Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

By Adam Plantinga

400 Things Cops Know shows police work on the inside, from the viewpoint of the regular cop on the beat —  a profession that can range from rewarding to bizarre to terrifying, all within the course of a single eight-hour  shift. Written by veteran police sergeant Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know brings the reader into life the  way cops experience it — a life of danger, frustration, occasional triumph and plenty of grindingly hard routine  work.

In a laconic, no-nonsense, dryly humorous style, Plantinga tells what he’s learned from 13 years as a patrolman,  from the everyday to the exotic — how to know at a glance when a suspect is carrying a weapon or is going to  attack, how to kick a door down, how to drive in a car chase without recklessly endangering the public, why you  should always carry cigarettes, even if you don’t smoke (offering a smoke is the best way to lure a suicide to  safety) and what to do if you find a severed limb (don’t put it on ice — you need to keep it dry).

400 Things Cops Know deglamorizes police work, showing the physical, psychological and emotional toll of  the job. Plantinga shows what cops experience of death, the legal system, violence, prostitution, drug use, the  social causes and consequences of crime, alcoholism and more.

Sometimes heartbreaking and often hilarious, 400 Things Cops Know is an eye-opening revelation of what life  on the beat is really all about.