BAKER 1 IN SERVICE

This book follows a law enforcement career through the turbulent era of the ’70s and ’80s, the outreach of the ’90s, and into the twenty-first century. The period also included community-oriented policing and other programs, some of which were properly applied and were a success, while others did not achieve their planned application. Policing has been looked on as a need and as the bane of society. The individual officers have been held up as hero or as villains, depending on who you talk to, or what is in the news. Once the neighborhood advocate is turned into the pariah, he is not to be trusted and avoided where possible. This book hopes to show a lighter, more human side of our officers, seen through the eyes of a fifty-year veteran who experienced change and generational application of criminal justice. It is written with the understanding that every profession has its successes and failures, and along the way, we experience good and bad in both program and personnel. In the midst of change, greatness and humor emerge to soften the time. This is a focus on the one-liners that came home at the end of every shift, the stories of everyday working officers who are human and caring for their community.