Reviews for Law of Public Education - E. Edmund Reutter - Hardcover - 3rd ed

The average rating for Law of Public Education - E. Edmund Reutter - Hardcover - 3rd ed based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-06-24 00:00:00 Joshua Smith I actually purchased my copy back in July 1993 in a bookstore in Tombstone, Arizona. At the time I was in the U.S. Army, but I had aspirations of going into law enforcement - in particular Idaho Law Enforcement (which I finally accomplished in 2000). Being a history buff it seemed a good choice and I still feel this way twenty-five years later. It's interesting to note that the now classic movie Tombstone was filming in Arizona at this time. That's important because the movie ,while great entertainment, is part of the mythos of the western lawman. The role of law enforcement in the Western United States has been blown out of proportion over the years thanks to novelists, journalists, Hollywood, television and the tall tales of many of the lawmen themselves. As a result the Western Lawman is still seen as being something of a ten foot tall figure. That wasn't the case at all and Professor Prassel does an excellent job of breaking down the many myths and distortions that exist. What is especially impressive is the book was published in the early seventies and is still relevant in 2018. This book describes the activities of a number of law-enforcement agencies. Each level of civil administration in the West had its own police force. Banks, railroads, and cattlemen's associations hired private detectives, and Indian police patrolled reservations. Pinkerton men, Texas rangers, Canadian mounties, railroad detectives and Mexican rurales all played a part in western law enforcement. Men like Dallas Stoudenmire, James Butler Hickok, and Wyatt Earp are discussed, along with lesser known organizations such as the Indian police. The book has photos and many data charts comparing stats from the "wild west" and the supposedly more civilized eastern cities such as New York and Philadelphia. Not surprisingly the more densely populated eastern cities lead places like Dodge City and that's even when the numbers are broken. The book begins with an examination of early law enforcement as it began in England in the Anglo-Saxon days and how it gradually developed into a professional metropolitan organization. Prassel shows that much of what the Old West lawman dealt with is the same as what I deal with in 2018. Instead of gunfights, pursuing outlaws and facing down desperate men the typical western lawman dealt with property disputes, noise complaints, drunks and domestic violence calls. Controversy often surrounded police shootings (sound familiar?) and more then a few lawmen found themselves being charged with murder. There was paperwork and budgets to be managed and even in the frontier days cases went to higher courts and were sometimes overturned. All of it is very modern for such a free and wild time. In the end Professor Prssel shows that the average lawman in the old west was no different then officers in the 21str century. Some of them were true fire breathers, while others (such as yours truly), were average men doing the job to the best of their abilities and trying to make sure that they went home at the end of the day. Sadly there were also those who were less admirable and abused their position to line their pockets and/or engage in criminal activities. In other words they were Human beings. An excellent book and one that I recommend without reservations.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-12-17 00:00:00 Kim Listowski Five stars for academic excellence. Interesting for the little known facts that come out in this book. A great debunking of the legends surrounding certain famous names in western peace keeping Everett’s. Not a bad read.