Policing New York's Underground
Jim Kouri, CPP
August 10, 2005
Book Review - Tunnel Vision by W.K. Brown
As a rule I don't usually do book reviews in my column. However, as they say, there are always exceptions that prove the rule and Tunnel Vision by W.K. Brown is just such an exception.
Brown, a former New York City transit cop, deserves widespread attention for his exciting and well-written book. (Full Disclosure: My cousin, a veteran transit cop herself, is a close friend of the author. But their friendship has no bearing on my review of a fine piece of non-fiction.) Tunnel Vision is so realitistic and gritty, the only way to get closer to the action is to become a transit cop in the Big Apple's subway system yourself.
The author joined the force when it was a separate department under the NYC Transit Authority. He remained in the Transit Division when Mayor Rudy Guiliani decided to merge the city's three major police departments -- Transit, Housing and the NYPD -- into one department under the management of one police commissioner.
The Transit Police, although never getting the immense publicity of the NYPD, was and is always on the cutting edge of law enforcement in New York. For instance, it was the first department to switch from revolvers to semiautomatic sidearms. The transition occurred while the NYPD was prohibited from making the switch by then Mayor David Dinkins. The police officers carried revolvers on the mean streets of New York, while the officers underground carried Glocks.
Also, the transit police are credited with reducing violent crime within the mass transit system well before the cops above them saw a decrease in violence on the streets. Transit cops believed in being pro-active long before it became fashionable in the law enforcement community. In fact, an ABC TV show called "American Detective" featured the transit police's decoy operations (again, my cousin was featured on that show -- what can I say, she's as beautiful as she is tough).
Brown's book will make even the most hardened veteran traveler of the subway look at the concrete and cold steel in a different way. The visions that are revealed to the reader can only be seen in what Brown calls, "The underground beast that is the subway of New York."
And the author explores his personal views, as well. He confides that for an African-American, the police department seemed to be an enemy; something to be feared not embraced. Brown’s decision to join the ranks of New York’s finest would be one of the toughest decisions he would ever have to make -- a decision he would have to live with for the rest of his life.
I know. I know. There's a saturation of books by former cops out there. However, in all honesty none of them comes close to achieving the entertainment and shock levels of Tunnel Vision. W.K. Brown's book is available at Amazon.Com or visit his website at www.brownwk.com for information on Tunnel Vision.
As a rule I don't usually do book reviews in my column. However, as they say, there are always exceptions that prove the rule and Tunnel Vision by W.K. Brown is just such an exception.
Brown, a former New York City transit cop, deserves widespread attention for his exciting and well-written book. (Full Disclosure: My cousin, a veteran transit cop herself, is a close friend of the author. But their friendship has no bearing on my review of a fine piece of non-fiction.) Tunnel Vision is so realitistic and gritty, the only way to get closer to the action is to become a transit cop in the Big Apple's subway system yourself.
The author joined the force when it was a separate department under the NYC Transit Authority. He remained in the Transit Division when Mayor Rudy Guiliani decided to merge the city's three major police departments -- Transit, Housing and the NYPD -- into one department under the management of one police commissioner.
The Transit Police, although never getting the immense publicity of the NYPD, was and is always on the cutting edge of law enforcement in New York. For instance, it was the first department to switch from revolvers to semiautomatic sidearms. The transition occurred while the NYPD was prohibited from making the switch by then Mayor David Dinkins. The police officers carried revolvers on the mean streets of New York, while the officers underground carried Glocks.
Also, the transit police are credited with reducing violent crime within the mass transit system well before the cops above them saw a decrease in violence on the streets. Transit cops believed in being pro-active long before it became fashionable in the law enforcement community. In fact, an ABC TV show called "American Detective" featured the transit police's decoy operations (again, my cousin was featured on that show -- what can I say, she's as beautiful as she is tough).
Brown's book will make even the most hardened veteran traveler of the subway look at the concrete and cold steel in a different way. The visions that are revealed to the reader can only be seen in what Brown calls, "The underground beast that is the subway of New York."
And the author explores his personal views, as well. He confides that for an African-American, the police department seemed to be an enemy; something to be feared not embraced. Brown’s decision to join the ranks of New York’s finest would be one of the toughest decisions he would ever have to make -- a decision he would have to live with for the rest of his life.
I know. I know. There's a saturation of books by former cops out there. However, in all honesty none of them comes close to achieving the entertainment and shock levels of Tunnel Vision. W.K. Brown's book is available at Amazon.Com or visit his website at www.brownwk.com for information on Tunnel Vision.
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