the police force today.

During his 25 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Dean Scoville advanced from nervous recruit to silver-tongued spokesperson to seasoned patrol sergeant. His candid memoir chronicles the personal experiences of police work--the tedium of guarding jail inmates, the consternation of shoot/don't-shoot scenarios, the trauma of being wounded in the line of duty--and offers an insider's view of iconic moments in law enforcement, including the capture of "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez and the 1992 L.A. Riots. Along the way he examines a profession increasingly beleaguered by inimical agendas, administrative cowardice and fiscal restraints.

This groundbreaking history of how American police forces have been militarized is now revised and updated. Newly added material brings the story through 2020, including analysis of the Ferguson protests, the Obama and Trump administrations, and the George Floyd protests. The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies. In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. His fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through today shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.

In Stoning the Keepers at the Gate, police psychologist Lawrence N.Blum, Ph.D.looks at the role of law enforcement in modern times and argues that, while bad cops need to be rooted out, blanket condemnation of the police threatens the very liberties that make such condemnation possible, as well as the safety of the American public in their homes and lives. Blum argues that the enormous stresses officers experience--from violent physical attack to unrewarded or miusunderstood acts of heroism--require special understanding, an understanding that is often missing from police departments themselves. Blum provides a unique insight into the dynamics, practices, and activities within police agencies that influence police officers' actions, and that often hide the real sources of police behaviors that are thought of as faulty, insensitive, or inappropriate. A passionate call not only for understanding but a reappraisal of whose actions are scrutinized within and outside of police agencies, police accountability, and the nature of policing itself in the twenty-first century. Stoning the Keepers at the Gate is a dynamic and fascinating analysis of the role of law enforcement today.

Los Angeles incarcerates more people than any other city in the United States, which imprisons more people than any other nation on Earth. This book explains how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world's leading incarcerator. Marshaling more than two centuries of evidence, historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez unmasks how histories of native elimination, immigrant exclusion, and black disappearance drove the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles. In this telling, which spans from the Spanish colonial era to the outbreak of the 1965 Watts Rebellion, Hernandez documents the persistent historical bond between the racial fantasies of conquest, namely its settler colonial form, and the eliminatory capacities of incarceration. But City of Inmates is also a chronicle of resilience and rebellion, documenting how targeted peoples and communities have always fought back. They busted out of jail, forced Supreme Court rulings, advanced revolution across bars and borders, and, as in the summer of 1965, set fire to the belly of the city. With these acts those who fought the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles altered the course of history in the city, the borderlands, and beyond. This book recounts how the dynamics of conquest met deep reservoirs of rebellion as Los Angeles became the City of Inmates, the nation's carceral core. It is a story that is far from over.

"The sharp, hardboiled prose you would expect from a detective novelist... Smith shares vivid details, hard-earned insights, and stories of courage and terror, told with crisp, raw dialogue, a feeling for the drama of potentially violent confrontations, and an undercurrent of despair, despite many heartfelt tributes to cops he trusted and the mentor whose murder he had to look into." - BookLife Review He landed his dream job pursuing the guilty, but two decades of horrific violence and a steady stream of death left him scarred... From the streets of South Los Angeles to the elite homicide bureau, former sheriff's detective Danny R. Smith saw some of L.A.'s darkest hours: a crack cocaine epidemic, unprecedented gang warfare, a spike in homicides that stunned the nation, the Rodney King riots. A beating left him unconscious. Only the miraculous malfunction of a killer's automatic weapon saved his life. But it was the hundreds of deaths and innumerable tragedies-murdered colleagues, dead kids, a Native American burned alive by skinheads-that took the greatest toll. In this no-holds-barred memoir, Smith offers a rare, unfiltered view of a career in law enforcement, and reveals his unique insights into battling PTSD and being forced to leave the profession he loved. Nothing Left to Prove is shocking, riveting, and poignant-remarkably honest. It's the very personal story of one man's career and its effect on his life, unveiled through Smith's masterful storytelling. If you think you know cops, if you enjoy compelling true-crime stories, then you'll love Danny R. Smith's powerful narrative. Buy Nothing Left to Prove for an eye-opening insider's perspective today! Advanced Reader Reviews: "Danny R. Smith has told his story with open and raw emotion that few would be willing to share openly and with such brutal honesty. His story leaves the reader with a better understanding of the hardships that a career in law enforcement can take on one's life, and hopefully leaves society with a better appreciation of those who chose to protect us." - Andrea Self "Nothing Left to Prove is a gritty, gut-wrenchingly honest and compelling inside look at the life of a law enforcement officer. This author pulls no punches as he lays bare the violence and horrific atrocities that took place during his career."- Heather Wamboldt "I was at times, shocked, appalled and repulsed by what one human being could do to another human being. I was also amazed, appreciative and extremely respectful of those who serve so resolutely to protect others." - Michele Carey "This is an outstanding, exciting, and superbly readable account from a man who lived it all. Poignant, gut-wrenching, and, at times, amusing, this is definitely an unputdownable narrative." - Michele Kapugi "A riveting law enforcement memoir." - Bud Johnson "The ultimate walk-a-mile-in-my-shoes autobiography." - Moon Mullen "Takes you through the life of a true and dedicated street cop. Fascinating read!" - Kay Reeves

Michael Josephson discusses ethical values and decision-making techniques as he explores the everyday pressures that can compromise our integrity.