Flaxroots Productions
  • Home
  • Non-fiction
  • Fiction
  • Plays
  • Other Works
  • Professional
  • Blog
  • FlaxFlower
  • Review index
  • Contact
  • BMCWC

Serious book includes light-hearted incidents

27/3/2019

Comments

 
Picture
So You Want To Be A Cop...
by Robert Rattenbury 


This book recounts the private life and the career history of a policeman in New Zealand in the 1970s through to 1992. This period was quite turbulent for the police in New Zealand, with the Vietnam War protests, the Springbok tour, the rise of patched gangs, and several Royal tours. 
    It was also a time of progressive change for the Police, with the abolition of the cadet system, the increase in the numbers of women police, the vast increase in drug offending, and the formation of the Armed Offenders Squad. 
    The author gives a personal account of these changes from the viewpoint of a policeman at the heart of the events. He was also involved with the early days of the Police Complaints Authority (now known as the Independent Police Complaints Authority), and was also a member of the Armed Offenders Squad, initially as a member, then as a commander, and also as a trainer.
    “So You Want to be a Cop…” also recounts his personal life from childhood with a violent alcoholic father, his earliest school days, through police training, to marriage, and later, his struggles with depression leading to his resignation from the police and taking up a position as a case manager with the ACC, dealing with traumatic brain injury clients.
There are numerous accounts of incidents and criminals the author was involved with, some humorous, some serious, and some just plain scary.
    It is clear from reading this book that policing has changed just as society has changed and the way police handled some situations would not be tolerated today. 
    What shines through is the sheer humanity of the front-line police, the lifelong friends made and lost, and the comradeship that develops between men and women when faced with danger.  It is a mostly serious book, but there are many light-hearted accounts of incidents, which lift the tone of the story. 
    I came from a similar background to the author and, also having lived through the events that shaped the author’s life, find it easy to empathise with him. 
​    I can recommend this book as it gives an insight into a past age of policing and of New Zealand society.
    There are issues of spelling, formatting, and language that irritated. In particular the use of “Xmas”, the constant use of capitalising words when not necessary, the small gutter making the latter pages hard to read. There are places where text is poorly justified, random blank paragraphs are inserted, and a general lack of careful proof reading. However, do not let these issues put you of from reading the book, as it is easy to look beyond these to the real story that is told.

Review by Harold Bernard
Title: So You Want To Be A Cop...
Author: Robert Rattenbury 
Publisher: Rangitawa Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9951046-9-3
RRP: $38.00
Available: print and ebook for kindle from Amazon. Print from Rangitawapublishing.com or author randjrattenbury@xtra.co.nz

Comments
    Picture

    FlaxFlower Reviews

    Reviews on this page are of New Zealand books – that is, written by Kiwi authors.   
    They are written by independent reviewers not known to the authors.

    Join the posting list
    If you'd like to receive an email when a new book review is posted, please respond via the CONTACT function above.

    If you are a Kiwi author
    and would like your book reviewed send an email via this site and you’ll be sent further details. Give details of genre, length, short description, and formats available – print, ebook (Kindle, Kobo etc). You will need to provide one book free to the reviewer.

    If you’d like to be a reviewer
    send an email via this site giving details of your experience/expertise what genres interest you, and the formats you will consider – print, ebook (Kindle, Kobo etc). If possible, include a URL of one of your published reviews.
       Offer only if you take the task seriously and are certain you will deliver the review.
    ​

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.