Praise for Cop Cop
Cathy O’Neil, New York Times bestselling author of Weapons of Math Destruction
“Why is it so difficult to hold bad cops accountable? In this provocative and enlightening book, we learn about the world of civilian-led police accountability in New York City and why it rarely succeeds. Through harrowing real stories of police misconduct investigated by the authors themselves, as well as an exploration of the modern CompStat-focused system of incentives and the self-protective police bureaucracy, we are left understanding the deep-seated cynicism and hopelessness that cops and the public experience. We can do better than this, as the authors suggest at the end. Let’s hope so.”
Ali Winston, award-winning investigative journalist, and co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night
“Staggering, infuriating, and essential reading for anyone interested in law enforcement, accountability, and good government.”
Matthew Guariglia, historian, activist, and author of Police and the Empire City
“Cop Cop is an essential and long overdue look behind the curtain of how hard police work to maintain the ‘blue wall’ of silence and how attempts at reform, accountability, or abolition are structurally undermined.”
Ron Kuby, civil rights ATTORNEY, radio talk show host, and television commentator
“Deeply thoughtful and compassionate… a frighteningly readable account of the problems inherent in policing the police.”
Earl S. Ward, civil rights attorney and former board member for the NEW YORK CITY CCRB
"Cop Cop delivers an unprecedented insider’s perspective into the frequently impenetrable world of police oversight. Across jurisdictions nationwide, including New York City, persistent failures to enforce accountability for law enforcement continue to erode public trust. Civilian oversight—an essential yet underutilized tool for meaningful reform—is routinely obstructed by entrenched institutional resistance and bureaucratic obstacles. Through powerful direct accounts and a fresh perspective on the history of policing, this book exposes the systemic and procedural barriers that cripple effective oversight and lays out a clear, practical framework to fundamentally transform the structures driving failures not just in policing, but the criminal justice system as a whole."
About Cop Cop
Cop Cop: Breaking the Fixed System of American Policing
There is indeed a “Blue Wall of Silence”, but for the first time, it is possible to get behind it without being the police. The authors were senior investigators at the largest police oversight agency in America, tasked with policing the police in New York City. They are our eyes on the inside, and this book takes us into their world.