The Nassau County Police Department was created in 1925 out of an urgent need for a professional law enforcement agency to provide swift, reliable, and trusted protection for its citizens. During those unprecedented times, Greater New York was rapidly encroaching on Nassau County's western border, and the escalating crime rate in this bucolic island setting was due in large part to the Volstead Act, which ushered in the mob-infused Roaring Twenties, with its related violent and turbulent unrest. After the rebellious 1920s and the Great Depression followed a long dark period of global hostilities and impending threats of homeland invasions from foreign enemies in World War II. The founding members of this department, equipped with little other than their dedication, bravery, fortitude, and self sacrifices, established a strong foundation for one of the finest police departments in the country today.

Thief to Chief is the story of one man who turned his life of crime into a career fighting it. This is an amazing autobiography about a white boy growing up in a black street gang in New York City during the turbulent decade of the 70's. In a series of flashbacks, the author tells the tails of how he called upon his harrowing, violent and illegal adolescent experiences to make him a highly respected beat cop and to catapult him to the highest ranks of the Nassau County Police Dept. This is also a story of personal achievement. The author, an underprivileged teen from a dysfunctional family and destined for prison takes the reader deep into a world of drugs, thievery, gang culture and racism. The book goes on to describe how this deeply troubled young thug took stock of himself, took responsibility for his own actions, literally escaped from the street and turned his wretched life into the American dream. Thief to Chief is a tremendous literary achievement for this first time author. The story is riveting, heart wrenching and glorious.

The patrolman has the most difficult, complex, and least understood task in the police department. Much less is known of him than of his better publicized colleague, the detective. In this important and timely book, James Q. Wilson describes the patrolman and the problems he faces that arise out of constraints imposed by law, politics, public opinion, and the expectations of superiors. The study considers how the uniformed officer in eight communities deals with such common offenses as assault, theft, drunkenness, vice, traffic, and disorderly conduct. Six of the communities are in New York State: Albany, Amsterdam, Brighton, Nassau County, Newburgh, and Syracuse. The others are Highland Park, Illinois, and Oakland, California. Enforcing laws dealing with common offenses is especially difficult because it raises the question of administrative discretion. Murder, in the eyes of the police, is unambiguously wrong, and murderers are accordingly arrested; but in cases such as street-corner scuffles or speeding motorists, the patrolman must decide whether to intervene (should the scuffle be stopped? should the motorist be pulled over?) and, if he does, just how to intervene (by arrest? a warning? an interrogation?). In most large organizations, the lowest-ranking members perform the more routinized tasks and the means of accomplishing these tasks are decided by superiors, but in a police department the lowest-ranking officer--the patrolman--is almost solely responsible for enforcing those laws which are the least precise, the most ambiguous. Three ways or "styles" of policing--the watchman, the legalistic, and the service styles--are analyzed and their relation to local politics is explored. In the final chapter, Mr. Wilson discusses if and how the patrolman's behavior can be changed and examines some current proposals for reorganizing police departments. He observes that the ability of the patrolman to do his job well may determine our success in managing social conflict and our prospects for maintaining a proper balance between liberty and order. Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. THE PATROLMAN The Maintenance of Order Justice as a Constraint Some Organizational Consequences 3. THE POLICE ADMINISTRATOR Managing Discretion Critical Events 4. POLICE DISCRETION The Determinants of Discretion The Eight Communities The Uses of Discretion 5. THE WATCHMAN STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 6. THE LEGALISTIC STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 7. THE SERVICE STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 8. POLITICS AND THE POLICE Politics and the Watchman Style Politics and the Service Style Politics and the Legalistic Style Some Findings from National Data 9. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS Reviews of this book: [This book] is a departure from the traditional treatise...and actually does take a large and long-awaited step toward revitalizing an exciting and important but inexcusably weak area of political science. --The American Political Science Review Reviews of this book: This book "must unquestionably become an indispensable study of politics in the American city. It is based on enormous and detailed research ... The material is presented in a controlled and disciplined no-nonsense style. --New York Review of Books Reviews of this book: This is surely one of the most informative books about the police ever written .... Varieties of Police Behavior is a rich, sophisticated book by an author unusually able to tackle the comprehensiveness and interdependence of the issues which affect police performance, and his analysis and conclusions have much to teach. --Times Literary Supplement It is, without doubt, the finest book on the American police ever written, and Professor Wilson is one of our best-known scholars of urban affairs...Rich...full to the brim with increasing details and shrewd insight. Anyone who wants to have an informed opinion about the policeman's relations to law and order ought to read it. --Irving Kristol

Succeeding an air force base on the Hempstead Plains, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum debuted in 1972 as Long Island's foremost sports and entertainment mecca. Its first tenants were a mediocre basketball team and expansion hockey club. Both appeared unlikely to foster a winning attitude, yet soon emerged as champions. Julius "Dr. J." Erving dunked the New York Nets to two titles, and the Islanders launched a star-studded Stanley Cup dynasty. Over the decades, the coliseum has also hosted presidents, legendary musicians, the NHL All-Star Game, and WrestleMania 2. Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum chronicles, for the first time ever, the history of a suburban arena that has often garnered the national spotlight.

First published in 1996, this work covers all the major sectors of policing in the United States. Political events such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have created new policing needs while affecting public opinion about law enforcement. This third edition of the "Encyclopedia" examines the theoretical and practical aspects of law enforcement, discussing past and present practices.

Describes the circumstances and events which led to the 138 women law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, the identity of their perpetrator(s), and the deposition of the case, with a biography and photo of each officer and their descendants. Author Dr. William Wilbanks carefully researched each case and unveiled the mystery of unsolved deaths.

Presents philosophical and practical arguments in favor of the administration of judicial corporal punishment as a way of addressing problems in the American criminal justice system.