Book Review: A Quick Reference Guide to Contemporary Criminal Procedure for Law Enforcement Officers: One Hundred Notable United States Supreme Court Decisions, and Their Effect on Modern Policing in America

• Author: Wendy L. Hicks
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016806295590
• Date: 01 December 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

to be effective role models in this regard. For instance, legal mandates and department poli-

cies that reflect them cannot be taught and/or implemented with a “wink and a smile.”

Perhaps more radical (but not inconsistent in this era of community policing) is their call

for hiring a different kind of police officer—an individual whose values lie in the middle

of the crime control/due process continuum. They see these types of individuals as less

likely to engage in noble cause corruption because they will be guided by values that con-

sider both a “just means” to an end, as opposed to simply a “just end” result.

This updated (largely to reflect post-9/11 considerations) and somewhat restructured

second edition is written for both police practitioners (police managers and recruits are

specifically identified) as well as criminal justice students. These audiences are well

accommodated by its organized approach and readable style. The book is divided into three

parts: Part I introduces the concept of police officers as committed to the noble cause and

as value-based decision makers; Part II discusses how officers’ commitment to the noble

cause can become corrupted; and Part III considers noble cause corruption as an ethics

issue in the 21st century. Interspersed throughout the text are segments of dialog (in italics)

from an ethics training seminar that was conducted by author Caldero for a group of police

managers. The authors use this approach not only to introduce many of their central tenets

but also to report the types of feedback and reaction that their ideas elicited. Skeptics in the

audience and among those who read this volume will likely find Caldero’s verbal sparring

thought provoking at the very least, if not most persuasive.

Thomas D. Bazley

University of Maryland University College, Adelphi

Bannon, M. E. (2003). A Quick Reference Guide to Contemporary Criminal Procedure for

Law Enforcement Officers: One Hundred Notable United States Supreme Court Decisions,

and Their Effect on Modern Policing in America. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806295590

The discipline of criminal justice is unique in the academic community. There are no acad-

emic disciplines that suffer from such a bifurcated nature as does criminal justice. Whereas

most academic disciplines rely on basic research as the cornerstone of resulting scholarly

pursuits, criminal justice has the added benefit, some would say “problem,” of application, or

the more practical aspects inherent in policing, corrections, and the courts. It is within the prac-

tical aspect of law enforcement that Lt. Mark E. Bannon takes the reader in A Quick Reference

Guide to Contemporary Criminal Justice Procedure for Law Enforcement Officers.

Too often in criminal justice research the practical side of our discipline is overlooked in

favor of more esoteric scholarly endeavors. Although basic research is part and parcel of any

scholar’s obligation to the larger academic community, there often remains a gap in publi-

cations suited for the more traditional scholar versus those publications more appropriate for

the practitioner within the field of criminal justice.

Lt. Bannon’s book is one remedy to that publication gap existing between the academic

and practical sides of criminal justice. Thanks to the opening pages of this text, a reader

384 Criminal Justice Review