BLACKCOPS - The Story of Black Police In Philadelphia

Today is: Monday, September 06, 2010

" I felt like I was somebody important that August day in 1940," James Reaves writes in the opening sentence of "Black Cops". Reaves was about to be sworn in as one of the few Black members of the Philadelphia police force, and, although he was upbeat and optimistic, the reception he would receive from his colleagues would be a baptism of fire.

The first time Reaves took the police civil service test, he was ranked 2,960th on the eligibility list. When word leaked out that the Republican city administration had manipulated test results even more than usual, a new test was ordered. The next time Reaves was ranked 137th on the list.

There was a swearing in ceremony at City Hall with lots of smiles, handshakes, and photographs, but then Reaves had to report to his new street sergeant, a man who was, of course White. The sergeant glanced at Reaves coldly, gave him a quick scan up and down, and then said something to Reaves for which Reaves would never forgive him. "My God," the sergeant hissed, "it gets worse."

Reaves shook off the insult and persevered through a remarkable forty-year police career. From walking a beat to protect businesses that wouldn't serve Blacks - - while other cops rode in the comfort of White -only patrol cars--to the upper echelons of the department as Philadelphia's first Black police captain, James Reaves saw it all, and now he is going on the record with his story.

Black Cops removes the shroud of secrecy that has always cloaked police work from the eyes of civilians, offering a frank, and revealing look at how race so often factors into that.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary Black History, this moving and compelling book takes the reader behind the police barricades and into the front lines of the civil unrest of the 1960's, where Black policemen are torn between allegiance to their people and their oath of office.

From the march on Washington of 1964 to the back streets of Philadelphia where two White policemen are accused of raping a young Black woman in their patrol car. Black Cops presents an honest look at police--the good, the bad, and the indifferent--as they go about their sometimes dangerous and always vital work during an era of great turmoil.