The Making of a Cop

Following 860 men and women through a typical training regimen in the New York City Police Academy and then into the streets of New York, the author reveals how young civilians are transformed into street-smart fighters

Rachlin ( The Songwriter's Handbook ) monitored a class of recruits through their 23-week course at the New York City Police Academy in 1988, concentrating on four of them. The result is a sympathetic chronicle of the conversion of 860 civilians into police officers as they run an educational gauntlet whose demands are equal parts physical, ballistic and sociological. Rachlin reveals that "sensitivity training" is a significant component of the regimen, especially concerning ethnic groups; it remains important as well to inculcate a strong sense of self-preservation in police officers, since so many New Yorkers regard cops as a hostile occupying force in their neighborhoods, if not as actual enemies. And though the course includes many simulations of real-life situations, in the author's view, the academy cannot prepare students for the sordidness and inhumanity they will encounter on the streets; more than a few become very cynical very quickly. The book presents a realistic look at a supremely difficult job. Author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.