Students of Criminal Justice Training Programs (CJTP), a division of the Temple University Department of Criminal Justice enjoying Brave Hearts.
Cynthia Brown didn’t set out to put the lives and experiences of police officers onto the printed page.
After working in a community policing program in Boston in the 1970’s — she initially thought she was taking a job at a museum — she felt a “strong obligation” to shine a spotlight on what officers actually go through on the job through their personal stories; the triumphs, tragedies and everything in between.
“When I worked in the station in Boston, I got to know everyone and I grew to love
- Pete and his wife Ann-Margaret who met when they were both assigned to the NYPD's SWAT team, the
Emergency Service Unit.
From the pages of Brave Hearts . . . When the elevator door opened on the 17th floor, they were greeted by a trail of blood. It led directly to the apartment on the far end of the hall.
“It looked like someone had slaughtered a lamb,” Pete said. “We could have been in the coliseum in Rome right after someone had been torn apart by lions.”
In the living room they found a clean shaven and well groomed, light complexioned black male covered with blood. He was still alive, but only barely.
“The trail of blood went down the hall, down the stairwell and directly to an apartment on the 13th floor," Pete said. "To be honest I can’t remember whether we had our weapons out or not but I do remember we gave each other ‘the look.’ That’s the eye contact we use to gear ourselves up. The look that says, okay. Here we go. We are going to deal with this.”
Philadelphia Police Dept.
"After a thorough review by my command staff, we have decided to incorporate Cynthia Brown's book, Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage, into the curriculum at the Philadelphia Police Academy. The author has prepared detailed and thought provoking questions for each of the 14 chapters that we know will provoke discussion and enlighten our recruits about the complex, important, and challenging job they have taken on."
— Commissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Dept.
Indiana Law Enforcement Academy
"Beginning in 2011, every basic student who walks through the honorable doors of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy will receive a copy of Brave Hearts by Cynthia Brown. The residential Academy is the first in the nation to use the book as part of the program of studies in its fi fteenweek basic program. We believe there is educational, motivational and pride factors encased in the pages of this book and that after reading it the basic officers will look upon their positions in the community they serve with pride and as a profession, not just a job."
— Rusty Goodpaster, Executive Director, Indiana Law Enforcement Academy
Bobby Hom Chapter Five: Heroin, Heroics and Death in a Suitcase
“It's important to know that words don't move mountains. Work, exacting work moves mountains.”
– Donilo Dolci
There are a lot of skills to master and lessons to be learned before law enforcement officers excel at what they do. Along with negotiation skills, developing empathy, demanding respect and winning power struggles, cops have to learn to never take what happens on the street personally. Finding the fine line between asserting one’s authority and letting some things go by is key.
There was one time where one of Bobby’s partners let her emotions get the best of her. She took something that happened personally and the results almost ended in disaster.
