The Courage to Commit: A Guide to De-escalating the Crisis of Citizen-Police Relations is designed to inspire vital dialogue regarding the United States’ founding principles, its social covenants, and the relationship between its police force and its communities. Featuring diverse perspectives, the text illuminates the needs to both enact significant changes in policing and examine and fix police-citizen culture.

The book considers the characteristics that make up a good police officer, the place of power in the actions of police officers, Sir Robert Peel’ s principles for police work, and the often-tenuous relationship between the police and the community. It also addresses the role of the police during turmoil, the use of force, conflict management, crisis intervention, and de-escalation. Chapters examine the importance of training and supervision for police-citizen encounters, as well as police response to families in crisis. The book discusses potential solutions and presents readers with a framework for improved police-community relations. Throughout the text, vignettes and case studies bring the material to life and encourage lively discussion and debate.

The Courage to Commit is an essential textbook for courses and programs in policing and law enforcement management and administration. It is also an ideal resource for community members, community leaders, elected and appointed officials, and all concerned citizens who are interested in improving police-citizen relations.