Book Review: Cop in the HoodBy: Katelyn MurwinPeter Moskos, a researching sociologist and prior graduate of Harvard, explores the worldof policing eastern Baltimore in his book “Cop in the Hood”. After becoming a legitimate police officer himself, Moskos reports his lessons learned in the academy and on the beat then shares his consequent opinions of the police force and their methodology on fighting crime. Moskos spends the beginning of his book explaining the hiring process as an officer, including detailing his mandatory time in the academy. While doing so Moskos criticizes the academy’s effectiveness and addresses its failure to properly prepare officers for the career that they are about to embark on, supposedly its sole purpose. As to mock the academy Moskos writes, “After six months in the academy, trainees learn to: Respect the chain of command and their place on the bottom of that chain, sprinkle “sir” and “ma’am” into casual conversation, salute, follow orders, march in formation, stay out of trouble, stay awake, be on time, shine shoes” (Moskos, 24). Moskos also makes a point of discussing the effects of police in numbers. He is an advocate of increasing foot patrol as a means of lowering criminal activity. “If the goal of police is to prevent crime, and it should be, foot patrol is the answer. Impact works” (Moskos, 202). He elaborates that homicides in precincts of New York with higher rates of foot patrol dropped 24 percent faster than the rest of the city. He repeatedly makes the point that more police equivalates to less crime. Once on the beat, Moskos focuses his work on the prevalence and danger of drugs in the eastern Baltimore area. He clearly states that he doesn’t believe in the war on drugs and thatincarcerating addicts and dealers is no help and keeps them from the proper treatment they need to recover. He not only focuses on the health of these criminals but also on the violence inflicted on them and others surrounding. With an astounding 10% of men in the area murdered before age 35, Moscow attributes this concerning figure to the high drug crime. I agree with Moskos’ critiques and am concerned myself with how police respond to drugabuse, possession and trafficking. Taking up tax payer dollars to imprison a non-violent citizen needing support rather than punishment is absurd. “Overwhelmingly people who use drugs do not pose a threat to the safety or security of the American populace. They are not chaotically addicted, most are employed, they are not monsters and they should never be denied their freedom simply because they choose to use a substance” (Ralston, 2013). Unfortunately, the timethese prisoners lose in the cell isn’t the only price they pay. It has been shown that “past incarceration reduced subsequent wages by 11 percent, cut annual employment by nine weeks, and reduced yearly earnings by 40 percent” (Rugy,2011). These are the jobs intended to provide for their families and with figures like this it’s no wonder why drug dealers turn back to their criminal ways after being released. This in turn leads to high rates of recidivism and more poverty that Moskos explained was already alarmingly abundant. Overall, I found Moskos’ work to be refreshing and a reader friendly approach to research. His story style made the book an interesting read rather that a report bogged down with data and statistics. However, I do think that due to Moskos’ ethnography approach to the study the research may be flawed. Moskos was not able to randomize his participants but rather researched on what was given to him. He became friends with his subjects through 14 months of working together which may have led to biases and generalized research specific to easternBaltimore to the overarching U.S. population. Therefore, I feel “Cop in the Hood” makes a great spare time read but a questionable form of reliable research. Ralston, Meghan. (2013, June 26). Support, Don't Punish, People Who Use Drugs. Drug PolicyAlliance. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.drugpolicy.orgRugy, V. (2011, July 1). Prison Math. Reason.com. Retrieved April 16, 2014,