interdisciplinary approach, and drawing upon popular characterizations of law enforcement in the movies, the press, television and literature, this book argues that police reform is inextricably linked to the rise and technological development of the mass media. Historical analysis illustrates how new forms of media communication generate new forms of information about police practices that become available to the public for the first time. Periodically, this new information portrays law enforcement in a less-than-favorable light, ushering in public demands for police reform. But while the mass media exert an influence upon police practices, law enforcement officials also exert a powerful influence on media coverage of crime and justice policies and practices. This book documents law enforcement's close monitoring of the police image as well as attempts by government officials to utilize mass media to further their crime control objectives. Data from the author's recent national study of police-media relations provide deep insight into the public relations activities conducted each day by police spokespersons. "Good Cop/Bad Cop" casts the mass media as central to police reform, and argues that a free and independent press is a prerequisite to innovations and improvements in policing.

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