Vice: One Cop's Story of Patrolling America's Most Dangerous City

Born and raised in Compton, the city in L.A. county notoriously home to the Bloods and Crips gangs, Baker traces both the history of the city and his own rise from rookie to detective in his gritty memoir. Co-written with screenwriter Rivele (Nixon), Baker, born in 1942, describes growing up the son of a white father and Mexican mother, learning early on how to sidestep racial boundaries—yet never walking away from a fight. He joins the Compton Police Department in 1968 after earning a sociology degree and serving in the Marine Corps, hoping to fulfill his need for adventure and serve his town. Baker recounts the racial shift in Compton beginning in the late 1950s as "white flight" began and the area became predominantly black, though by the TKTKs Hispanics became the majority—and the rise of brutal gang violence. Along with his fellow officers, Baker was more often than not outnumbered on the streets by criminals, but describes a police force dedicated to protecting the community, even if that means doling out some unorthodox, Compton-style justice. (Jan.)