Books like Our enemies in blue by Kristian Williams

Richard Rothstein’s *The Color of Law* uncovers how federal, state, and local policies deliberately created and maintained racial segregation in U.S. cities.

A critique of policing that examines its historical expansion and proposes alternatives such as drug legalization and harm reduction to reduce crime and injustice.

Edge of the Knife is the first study to investigate police violence and accountability in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Paul Chevigny, author of the classic Police Power, examines the use of torture, deadly force, and less drastic forms of violence in six major urban centers in the Americas. Chevigny searches for the sources of official violence - and for ways of controlling it. He compares military and community models of policing. He explores the connection between police violence and official corruption. Finally, Chevigny examines the effectiveness of criminal and civil courts, civic administrations, civilian review boards, internal controls, external auditors, and pressure from international human rights organizations in deterring police violence. Ultimately, he argues that the way in which criminal matters are patrolled and investigated is reproduced in the city's social order. When citizens have little confidence in their government and do not participate in it or look to it for protection, they turn to violent self-help. When their sense of powerlessness combines with an increased fear of crime they are more willing to lend their public support to extra-legal violence by the police. Conversely, persistent government action against crime, including accountability for police violence, discourages vigilantism as well as official violence.

Invisible No More charts how Black, Indigenous, and women of color confront racial profiling, police brutality, and immigration enforcement, highlighting case studies and the rise of feminist movements demanding safer, equitable policing.

This social history extends from 18th century London to 20th century California and explains why police forces have developed differently in the major cities of America. Police personality profiles highlight the book. The three major models of policing in Great Britain from 1748-1890 are examined. The manner in which police forces of the period coped with problems of vice, crime, and social unrest are outlined. Police methods and attitudes are discussed for New York City from 1845-1914; for Boston from 1854-1943; for the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey from 1905-1940; and for the state of California from 1901-1942. When a law enforcement comparison was made of American and British cities, it was found that levels of safety and law and order have always been higher in Britain. Two of the broadest problems that faced the American police were vice crimes and gangs of predatory males. On a higher level, the gangs became organized racketeers and professional criminals. The American police have been more concerned with antisubversive activities over the years. Models of law enforcement are illustrated, including the patrol type, the constabulary, and the detective model. The three mechanisms for control of the police -- law, administration, and politics -- are detailed. The practical differences among the three mechanisms are discussed. In dealing with group images, the existence of five major interest groups are noted: the social elite, the business elite, the progressive, the blue-collar class, and the radicals. The effects of these groups on police development are outlined. A discussion of the secret agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service from 1850-1945 is presented. Photographs, a bibliography, and extensive notes are provided.