Tangled Up in Blue

A radical inside examination of policing in modern America, from a Georgetown University law professor turned reserve police officerIn her forties, with two children, a spouse, a dog, a mortgage, and a full-time job as a tenured law professor at Georgetown, Rosa Brooks decided to become a cop. An academic with an enduring interest in law's troubled relationship with violence, Brooks was discouraged by the statistics on police shootings and racial disparities in the criminal justice system; she wanted an insider experience that would enable her to become an advocate for change. But legitimate reasons aside, Brooks knew there was something bigger guiding her decision - She was restless, tired of faculty meetings, and looking for a challenge. And so, she applied to become a Reserve Police Officer with the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and prepared to go through the same police academy training as the city's career officers, take the same oath, wear...