Police & Policing

Mike McAlary, a reporter for the New York paper Newsday. His book Buddy Boys reveals the drama behind one of the biggest New York City police corruption scandals since Serpico. Buddy Boys is the story of how two corrupt cops, Harry Winter and Tony Magno, consented to inform on fellow officers who were routinely robbing drug dealers and then selling the drugs.

Book critic John Leonard says that Robert Stuart Nathan's new mystery book, The White Tiger, features a memorable portrayal of Beijing, and makes for fine summer reading.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that director Paul Verhoeven's first American film, about a murdered police officer who is turned into a cybernetic law enforcement officer, might be the best action flick since The Terminator.

Anthony Jackson is a lawyer who wrote the chapter on the criminal justice system for the Urban League's report "State of Black Philadelphia." For three years, Jackson was the Director of the Police Project at the Public Interest Law Center. He joins the show to discuss race relations and justice in Philadelphia and the entire country.

In her new book, Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, Joanna Schwartz examines the legal protections — including qualified immunity and no-knock warrants — that have protected officers from the repercussions of abuse.