Radical glossary of the vocabulary of policing that redefines the very way we understand law
enforcement This book will arm activists on the streets-as well as anyone with an open mind on
one of the key issues of our time-with a critical analysis and ultimately a redefinition of the
very idea of policing. The book contends that when we talk about police and police reform we
speak the language of police legitimation through the art of euphemism. So state sexual assault
become body-cavity search and ruthless beatings become non-compliance deterrence. A Field
Guide to the Police is a study of the indirect and taken-for-granted language of policing a
language we're all forced to speak when we talk about law enforcement. In entries like Police
dog Stop and frisk and Rough ride the authors expose the way copspeak suppresses the true
meaning and history of policing. Like any other field guide it reveals a world that is hidden
in plain view. The book argues that a redefined language of policing might help chart a future
free society.
