400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, Paperback/Adam Plantinga

"400 Things Cops Know" shows police work on the inside, from the viewpoint of the regular cop on the beat - a profession that can range from rewarding to bizarre to terrifying, all within the course of a single eight-hour shift. Written by veteran police sergeant Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know brings the reader into life the way cops experience it - a life of danger, frustration, occasional triumph and plenty of grindingly hard routine work. In a laconic, no-nonsense, dryly humorous style, Plantinga tells what he's learned from 13 years as a patrolman, from the everyday to the exotic - how to know at a glance when a suspect is carrying a weapon or is going to attack, how to kick a door down, how to drive in a car chase without recklessly endangering the public, why you should always carry cigarettes, even if you don't smoke (offering a smoke is the best way to lure a suicide to safety) and what to do if you find a severed limb (don't put it on ice - you need to keep it dry).400 Things Cops Know deglamorizes police work, showing the physical, psychological and emotional toll of the job.