An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America

From the highest-ranking whistleblower in NYPD history, a gripping insider look at the complexities of modern policing and the urgent need for reform

Over his decade and a half with the New York Police Department, Edwin Raymond consistently exposed the dark underbelly of modern policing, becoming the highest-ranking whistleblower in the history of the force and one of the country's leading voices against police injustice. Offering a rare, often shocking view of American policing, An Inconvenient Cop pulls back the curtain on the many flaws woven into the NYPD's training, data, and practices, which have since been repackaged and repurposed by police departments across the country.

Gravitating toward law enforcement in the hope of being a positive influence in his community, Raymond quickly learned that the problem with policing is a lot deeper than merely "a few bad apples"--the entire mechanism is set up to ensure that racial profiling is rewarded, and there are weighty consequences for cops who don't play along. Struggling with the moral dilemma of policing impartially while witnessing his fellow officers go with the flow, Raymond's journey takes him to the precipice of personal and professional ruin. Yet, through it all, he remains steadfast in his commitment to justice and his belief in the potential for change.

At once revelatory and galvanizing, An Inconvenient Cop courageously bears witness to and exposes institutional violence. It presents a vision of radical hope and makes the case for a world in which the police's responsibility is not to arrest numbers but to the people.

Author: Edwin Raymond, Jon Sternfeld
Publisher: Viking
Published: 10/17/2023
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.27lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d
ISBN: 9780593653166


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/01/2023 pg. 17
Publishers Weekly 08/21/2023

About the Author
Edwin Raymond is the face of and lead plaintiff in the largest lawsuit in the history of the New York Police Department and one of the nation's leading voices on criminal justice reform. A first-generation Haitian American, he grew up in the predominantly West Indian East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Raymond officially became a whistleblower following the explosive New York Times Magazine cover story "A Black Police Officer's Fight against the NYPD," and he was prominently featured in the award-winning documentary on the NYPD 12, Crime + Punishment. He has received numerous accolades, including an Exceptional Police Duty Medal, an NAACP Courage Under Fire Award, an International Documentary Association Courage Under Fire Award, and an IDA Doc Star of the Month. Raymond continues to use his voice and platform to advocate for better policing.

Jon Sternfeld is an author whose work includes the New York Times bestselling Scenes from My Life with Michael K. Williams, A Stone of Hope with Jim St. Germain, Marked for Life with Isaac Wright Jr., and Unprepared: America in the Time of Coronavirus.