Thank you, Adam Plantinga!

My dad volunteered with the police for around 20 years and did what he could to help the officers and detectives. A lot of this info is practical, some amusing but all of it is offered as a way to help those that the LEOs serve.
The good LEOs are there to protect, defend and comfort because that's who they are. Sometimes people see a uniform and it somehow removes the humanity and individuality of the wearer and makes them a blank canvas for the viewer's ideology. People need to see that human beings wash and put on that uniform so that they can take on more responsibility for the care of their designated areas. There are people who use the uniform for their own gains, but there are always people seeking positions of responsibility in order to gain power over people. We just have to remember that the uniform has power and commands respect because so many who have worn it before (and now) deserve it.
The book:
The narrator missed a couple of words but effectively conveyed the tone and intent of the text. Someone should have caught the errors. They weren't subtle: preSENT arms and conducive not conductive.
This was worth buying outright. It has a lot of valuable insights.
One quick tip I learned from a friend: Vicks Vaporub under the nose helps with strong odors.

39 people found this helpful

Between Good and Evil is Where I Walk

I am one of those people that spend my Saturday mornings in my old blue bathrobe and a pair of scuffed slippers, cup of coffee in my hand, catching up on my important reading. No, not 'The New York Times' and 'The Harvard Business Review' - I listen to those during the week on Audible on my long commute. I mean 'The Onion' and 'Duffel Blog'; and, of course and almost obsessively, the lists of Cracked dot com. I blame Audible for the latter - I'd never heard of Cracked dot com until "You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News" (2014).

Adam Plantinga's "400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman" (2014) fits right into my weekend reading. It's part sociology; part practical advice; and part philosophy, woven together with humor and pathos. Chapters include, "19 Things Cops Know About Working with the Public," with helpful advice for a cop not to yell back at the public because that means the public owns the cop. "17 Things Cops Know About Juveniles," is funny and sad, like Plantinga's observation that some parents seem to want medals for not giving their children up for adoption. Plantinga's seen tattooed 5th graders and armed grade schoolers. He describes frisking an eight year old burglary suspect as "frisking a frog." He muses on whether or not kids can form criminal intent, and whether arresting them is the right thing - and admits he doesn't know the answer. He hopes someone does.

Plantinga's dry wit and unperturbable style reminds me of Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Buchanan's nonfiction book "The Corpse Had a Familiar Face: Covering Miami, America's Hottest Beat" (1987). Plantinga and Buchanan love law enforcement with a refreshing lack of true cynicism. I reread Buchanan's book so many times the paperback cover came off in my hands. I'm glad my electronic copy of "400 Things Cops Know" won't wear out - well, because I've already listened to some parts again. If I actually write a book someday and if there's a cop in it, I want her to be believable. Writers like Joseph Wambaugh ("The Onion Field" (1973), etc.) and Lee Child ("Killing Floor" (1997), the Jack Reacher series) swear by the book.

This Audible Studios edition wasn't so great. Mark Boyett is a good performer, but this needed a proofreader, or, more aptly, a proof listen. There were places where text was repeated, and a few times the wrong word was read - like the word "deaf" for "dead." That's an editor issue, though, not a writer or performer problem.

The title of the review is a quote from the book - and Plantinga is quoting a partner.

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

102 people found this helpful

Well Done. Misinformation present but minimal.

Where does 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons From a Veteran Patrolman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

30-40

What was one of the most memorable moments of 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons From a Veteran Patrolman?

Sgt. Platinga put together a very refreshing, entertaining, "mostly accurate", accessible reality check for citizens. This isn't a book on how to beat the police. Sgt. Platinga does a great job of mixing in just the right amount of "misinformation" to protect a few necessary secrets and a few tricks of the trade. I will only give up one sample; Police cars are far from "mere Detroit steel with transmissions that fall out". Disclaimer: the quality, maintenance and dependability will depend on what ghetto you work in. However, even in the ghetto you're getting "hand me down" no smog, "enhanced" pieces of junk, which beat the local junk. *** It's a Great listen, listen to it a few times, you'll come away with a much better understanding of your local LEO and the nonsense they deal with, delivered in a very straightforward approach with a perfect dash of humor. It's not an easy job (I have it on good authority). Well done Adam!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me smile. : )

Any additional comments?

Bad Cop, No Doughnut!

39 people found this helpful

Best Audio Book I have ever heard

What did you love best about 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons From a Veteran Patrolman?

This is a great audio book no matter who you are, what you are looking for from it, and what your background is. I'm not sure why I bought it, but I do have a lot of friends who are police, fireman, and paramedics. I always love hearing their stories around the campfire, so I assumed this would be similar. It was much, much more. I assumed there would be stories of cop vs. purp and how they took them down, and there were a few of those. But this was actually an intense ride through American sociology. It was absolutely hilarious at times, very sad at times, and thoroughly entertaining in general. I have listened to it several times now in my truck traveling. I have had people riding with me listen along as it just plays when my phone pairs and they later ask for the title so they can get a copy too. Adam Plantinga is a cop who is also a really great writer. Some things are stated in a matter of fact way without opinion or inference. Some things are stated and then the emotion triggered by these things in cops is stated, and stated very well. The narrator Mark Boyett read this book perfectly. Narrators can ruin a great book and I have experienced that a lot, but this one is a great book with a great narrator. I have about 30 books in my audible library now, and this one is by far my favorite. Most of the other books I listen to are about competition shooting, fitness, and business self improvement, so it is a surprise to me that this book, my favorite, falls a little outside what I am normally listening to. The 400 things are presented in chapters. Some of the things are very short, even one liners. Some are long stories. Some of the chapters may contain 13 things, or 25 things, for example, "25 things cops know about domestic violence", so the chapters are different and just the right size to keep your attention. There are also some unexpected chapters based on the title which are great surprises, like "things cops know about their co-workers". I recommend this book, hope that the author publishes more like it.

17 people found this helpful

Educational and Entertaining

I work in the medical field, many years in ERs, doing ride alongs with cops and perimedic, working in jail and prison. What the author writes about rings true....way too true. There's a lot of "necessary" cussing, in case you are very sensitive to that. The book is well written and perfectly performed, educational in its content, and even entertaining. I highly recommend it.

29 people found this helpful

A combination of interesting, funny, and tragic

Speaking as a civilian, I found the bite-sized snippets of information to be thoroughly entertaining. The author caused a range of responses alternating between laughter and forlorn and thoughtful silence and everything in between at different points in his writings. Great for a road trip ;-)

17 people found this helpful

Enlightening and entertaining

What did you love best about 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons From a Veteran Patrolman?

99% of this book is interesting and entertaining. The only exceptions to this are the gritty and seamy examples of the dark side of life that cops are constantly exposed to. When not discussing the despairing side of life, the author shares many enlightening insights and made me laugh often. Having never been a policeman, I especially enjoyed how cops protect themselves by "reading" situations and people.

Which character – as performed by Mark Boyett – was your favorite?

Excellent narration. The only obvious mistake I noticed was his pronunciation of "Present Arms" during a funeral. It shouldn't be pronounced like a "Christmas Present", but rather the first syllable is stressed, as when you are "Presented" an award.

15 people found this helpful

Thank you!

I will listen to this again. My granddaughter has chosen this career and my grandson is a firefighter in Maui. I laughed out loud at your comparisons. I believe this should be a must read/listen for everyone and especially family members. You have enlightened this grandmother (I still worry everyday) and I thank you for your service.

4 people found this helpful

Random Purchase... but it was okay

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. It's not a bad book but its not the type of book I think my friends would want to read unless they are wanting to write a crime based book.

Any additional comments?

This book was a bit outside the things that I would normally read. I picked it up on sale because it sounded interesting. It was not exciting in any way and I didn't find any sort of surprising facts but I did find it entertaining. It even made me laugh a few times. It was an easy light read. It is mostly a list of facts about numerous areas of police work. The sections are numbered within the chapters and the narrator introduces each section. It was easy to follow and did not focus on any specific topic other than the importance of honesty as a police officer and how important it is to maintain your reputation and integrity. It was entertaining.

4 people found this helpful

Decent story, terrible narrator.

The writing was reasonably interesting, especially if you are interested in an officer’s perspective. The narrator lacks expression of any kind. At the end of some chapters, the audio changes...louder, softer, an echo, etc. The narrator also mispronounces words. For example, when reading about a salute at a funeral, he reads, “present arms” but says present as in a gift for your birthday rather than present as in to present an award.

3 people found this helpful