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Showing 101 - 120 of 1142 items
By Flint Taylor. 2020
With his colleagues at the People's Law Office (PLO), Flint Taylor has argued landmark civil-rights cases that have exposed corruption…
and cover-ups within the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and throughout the city's corrupt political machine.The Torture Machine takes listeners from the 1969 murders of Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and Panther Mark Clark-and the historic thirteen-years of litigation that followed-through the dogged pursuit of commander Jon Burge, the leader of a torture ring within the CPD that used barbaric methods, including electric shock, to elicit false confessions from suspects.Joining forces with community activists, torture survivors and their families, other lawyers, and local reporters, Taylor and the PLO gathered evidence from multiple cases to bring suit against the CPD officers and the City of Chicago. As the struggle expanded beyond the torture scandal to the ultimately successful campaign to end the death penalty in Illinois, and obtained reparations for many of the torture survivors, it set human-rights precedents that have since been adopted across the United StatesBy Carol Leonnig. 2021
The first definitive account of the rise and fall of the Secret Service, from the Kennedy assassination to the alarming…
mismanagement of the Obama and Trump years, right up to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6—by the Pulitzer Prize winner and #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of A Very Stable Genius Carol Leonnig has been reporting on the Secret Service for The Washington Post for most of the last decade, bringing to light the secrets, scandals, and shortcomings that plague the agency today—from a toxic work culture to dangerously outdated equipment to the deep resentment within the ranks at key agency leaders, who put protecting the agency&’s once-hallowed image before fixing its flaws. But the Secret Service wasn&’t always so troubled. The Secret Service was born in 1865, in the wake of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but its story begins in earnest in 1963, with the death of John F. Kennedy. Shocked into reform by its failure to protect the president on that fateful day in Dallas, this once-sleepy agency was radically transformed into an elite, highly trained unit that would redeem itself several times, most famously in 1981 by thwarting an assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan. But this reputation for courage and excellence would not last forever. By Barack Obama&’s presidency, the once-proud Secret Service was running on fumes and beset by mistakes and alarming lapses in judgment: break-ins at the White House, an armed gunman firing into the windows of the residence while confused agents stood by, and a massive prostitution scandal among agents in Cartagena, to name just a few. With Donald Trump&’s arrival, a series of promised reforms were cast aside, as a president disdainful of public service instead abused the Secret Service to rack up political and personal gains. To explore these problems in the ranks, Leonnig interviewed dozens of current and former agents, government officials, and whistleblowers who put their jobs on the line to speak out about a hobbled agency that&’s in desperate need of reform. &“I will be forever grateful to them for risking their careers,&” she writes, &“not because they wanted to share tantalizing gossip about presidents and their families, but because they know that the Service is broken and needs fixing. By telling their story, they hope to revive the Service they love.&rdquoBy Marilee Strong, Jeffrey L. Rinek. 2018
Former FBI agent recounts his career working on cases of kidnapped and murdered children. Discusses investigative techniques, the ways the…
FBI interacts with other agencies, and sensational crimes such as the 1999 Yosemite National Park murders. Relates the psychological effects on him, including suicide attempts, and his family. Violence. 2018By Peggy J. Parks. 2018
Explores the Black Lives Matter movement that was launched in 2013 to address civil rights issues against African American citizens.…
Covers the divide between black citizens and the police, the formation of the movement, its detractors, and law enforcement accountability. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2018By Ralph Pezzullo, Michael R. McGowan. 2018
The author, whose three decades working as an FBI field operative ended in 2017, discusses some of the more than…
fifty undercover cases he worked, including the Boston Marathon bombing, El Chapo and his Sinaloa Cartel, and investigations of the Russian and Italian mobs and corrupt unions. Strong language. 2018By Jennifer E. Cobbina. 2019
Examination of effects and experiences of local residents and protestors around high-profile police killings of young black men. Discusses the…
Black Lives Matter movement, policing tactics during the protests surrounding these deaths, and the larger effects on American society. Draws on interviews with locals. Violence and strong language. 2019By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016
An account of the infamous 1971 prison uprising, in which nearly 1,300 prisoners took over the Attica Correctional Facility in…
New York for four days and nights to protest years of mistreatment. Discusses the state's violent response and the victims' quest for justice. Some violence. 2016By Gary Noesner. 2010
Chief FBI hostage negotiator for ten of his thirty years as an investigator, instructor, and negotiator recreates some of the…
cases he and colleagues participated in. Includes the David Koresh standoff in Waco, Texas, and--his final case--the snipers who terrorized the Washington, D. C., area in 2002. Violence and strong language. 2010British-born reporter--who has long written about Latin America--interviewed gangsters, police, and victims of violence for this examination of the drug…
trade and crime syndicates of Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, and Central America. He outlines a three-pillared approach to confronting the drug wars: reforming drug policy, building justice systems, and transforming ghettos. 2016By Corey Pegues. 2016
The author recounts how he left life as a crack dealer in Queens by joining first the army and then…
the NYPD, where he rose to deputy inspector before retiring in 2013. Discusses his experiences with both sides of the law as an African American. Strong language and some violence. 2016By Craig Glazer. 2008
Craig Glazer organized his first fake sting against drug dealers who had robbed him. After that success, he and his…
accomplices spent two years carrying out a succession of over thirty stings across America, sniffing out even highly sought-after drug lords. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2008By Micah Zenko. 2015
A foreign policy analyst presents the management concept of red teams, which has roots in the Catholic Church's role of…
Devil's Advocate. The author discusses case studies in which red teams were used, the potential benefits and drawbacks to deploying them, and recommendations for frameworks in which to operate. 2015By Arthur Browne. 2015
Pulitzer Prize winner describes the life and career of the first African American New York Police Department officer, Samuel Battle…
(1883-1966). Using an unpublished autobiography coauthored by Langston Hughes as source, discusses Battle's trials, tribulations, and joys, including mentoring the first African American member of the Fire Department of New York. 2015By Johann Hari. 2015
After travel and research, journalist Johann Hari posits three truths about the War on Drugs: first, that drugs are not…
what we think they are; second, that addiction is not what we think it is; and third, that the drug war's motives are different from those broadcast. Some violence and some strong language. 2015By Douglas Perry. 2014
Comprehensive portrait of Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (1903-1957), the legendary leader of the Untouchables. Documents the years after…
his famous confrontation with Al Capone in Chicago, his attempts to end corruption in Cleveland, and his efforts to track the serial murderer called the Cleveland Torso KillerBy Wendy Ruderman, Barbara Laker. 2014
Two Philadelphia Daily News reporters chronicle their probe into corruption in the Philadelphia Police Department narcotics squad, for which they…
won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Some strong language. 2014By Kevin Cook. 2014
Author of Titanic Thompson (DB 73236) details the 1964 murder of New York bartender Kitty Genovese. Examines the erroneous but…
much-publicized claim that no one came to Genovese's aid. Provides a portrait of the victim and her killer. 2014By Seth Rosenfeld. 2012
Journalist uses once-classified government documents to detail the FBI's efforts during the 1960s to undermine suspected radicals at the University…
of California, Berkeley, including Free Speech Movement leader Mario Savio. Describes covert operations authorized by J. Edgar Hoover at the request of then-governor Ronald Reagan. 2012By T. J. English. 2011
Explores tensions between the African American community and the NYPD during the 1960s. Examines the murders of two white upper-East-Side…
women and the coerced confession of nineteen-year-old drifter George Whitmore Jr., corruption on the police force, and the roles played by leading activists. Violence and strong language. 2011By Ronald Kessler. 2011
Journalist and author of The Bureau (DB 55193) and The FBI (DB 37795) relates information he uncovered through research and…
interviews with bureau agents. Discusses controversial topics involving the FBI from the 1960s to 2011, including Hoover's sexual orientation and the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound. 2011