Pure Cop: Cop Talk from the Street to the Specialized Units-Bomb Squad, Arson, Hostage Negotiation, Prostitution, Major Accident

This follow-up to the author's excellent What Cops Know falls short of the original. As her cumbersome subtitle indicates, Loyola University of Chicago journalism professor Fletcher has interviewed police officers from the special branches of Chicago's force and synthesized their observations to make a coherent text. And yet that text is somewhat uneven, belaboring the obvious; readers will quickly conclude that members of the bomb squad are exceedingly courageous, while cops who deal with major accidents, usually automotive, need strong stomachs and a firm control of their emotions. Fletcher's police concerned with crime scene reiterate, ad nauseam, their first commandment--``Thou shalt not disturb anything at the scene of a crime''--and her vice squad officers do little to disprove the contention of more than one psychologist that they are merely authorized voyeurs. First serial to Cosmopolitan. (Jan.)