Police Power

As a lawyer for the New York Civil Liberties Union, Mr. Chevigny concentrates on police abuses in that city. His examples are infuriating, although on the whole less horrendous than one might expect. His suggestions for improvement are lawyer-like — that is to say, conservative and directed more toward minor changes in regulations than toward consideration of the police system as a whole. And it must be admitted that amelioration frequently gets more immediate results than attempts at sweeping reform.