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mountain343's review
5.0
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know much about the NYPD, New York, or policing in the 70s and 80s. My previous exposure had been to firefighting classics such as Dennis Smith’s Report from Engine Co. 82.
Also growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was well aware of New York’s reputation with regard to crime, drugs, and arson.
This book is a really well written autobiography into a “super cop” that gives a good insight into what being a police officer during that time was like, and how different it is from today. Focusing on the South Bronx area of “Ft Apache” and what it was like to go on patrol when the people of the neighborhood would toss things down off rooftops on walking cops, and all of the violence and social ills of the area, it paints a picture of an area that had run amuck and yet still was full of good people who needed help.
Yeah, there’s the fair share of bravado and machismo, but it’s very well tempered with good storytelling, and both information and perspective of the times. More than anything, like Smith’s and Campisi’s books, it’s an interesting window into what New York was like back when the city was crumbling financially and socially in what became known as Ft. Apache.
Also growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was well aware of New York’s reputation with regard to crime, drugs, and arson.
This book is a really well written autobiography into a “super cop” that gives a good insight into what being a police officer during that time was like, and how different it is from today. Focusing on the South Bronx area of “Ft Apache” and what it was like to go on patrol when the people of the neighborhood would toss things down off rooftops on walking cops, and all of the violence and social ills of the area, it paints a picture of an area that had run amuck and yet still was full of good people who needed help.
Yeah, there’s the fair share of bravado and machismo, but it’s very well tempered with good storytelling, and both information and perspective of the times. More than anything, like Smith’s and Campisi’s books, it’s an interesting window into what New York was like back when the city was crumbling financially and socially in what became known as Ft. Apache.
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