Riding with the Blues: Behind the Badge at the Sarasota Police Department

From Ferguson to Baltimore to Hattiesburg, police officers face an unprecedented challenge-how to keep the law while maintaining public trust, as well as their own safety. Theirs is a balancing act that largely goes on behind closed doors.With its Citizens Academy, the Sarasota Police Department has opened those doors. Based on a journal Jeff Widmer kept in class and in the field, Riding with the Blues explores the often hidden world behind the badge, taking readers beyond the front lines of law enforcement to see how officers work and hear how they feel about their jobs and the people they protect.