Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The Blue Line mystique -- Liminality -- Behaving badly -- Grass eaters versus meat eaters -- Priests, prostitutes, and Penn State -- 2. Special operations groups -- Focus group -- SWAT : behind the ballistic shield -- Militarization culture -- 3. Studying a secret culture -- Investigative objective -- Challenges for cultural research -- Deficiencies in current literature -- Significance in studying cop culture -- 4. History of policing in America -- English origin -- Three eras of American policing -- The political era -- The professional era -- August Vollmer -- The Wickersham Commission Report -- O.W. Wilson -- J. Edgar Hoover -- New police technologies -- Technology of television -- Community-oriented policing and problem-solving era -- COP model -- Counterterrorism model -- POP model -- CPTED model -- 5. Occupational socialization -- Fitting in -- Bureaucratic fraternal order -- Personal effects of cultural conflict -- Attitudes, motivators, and satisfiers -- Marine Corps' Motivational Method -- 6. Why cops quit -- Factors affecting commitment -- Perceptions of work-ecology -- 7. Antidiversity in the ranks -- No place for "other" -- Heterosexual masculinity -- Military minorities not welcome -- Perceptions of racism -- Culture created by assimilation -- 8. Police culture -- Silent codes and Blue Lines -- Code of silence protects police corruption -- Discretion or corruption -- Dishonoring the Code -- Deviance and violence -- Policing and alcohol consumption -- Gangland violence -- Commitment to deviance -- Personal effects : social and individual fracturing -- Making of an undercover agent -- 9. State sponsored violence -- Conflicting roles -- Use-of-force continuum -- Parapolicing violence -- Peer validation -- 10. Policing the police -- Early warning systems -- Early intervention -- 11. Cop culture and OMC.