Searching for Common Ground : Seeking Justice and Understanding in Police and Community Relations

Recognizing that communities and law enforcement professionals hold differing perceptions and beliefs, Searching for Common Ground: Seeking Justice and Understanding in Police and Community Relations illuminates not only how these two parties may disagree, but also what they might agree upon. The text underscores how greater levels of understanding between these groups can help them build trust, enjoy productive exchanges of ideas, and develop meaningful solutions to pressing societal problems.

The text is designed to help readers learn about and constructively address key legal, policy, and practical topics and issues that define police-citizen relations, including the use of force by police, police discretion, search and seizure, and social issues related to racism, bias, and inequality. Over the course of 10 chapters, readers examine the history and development of modern policing in the U.S., constitutional limits on government, issues regarding the abuse of power, the militarization of the police, community policing practices, and more.

Searching for Common Ground is an essential, timely resource designed to support and inspire constructive dialogue, understanding, and practices among the police and public communities. The text is ideal for use in courses on policing, law enforcement, and criminal justice.

Philip J. Mann, J.D. is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University. Prior to joining academia, he held an array of positions with the FBI during his 28-year career as an FBI agent in investigative, legal, and supervisory capacities encompassing four FBI field offices and FBI Headquarters. In his last FBI assignment, he served as Supervisory Special Agent and Chief Division Counsel of the Norfolk FBI Office, where he also served as Special Assistant United States Attorney. After he retired from the FBI, he was appointed Chief Magistrate of the City of Chesapeake, Virginia. He later joined the faculty at Old Dominion University, where he has developed and taught a wide variety of law and criminal justice classes. He holds a Juris Doctor from the DePaul College of Law and a B.A. with distinction in history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He's long been professionally engaged in privacy, cyber, and civil liberties issues, as well as police-citizen relations. He has been admitted to the Illinois and Virginia Bar.