Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing

This is a book unlike any other - an unflinchingly critical look at American policing by a widely respected big-city police chief, a call for radical legislative reform by an accomplished insider in law enforcement, and a touching, intensely personal memoir that reads like the hard-boiled reportage of a tough-talking street cop.

In Breaking Rank, Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, exposes the unvarnished truth about policing in America today. Unsparingly critical of the organizational structures and deep-seated cultural problems that corrupt officers' ability to protect and serve, he calls for a radical, top-down reform of the institution of policing.  In addition to assailing a culture of racism, sexism, and homophobia that is still pervasive in 21st century police departments, he criticizes what he sees as misdirected law enforcement priorities that squander resources on victimless crimes while allowing cycles of violence to perpetuate through generations. Among many other reforms, Stamper advocates:

• Demilitarizing American police forces
• Abolishing the death penalty on moral and pragmatic grounds
• Decriminalizing prostitution and protecting sex workers
• Decriminalizing non-violent offenses including drug use
• Vigorously enforcing domestic abuse and child abuse laws 
• Recruiting and training new officers in community policing practices

While he acknowledges that there are plenty of bad cops on America's streets, he defends most of his fellow officers as overwhelmingly well meaning, working class people who are initially drawn to the job for a stable career and an opportunity to help their communities.  Stamper provides a glimpse of what it's like to be an average beat cop, providing civilian readers with penetrating insights into the "Blue Wall of Silence," the reality of undercover investigations, and what it means to kill a man. He reveals the dangers and temptations facing officers on the street, describing in gripping detail their split-second life-and-death decisions.

And for the first time, Stamper gives his personal account of the World Trade Organization debacle of 1999, when protests he was charged with controlling turned into the now-legendary "Battle of Seattle." He lets readers in on behind-the-scenes mismanagement and in-fighting among the city's leaders, explaining why officers in one of America's most progressive cities, charged with protecting protestors, passers-by, and WTO delegates alike, ended up in violent skirmishes and lost control of the city, a failure that prompted him to resign his post over shortly after.

"Stamper has written a tremendously important book, pulling no punches as he takes a searing look at law enforcement as it is-and as it should be...Shocking, heartbreaking, hilarious, and illuminating, Breaking Rank will attract both cops and 'civilians.' I loved it."
- Ann Rule, author

Norm Stamper is the former chief of the Seattle Police Department and former Deputy Chief of the San Diego Police Department. A 34-year veteran cop, with a PhD in Behavioral Psychology,  Stamper became a reformer dedicated to radical changes in police structure and behavior after his retirement. He lives and writes in the San Juan Islands in Washington State.