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Former Detroit Police Officer Shares His Story In 'A Shattered Dream: The Cop Who Never Was'

(WWJ) - In his autobiography "A Shattered Dream: The Cop Who Never Was," James Crawford explains how after becoming a Detroit police officer in 1970 at age 28, he quickly learned that some of the "bad guys" were within his own department.

James Crawford
James E. Crawford (Photo courtesy James Crawford)

"But let me just say this one thing in the defense of the officers: Either you're with us or you're against us. It's literally that simple," he said. "And if you're with us, then they own you. If you go against them you can forget about your career; it's basically over."

This not your ordinary cop story. It does talk about police corruption, police brutality, and racism; the personal attacks on him, and what is going on today all across America; the shooting of unarmed black men by white police officers, but it goes far beyond that.

It's a story of a real person whose dream since the fifth grade was to be a good cop and what he had to go through to try to fulfill it.

"I was never allowed to be the cop I wanted to be," Crawford said.

[Learn more about the book at this link]

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