THE NATURE OF POLICE WORK shapes the attitudes and viewpoints of police officers. The police officer's job is psychologically and emotionally demanding; sometimes it entails violence, and generally it revolves around crisis. Society calls on police to handle a wide range of problems, including minor traffic accidents, murder investigations, family fights, muggings, house burglaries, carjackings, lost children, and crowd control at concerts.

Police are in a unique position. They see the best and the worst of American society. Day in and day out, police officers encounter individuals who break traffic laws, harass strangers, and commit assaults. But they also encounter people who report neighborhood crime, come to the aid of strangers, and provide social services for children and adults in crisis. They see some of the most horrible and most wonderful parts of their society. An ACLU manual attempts to...