Off the Cuffs

Book excerpt: The first collection of poetry that allows us to see police officers not just as brutalizers or heroes but as complicated human beings in a position that is sometimes terrifying, sometimes rewarding and often questionable. On a daily basis police save lives, take lives, and risk their own lives. Existing books on police and policing give us a single point-of-view, a black and white story that portrays cops as either saints or villains. This exploration of the dynamic point of understanding makes Off The Cuffs unique. Divided into four sections--Eyewitnesses, Insiders, Victims & Perpetrators, and Dreamers--Off The Cuffs gives us a diversity of voices, telling stories of fear, apprehension, love, brutality, death, sorrow, joy, hope and resolve. Out of this multiplicity of voices: convicts, police, bike messengers and established poets such as Charles Simic, Martin Espada, Kevin Young and Colette Inez - emerges a dialogue showing us the infinite shades of blue that surround the profession and the profession's relationship to the society they are sworn to protect. Off The Cuffs adds an important and unheard piece to this body of work: the usually disparate voices of cops, prisoners and everyone in between engaging with one another within the pages of one book.