Armed and Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman
Gallo's streetwise memoir--her first book--of policing Chicago's roughest neighborhoods blends equal parts humor and regret. A Chicago cop's daughter, Gallo completed a master's and began a career in psychology, but Reagan-era cutbacks directed her onto her father's path. Intending to work as a police therapist, she was instead unceremoniously assigned to the patrol division and became both a decorated officer and something of a trailblazer as one of the first women to receive high-risk tactical assignments. Gallo astutely considers the female cop's unique circumstances: male partners deride her femininity yet capitalize on it during domestic calls; romances with civilians seem doomed. The elusive "feminine" qualities, feared by old-boy police officials, benefited her performance, while the misery of the streets apparently took a greater psychic toll than on her male counterparts. Gallo's fresh perspective counters typical TV images of cops, as she describes the experiences of "[t]hose who muddle along... trying to do the right thing." She gives devastatingly effective accounts of relations between "brother" officers and of trying to avoid being perceived as a "bimbo with a badge" or a "dog cop" (lazy or irredeemably greedy). Weaker moments occur in the melodramatic re-created crime-scene dialogues. Gallo is at her best when straightforwardly detailing the earthy minutiae of "cop life" or casting about for the emotional costs of being both witness and enforcer amidst the violence of the inner city. (Mar.)Forecast: Given the preponderance of TV shows and movies about the police and the scarcity of unadorned every-cop accounts, Gallo's book could appeal to a broad readership if prominently displayed in stores (the guns on its cover will be a draw). Author appearances at Chicago-area bookstores and police-related community events will garner regional interest.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.