Cop on the Beat: Officer Steven Mayfield in New York City

by Arlene Schulman

As gritty and unpredictable as the New York City streets that Officer Steven Mayfield patrols, here is a candid account of a cop's daily shift-or beat-and the diverse people and situations he encounters. From a tense standoff with an angry crowd to the monotony of patrolling to citywide emergencies like the attack on the World Trade Center, the challenges change daily. Officer Mayfield faces them with grit and sometimes humor, showing a battered but...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525470646
• ISBN13: 9780525470649
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

A wonderful insight into one of New York's finest.

Meet police officer Steven Mayfield of the 34th Precinct in New York City. He's imposing, well-groomed, polite and shockingly, he enjoys a thankless job, and has no illusions to how the NYPD is precieved and does his best to prove all those naysayers wrong--by just doing his job in a professional manner with the intent to be thoughtful and respectful, and always to remember that who he protests and serves are fellow human beings, also trying to live their lives. His jungle to watch over? A small patch of neighborhoods in upper Manhattan north. Take the journey with PO Mayfield as author and photographer Arlene Schulman tells the tale of an everyday cop, on duty and off, and what it's like to be a policeman in today's NYPD. It's an honest portrait and snapshot of the ups and downs, the small insights you don't see on TV or read in flashy works of fiction no matter how well researched, but all the aspects of being a beat cop, even if it's a day of dull action and all paperwork. You'll meet the man on the job, and the man when he's not on the job. You'll get to see how a real cop thinks but in an accessible way that is uplifting and fascinating. This is not Schulman or Mayfield's attempt to paint the NYPD as this bright light or that dark shadow. Like all things, jobs and people, it's a little bit of both and Mayfield's philosophy on his job and about human nature, are both enlightening and blunt, and will give the public not just a 'generalized' perception of a cop's POV, but the emotional impact, the joy and sadness, the anger and frustration that anyone can relate to, cop or no. Unlike Schulman's more haphazard though equally fascinating insight into the NYPD (see her longer book on another NYPD precinct (23rd Precinct: The Job), this is more streamlined and easier to digest and process, traveling from Mayfield's usual beat, while inserting bits of info, insight and facts you won't get off a TV on cops or the NYPD, to the function of an actual precinct and Mayfield's satisfying job of working with people and educating younger generations, many who live on his beat. Schulman doesn't neglect the history of the NYPD, giving a brief but not too brief synopsis of how one of the largest paramilitary police units in world got its start and its foundation, as well as where it's heading. But also, Mayfield's personal and tragic loss on 9/11, and his duties and role he still had to perform that day, despite the fear and uncertainty, the chaos and the terror. Most interesting and well done is Schulman's representation of Mayfield, in which the reader is brought into Mayfield's world, as well as to his wise words and open manner. I'd like to imagine that all cops, everywhere, are like Mayfield. You get to know the man, which was a nice and intimate aspect of the book. But you also get a look into a slice of New York City, the social and cultural facets, of human beings. This is a great introduction for younger kids as well, though middle school and old