Includes bibliographical references and index.

The clamorous chorus -- The concern with the injustice or unfairness of police interventions -- A concern about police brutality or disproportional police response -- Sensing an unbridgeable divide -- Rank-and-file resistance to community-relations reforms -- The birth of modern policing -- A video clip in Seattle -- A posthumous chorus and street justice in Seattle -- Learning to live with due process -- Volatile scenarios in the ghetto.

Toch (emeritus, criminal justice, U. of Albany-SUNY) reviews the history of police reform over the past 50 years, stressing the role of citizen "spectators" in shaping police practice and policy, especially in the era of new digital communication such as social networking sites, cell phones, and blogging. The author also draws on his own original research in crowd behavior. The first part of the book relies on interviews with real police officers in an anonymous West Coast city from 1967 to 1971, shedding light on that city's experience with citizen concerns about police brutality and the subsequent resistance of rank-and-file police officers to reforms. Part 2, the bulk of the book, examines accusations of police brutality in Seattle, 2010-1011. The book includes an extensive list of references, mainly online documentation for the Seattle section. Annotation �2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)