Westside Story – Book Report

Story & Photo – Joseph Boyle

Do you remember when we were school kids and our teachers made us write book reports?

My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Alba Greenfield, required her students write book reports.  I loved Mrs. Greenfield, but she was unreasonable when it came to book reports.  That’s right, she required that we actually read the book before writing the report.

From my early grade school reading foundation, I developed a little known addiction called ABR.  ABR stands for “Always Be Reading”.

Very seldom will you ever catch me without some kind of reading material.  You can spot me waiting in the Starbucks beverage line; reading.  Life is just more pleasant and time goes by more quickly if I can read while I wait or read while I drink my coffee or read before going to sleep.

I am like an alcoholic walking into a bar whenever I enter a bookstore or library.  It never fails.  I have plenty to read at home, but I just can’t walk out of a bookstore or library without taking a new book with me.

Just the other day, I exited our Lakewood Library with a book titled, A Cop’s Life.  Sergeant Randy Sutton wrote this book. The ISBN is 0-312-33896-1.

A Cop’s Life gives you an inside look into what it is like to serve as a police officer.  A cop’s world is a significantly different world and life experience, when compared to the ordinary citizen’s life.

For example, if you are at your local shopping center and a madman starts shooting people for no apparent reason, what do you do?  You scream and run to escape from the danger.  What do cops do when they hear the screaming and shooting?  They run towards the shooter, thereby increasing their personal danger.

There are three categories or types of violence that impact police officers.

Type 1: Police officers see and deal with violence as it impacts on victims on almost a daily basis.

Type 2: Sometimes, violence seeks out the police officer. As you read this article, around the country a cop is being shot, knifed, run over by a car and the list of violent acts targeting police officers goes on.

Type 3: Sometimes, cops are forced to dispense necessary violence to protect someone’s life.

Whenever cops step into the pathway of violence, it is never a pleasant experience for any of the people involved, including the cop.  Real cops are not like you see on T.V. and the movies.  The game of life is serious business for cops.

I will admit this book is not for everyone.  Conversely, if you would like to know more about a cop’s life, I recommend you check it out of the library and scan the contents to see if it is something you would like to read.  It is an easy read and describes more than just violence.  Once I started the book, I had a hard time laying it down.

Mrs. Greenfield, if you see this article, “Yes, I did read the book before writing this report.”