Cop in the Hood: Interview

Peter Moskos is a professor and chair of the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the director of John Jay's NYPD Executive Master's Program, on the faculty of the City University of New York's Doctoral Programs in Sociology, and a Senior Fellow of the Yale Urban Ethnography Project.

Moskos graduated from Princeton (AB) and Harvard (PhD) and was a Baltimore City Police Officer. He has authored three books: Cop in the Hood, In Defense of Flogging, and Greek Americans.

Critical Acclaim for Cop in the Hood

Cops like the book, Cop in the Hood:

"Should be made mandatory reading for every recruit in the Balto. City Police Academy. ... I am so proud that you were a Baltimore Police Officer and a good one."
—Colonel (ret.) Margaret Patton, Baltimore City Police Department

"I just finished reading the last footnote! Great stuff."
—NYPD Lt. Detective (ret.) David Durk

"I have been a cop now for 23 years and your book really captured what it's like to be a street cop. . . . Great book, great insights."
—Detective-Commander Joseph Petrocelli

"Moskos strips away hard to decipher cop-speak and sociological mumbo jumbo and presents something easily digestible by the average reader.... Moskos is a veteran of a war [on drugs] he disagrees with. But he has walked the walk, respects the brotherhood and, as far as I’m concerned, still bleeds blue."
—Pepper Spray Me

Professors like the book, Cop in the Hood:

"Hard-edged sociological analysis.... A devastating critique of America’s failed war on drugs."
—Orlando Patterson

"The best recent study in the field or urban ethnography.... An exemplar for the field of sociology."
—Elijah Anderson

"Leads to a rethinking of some important ideas in the sociology of deviance."
—Howard Becker

"A masterpiece of the participant observation genre."
—Mitchell Duneier

"Congratulations!!!"
—John Van Maanen

"An imaginative ethnography, unconventional in style and purpose. ... A close and moving description of big city policing."
—Peter K. Manning

"[A] riveting tale of policing.... A must read."
—Sudhir Venkatesh

"It gives the reader the real dope.... Highly recommended."
—Alex Tabarrok

"An extremely valuable study.... His insights are eye-opening."
—Jim Leitzel

"Truly excellent.... Mandatory reading for all fans of The Wire and recommended for everyone else."
—Tyler Cowen

"Ethnographic chutzpah.... Perhaps the best sociological account on what it means to police a modern ghetto.... Tells a great story centered around notions of race, power and social control."
—Andrew Papachristos, American Journal of Sociology

"Riveting"
—Monica J. Massey, ACJS Today

The press like the book, Cop in the Hood:

Riveting. . . . An unsparing boys-in-blue procedural that succeeds on its own plentiful—and wonderfully sympathetic—merits.
—The Atlantic

Never mind "The Wire." Here is the real thing.
—The Wall Street Journal

"Galloping Prose!"
—Milt Rosenberg

"Engaging as well as persuasive."
—Baltimore Sun

"[An] adrenaline-accelerating night ride that reveals the stark realities of law enforcement."
—Publishers Weekly

"Genuinely eye-opening.... A compelling account."
—Times Higher Education

"[An] objective, incisive and intelligent account of police work. Moskos's graphic descriptions of the drug culture... are the most detailed and analytical to be found anywhere.
—Arnold Ages, Jewish Post & Opinion

"Scrupulously researched."
—(Baltimore) City Paper

Everybody likes Cop in the Hood:

“Thoughtful, highly entertaining record of ... one of the country’s toughest urban districts."
—George Pelecanos

"Moskos is a good man; he's up to the job."
—Dan Baum, author of Nine Lives.

"Recommended for...insights into law enforcement and, in a nerdier vein, how participant observation can inform social science."
—The Monkey Cage

"Sorta like a non-fiction Joseph Wambaugh for the new millennium."
—IrishPirate.

My former boss, a convicted felon? He hates it:

"Just garbage! ... Who does he think he is telling me what to do?"
—Disgraced Baltimore Commissioner Ed Norris on the Ed Norris show.

Read the full reviews.

Buy Cop in the Hood.

Acclaim for In Defense of Flogging:

[Moskos's] provocative book makes many sanely provocative points; it is one I’ve urged on those who want to do more reading on the subject, and I’d urge it again now.—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker

Don’t laugh: He makes a convincing case.... Clear, smart and highly readable prose.... Let the debate begin. —Craig Seligman, Bloomberg

You rascal, I thought. Moskos ... knows how to catch our attention. —Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune

It could have profound consequences.... In Defense of Flogging forces the reader to confront issues surrounding incarceration that most Americans would prefer not to think about. —Mansfield Frazier, The Daily Beast

“Flogging” is intriguing, even in — or because of — its shocking premise. As a case against prisons, Mr. Moskos' is airtight. —Washington Times

Compelling… Although his outrageous idea may conjure up unsavory reminders of U.S. slavery, by the end of “In Defense of Flogging,” Moskos might just have you convinced. —Salon

One of the very few public-policy books I've encountered that goes past wringing its hands over a societal problem.... Moskos's sharp little volume has a potential audience far beyond the experts. —Rich Fisher, Public Radio Tusla

A brilliant piece of work.... Witty, entertaining, and creative. —Wendell Bell, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Yale University

A very important work... provocative, timely, and well-argued. I agree with you completely that our criminal justice system is out of control.... On one hand, the problems seem intractable. On the other hand, we're doomed if we don't do something about it. —(Former) CIA Agent John Kiriakou

It was, in truth, a book that I could not put down. I read it in two sittings (my butt was hurting after the first!)... You did well. —Gary Alan Fine, John Evans Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University.

August 21, 2008

Interview

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