The Erosion of the Thin Blue Line: Memoirs of My Life As a Washington, D. C. Police Officer

Sgt. Joe Massey (Retired) shuns the idea of being politically correct with this insider’s account of what it’s like to be a Washington, D.C. police officer. He leads readers on a series of adventures that span thirty years in law enforcement, beginning as a police rookie in 1983, to his days with the force’s elite SWAT team, to his days with the force’s Harbor Patrol Branch, and right up to his retirement in 2012. He learned early on that being a police officer is like being an artist: It’s open to interpretation. You must make nonbelievers believe and crush anyone who challenges your authority. Over time, his fellow officers became family, and they supported each other through good times and bad. They did their jobs no matter how dangerous the situation—and concerns about public perception rarely entered the equation. Develop a newfound respect for the dangers that police officers face on a daily basis, as well as changes that are leading to “The Erosion of the Thin Blue Line.”