The Book of Cop: A Testament to Policing That Works

What is it like to be a cop, and why do we need them? As American policing faces it’s gravest existential crisis in recent memory, former Baltimore Homicide Lt. Stephen Tableling and investigative reporter Stephen Janis team-up to examine this question through the prism of enforcing the law in one of the country’s most dangerous city’s—Baltimore. From the mysterious poisoning of an undercover detective to the investigation of an officer dealing drugs out of district headquarters, Tableling and Janis explore the basic tenets of policing amid bizarre and confounding cases that exemplify the extremes of human behavior. But the pair also delves into the most basic question facing cops today: How and why do we police to build better communities? By drawing upon philosophy, mythology, and truisms learned during Tabling’s six-decade career The Book Of Cop offers a perspective on the complex origins of crime and our ongoing communal effort to deal with it in a way that is both both humane and effective.

STEPHEN TABELING has been a cop for more than six decades, nearly half that time in Baltimore City alone, where he received 48 Commendations and six Bronze Stars for investigative work above and beyond the call of duty, retiring as a lieutenant. He began his career with the Baltimore Police Department in 1954. Following his retirement at the end of the turbulent 1970s he served as director of public safety for Johns Hopkins Hospital and later in the same position for Loyola University Maryland (the former Loyola College) for more than a decade. In the interim he was chief of police in the City of Salisbury, on Maryland s Eastern Shore. In 2000 Tabeling was called back by the BPD to provide an analysis of its Homicide Squad, followed by nine years of recruit training for new police officers as well as in-service training for the department s veterans. STEPHEN JANIS is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work has been acclaimed both in print and in television. As the Senior Investigative Reporter for the now defunct Baltimore Examiner, he won two Maryland DC Delaware Press Association Awards for his work on the number of unsolved murders in Baltimore and the killings of prostitutes. His in-depth work on the city's zero-tolerance policing policies garnered an NAACP President's Award. Later, he founded Investigative Voice, an award-winning website that is the subject of the upcoming documentary Fit To Print. As an Investigative Producer for WBFF/Fox 45, he has won three successive Capital Emmys: two for Best Investigative Series and one for Outstanding Historical/Cultural Piece. As a composer and producer, Janis won two ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards for his production of several hip-hop classics, including Let Me Clear My Throat by DJ Kool, Biz Markie, and Doug E. Fresh. His production company Instant Records produced Hard Knock Life for Jay Z. Later, he co-wrote music with director John Waters for his film Cecil B Demented starring Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff. The film was a non-juried selection for the Cannes Film Festival. He is the author of two books on the philosophy of policing, Why Do We Kill? The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore and You Can't Stop Murder: Truths About Policing in Baltimore and Beyond. He has also written two novels, This Dream Called Death and Orange: The Diary of an Urban Surrealist. His teaches journalism at Towson University and taught digital culture at the Johns Hopkins University s Master s Program.