Book Review: Good Cop/Bad Cop: Mass Media and the Cycle of Police Reform

Published date01 May 2005
DOI10.1177/0734016805275705
Date01 May 2005
Subject MatterArticles
He argues that the v ictim-oriented initiatives that empowerthe victim are incompatible with
due process and criminal control values. Instead, Sanders argues for a socially inclusive
approach that recognizes that victims and offenders are largely homogeneous groups and that
would take into account “the actual interests and views of the individual victims ...toassist
in reintegration” (p. 209) but that would work to minimize the loss of freedom for the
offender.
Overall, the book provides a different view of the victim. Moving away from the typical
approach of victimology in focusing on the socially constructed ideal victim, the contribut-
ing authors provide a glimpse of the socially stigmatized victim. Although the contributors
provide important and needed knowledge, the organization of the book is inconsistent. The
editors boast of not having an unnecessary introduction to the chapters; however, the diver-
sity of the subjects covered truly required an introductory as well as concluding chapter by
the editors to lay out the theoretical groundwork for the book.
Venessa Garcia
Kean University
Good Cop/Bad Cop: Mass Media and the Cycle of Police Reform, by Jarret S. Lovell.
Monsey, NY: Willow Tree Press, 2003, 177 pp.
DOI: 10.1177/0734016805275705
The “good cop/bad cop” image is ubiquitous, enduring, and up for grabs. Law enforce-
ment clearly faces media challenges to their image, policies, and procedures daily. “One of
the central features of postmodernity ...istheprominence of mediated experience in our
daily lives. No longer do we encounter reality firsthand ...worldly events are increasingly
experienced only second-hand [which] has tremendous consequences” (p. 45). The mass
media seeks “stories of interest,” and police seek understanding. As a political entity vested
with powers of arrest and lethal force, and whose work is necessarily somewhat closed, the
integrity and legitimacy of law enforcement is regularly held up for public scrutiny.
Supported by the theoretical basis of cultural and performance reflexivity, Lovell argues
that “it is through mass media that the public most often interacts with its community offi-
cials. . . . [Therefore] the media industry can serve as a powerful source for political account-
ability ...asignificant director toward reform [and] organizational changes” (p. 6). With
each era’s new innovations in media technology come shifts in police practices. In fact,
Lovell argues that the media “are among those political forces essential to an understanding
of the police organization” (p. 9; italics added). Without question, mass media can be a potent
historic catalyst compelling reform.
The core argument begins with the Progressive Era of the late 19th/early 20th centuries.
Penny presses like the New York Sun and The National Police Gazette became widely avail-
able, giving voice to the masses, “democratizing” journalism, and becoming “champions”
for various reforms (p. 51). Law enforcement developed at the local level, with all the atten-
dant local partialities. Character was not a main concern in officer selection: “Police jobs
[were] awarded as political handouts” (p. 56). McClure Magazine decried “the Increase of
Lawlessness” and wrote “The City of Chicago: A Study of its Great Immoralities” (pp. 57,
Book Reviews 123

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