Book Review: Explaining U.S. Imprisonment

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016811401193
• Date: 01 December 2011
• Author: David Patrick Connor
• Published date: 01 December 2011
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

enforcement has resulted in an excellent work for its intended audience and purpose. Vardalis’s pur-

pose is to provide the reader with the skills necessary to make complex decisions in the performance

of law enforcement duties that result in favorable outcomes for law enforcement and the community.

To that end, Vardalis does a good job of selecting cases studies that expose the reader to a plethora of

timely and salient situations and issues encountered in law enforcement. For example, among other

relevant law enforcement issues, he exposes the reader to illegal immigration, medical marijuana,

race relations, the mentally ill, street justice and police corruption, missing children, police

cover-up, and the code of protection.

Vardalis’s book is well written in structure and organized in a manner that allows the reader to

easily follow and understand; a form most complementary for practitioner training and to provoke

group analysis and discussion in a classroom setting. The book is comprised of 26 chapters, each

representing an individual case study, titled Alpha through Zulu, indicative of police jargon, with

a subtitle indicating the issue or topic. Each case study begins with an introduction to the topic, fol-

lowed by the specifics of the issue under study in the words of the actual informants, and concludes

with an assignment and discussion section that presents the reader with multiple questions for discus-

sion and critical analysis. The reader should analyze the cases within the theoretical framework of

police ethics, including responsibility; performance; discretion; useof force; confidentiality; integrity;

cooperationwith other officers and agencies; personal/professional capabilities; privatelife; and so on.

Vardalis, who possesses a combined 30 years of experience in criminal justice as a law enforcement

practitioner and academic scholar, collected the data for the case studies from his own empirical evi-

dence as well as from the documented evidence of others within the field of criminal justice.

A critique of the strengths and weaknesses of this book is in appropriate. A major strength of this

book is the depth and breadth of the case studies. As a result, the reader is drawn into complex real-

life scenarios that would be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate in the academy training environ-

ment or the classroom. Alternatively, a weakness of this book is that the case studies—although

thought provoking and engaging—are not supplemented with the authors’ own analysis and com-

mentary. The reader would benefit from an explication of the authors’ vast experience and learned

views, which would inform perspectives and provoke lively discussion and dialog between and

among students and instructor. This reviewer assumes that the book is meant to serve as a practical

workbook and guide to facilitate classroom discussion and analysis on the topics. Therefore, Varda-

lis’s citation and reference style is appropriate for its intended audience, however not for scholarly

publication in peer-reviewed journals because of the absence of a citation and reference style deli-

neated by the appropriate governing bodies.

In conclusion, in addition to the educational benefits to students aspiring careers in law enforce-

ment, this work contributes to the development of a more professional policing vocation by provid-

ing the prospective or current police officer with the analytical tools required to make good decisions

involving common law enforcement situations and issues. As a result, readers of this book will gain

valuable insights into the complex situations law enforcement practitioners often find themselves in

and learn many of the tools necessary to foster favorable outcomes. Hence, the use of Issues and

Cases in Law Enforcement, by Dr. James J. Vardalis will benefit the student and/or police recruit

preparing for a career in law enforcement, as well as existing law enforcement professionals.

M. Bosworth

Explaining U.S. Imprisonment Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2010, xi, 288 pp. $33.95.

ISBN: 978-1-4129-2487-0

Reviewed by: David Patrick Connor, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016811401193

Book Reviews 519