The Cops - Not Just a Job is not a book for the faint hearted or sensitive reader. However if you want a taste of the day to day life of a cop attempting to deal with people most of us would not like to encounter, this is the book for you. Dealing with everyday events, such as break enters, suicides, drug overdoses, thefts, home invasions, gang rapes and murders. All are seen through the eyes of a first responder and an investigator.
The book is essentially in two parts - reflecting the author's working life. The first deals with time as a general duties officer. Here the events occur rapidly leaving many questions to be asked - who were these people, what were their backgrounds, what happened. However, it reveals that a general duties cop often does not know these answers. He/she just has to deal with the event, on the spot, the best they can.
The second part of the book describes the author's life as a detective. Here we begin to be able to understand the background to the crimes and what happened after the initial event. It is where we meet some very undesirable people - a group of teenagers who gang rape a woman. The experience, so horrific, that she hoped that she would quickly die during the ordeal; a man who kidnapped his partner who was attempting to leave him. He shot her and, as she was dying, raped her; an escapee, who was determined not to return to goal, attempts to knife the author. Fortunately, for the reader, humorous incidents intersperse these crimes to give the reader some relief.
The Cops - Not Just a Job gives an insight into a side of life most of us do not experience. It raises many issues - ethical, practical and psychological - which would be helpful for both serving and prospective police officers to discuss.
