December 1996






                         Book Review


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Understanding Today's Police by Mark L. Dantzker, Prentice Hall,
Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995.


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Policing in today's society involves a host of complexities never
experienced, even in the recent past. Understanding and
articulating these complexities can, at times, prove to be an
overwhelming task. Many law enforcement text books that
adequately discuss the theoretical aspects of the job fail to
shed light on coping with these complexities by applying those
theories to everyday policing.


Understanding Today's Police goes beyond theory and offers
readers thought-provoking and realistic examples of everyday
police work. Throughout the text, the author presents a wide
variety of "case in point" discussions depicting examples of real
life situations that have occurred in policing, which help
illustrate more conceptual points made in the text.


The book begins with an overview of the role of law enforcement
in society. This introduction provides the foundation for the
remainder of the text by summarizing the various roles of the
police and by providing readers with a brief history of American
policing. However, as the author makes clear, this historical
perspective serves only as a backdrop to the main focus of the
text_an in-depth examination of the roles and functions of
today's police and the challenges that will face the police of
tomorrow.


To encourage readers to think critically about the different
components of the discussion, the author includes a "Do You Know"
section after each chapter. The questions posed in each of these
sections challenge readers to go beyond a surface understanding
of the points discussed in the preceding chapter. Many of the
questions invite readers to think in terms of how the issues
discussed might affect their local agencies.


The author also uses a systems approach to discuss policing. He
examines policing from a federal, state, and local perspective.
The reader then can dissect and explore components of the
criminal justice system at each of these levels.


The text goes on to provide a broad examination of the various
areas of policing, including patrol, criminal investigations,
organization and management, police and the law, police
discretion, police personalities, personnel issues, and
police-community relations. Throughout the discussion of these
issues, the author underscores the relationship of the police to
other sectors of the criminal justice system.


In the final chapter, the author discusses issues that affect
policing today and explores influences that likely will impact it
in the future. The discussion encourages readers to ask critical
questions about the future role of policing in society. The
chapter concludes with a brief essay on the criteria the author
considers necessary to enhance the professional status of
policing.


Throughout the text, the author provides an overview of the
police research relevant to the topics under discussion. Each
chapter concludes with a list of additional resources to which
readers can refer to enhance their knowledge of particular
topics.


Understanding Today's Police provides a rich learning experience
for students and newly sworn law enforcement officers. In
addition, the book offers valuable insights for veteran officers
wishing to update their knowledge and understanding of the
profession. This well-written book provides a comprehensive
review of policing today and examines critical issues that will
impact it in the future.


Reviewed by
Sgt. Michael L. Birzer, M.A.
Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department
Wichita, Kansas