About the Author Douglas W. Perez is a professor emeritus in the Criminal Justice Department at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, where he taught courses in criminal justice, focusing on the police, law and society, the drug war, and introductory courses. Previously, he served as a deputy sheriff and correctional officer at the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office in California. Dr. Perez is the author of The Paradoxes of Policy Work, Common Sense about Police Review, and Police Ethics: A Matter of Character. Product Description Informed by the author’s extensive personal experience in consulting, researching, and writing about various aspects of the law enforcement profession, as well as serving as a police officer, Police Accountability: Common Sense Discussions provides readers with a comprehensive examination of police conduct and responsibility. From ideas on ethics to professionalism to community-oriented policing efforts, the text features rich information to help law enforcement professionals develop and improve individual and systemic conduct. The book is divided into three distinct parts. In Part I, readers consider ethical principles; discretionary decision making; the experiences, perceptions, and portrayals of police officers; and issues pertaining to reform. Part II focuses on proactive strategies, including professionalism and community policing, increasing educational requirements, thoughtful selection of candidates, and more. The final part discusses reactive strategies, with special emphasis on the development of leadership and management, evaluating and improving police review systems, reactive strategies to the use of force and deadly force, and the future of the profession. Police Accountability is a valuable and well-researched text that is ideal for courses and programs in law enforcement and policing.Douglas W. Perez is a professor emeritus in the Criminal Justice Department at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, where he taught courses in criminal justice, focusing on the police, law and society, the drug war, and introductory courses. Previously, he served as a deputy sheriff and correctional officer at the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California. Dr. Perez is the author of The Paradoxes of Policy Work, Common Sense about Police Review, and Police Ethics: A Matter of Character. Review "Keeping our police answerable to the public they are sworn to serve has been a perpetual struggle from their inception in early 19th century Boston, with periodic waves of reform and regression. But the challenge is especially daunting in today's political and cultural climate in which officials at the highest levels of our federal government tolerate and even encourage police misconduct while promoting police militarization. In his masterful analysis of police accountability, Dr. Douglas W. Perez offers college students, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers a critical examination of the many vexing obstacles to achieving effective accountability. His lucid and lively sociological analysis focuses on the numerous paradoxes and ironies experienced by patrol officers that frustrate accountability. Although there are many tensions between legitimacy and effectiveness that arise from these paradoxes, Dr. Perez forcefully argues that effective policing in a democracy is legitimate policing and can be fostered in large part by higher educational requirements that emphasize the core principles of Western liberalism, including individual rights, limited governmental powers, due process, and public accountability. Police Accountability is a tour de force."Robert P. Weiss, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Plattsburgh
