*(Via USA Today) – In his new book “The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement” (Hachette, 238 pp., ★★★ out of four), police veteran Matthew Horace attempts to speak truth to sometimes lethal power.
Horace, who’s African-American, presents a clear-eyed, often wrenching take on the tensions that exist between police and communities of color from the vantage point of a 28-year career spent patrolling the streets and supervising officers from Camden, New Jersey, to Colorado Springs.
There is frank discussion about bigoted cops, outdated procedures and fledgling signs of reform. In between, Horace offers testimonials from black law enforcement officers, many of whom entered the profession reluctantly but went on to have lauded careers. They speak of the tightrope they walk, between black citizens whose experiences with the law have left them weary and colleagues who are resistant to change.
Still, the most powerful voice in “The Black and the Blue”is Horace’s own, steady, forthright and rooted in his experiences on both sides of the blue line. (The book was written with former Los Angeles Times reporter Ron Harris.)
Horace understands how decisions officers make can go awry in a split second. He has also been racially profiled, and once, eight years into his career, found himself splayed on the ground as a white officer pointed a gun at his head.
He notes the camaraderie he has felt among his law enforcement peers yet doesn’t downplay that the conscious and implicit bias plaguing broader society infects station houses and bureaus, as well.
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