Cop Cop, Mac Muir
Cop Cop, Mac Muir
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Cop Cop
Breaking the Fixed System of American Policing

Author: Mac Muir, Greg Finch

Narrator: Phil Morris

Unabridged: 9 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/29/2025


Synopsis

This groundbreaking work takes readers deep into the world of police oversight and reveals what really happens when everyday people try to hold the police accountable.

When you think about the police, who do you think of: Do you think of one officer, or the police as an institution? From movies and TV to the real world, a police presence looms over most conflict. But if there was a defining feature of the 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd, it was the collective confusion about how America got to this point. Despite fragmented media coverage about police unions, militarization, and systemic racism, the average citizen’s knowledge remained hazy on what exactly police officers had been doing all along. It’s probably different than you would expect.

There is indeed a “Blue Wall of Silence”, but for the first time, it is possible to get behind it without being the police. The authors were senior investigators at the largest police oversight agency in America, tasked with policing the police in New York City. They are our eyes on the inside, and this book takes us into their world.

Cop Cop lays bare the web of real cases investigated by the authors over nearly a decade working for the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). As the authors combine their unique perspectives as police misconduct investigators, they provide a new way of framing the history of policing, tethering a story that begins in the fields of Ireland and the plantations of Barbados, courses along the cobblestone paths of Charleston, South Carolina, and London, England, flows through the heart of New York City, and bleeds into the present day.

As they unravel cases ranging from stops and frisks to chokeholds and shootings, they illuminate the overwhelming challenges faced by victims of police misconduct and officers alike, spurning both “Defund the Police” and “Blue Lives Matter” as they build a new argument for six concrete solutions to fix American policing.

About The Author

Mac Muir was raised in Oakland, California. From 2016 to 2022 he rose to become a Supervising Investigator at the New York City CCRB. From 2023 to 2025, Mac served as Executive Director of Oakland’s Community Police Review Agency.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie Lowell on April 29, 2025

Finally, a fresh take on police accountability and reform. This book walks readers through the unknown world of civilian oversight, highlights why and how holding the police accountable is so hard, and provides realistic solutions all based on first hand experience with the largest police department......more

Goodreads review by First on May 21, 2025

I work in government oversight - this book is the perfect distillation of police watchdog agencies in America today. While we should be looking to a major metropolitan like NYC to lead by example, this book demonstrates how devastatingly ineffective and insufficient the oversight measures are there,......more

Goodreads review by Char on May 14, 2025

Over the past decade there has been so much talk about police reform and how there needs to be more done as far holding them accountable while also letting them do their job. This book does a great job diving into all that from the viewpoint of 2 civilians who have been part of a team thats supposed......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on May 18, 2025

This is one of those rare books that manages to be both heavily researched and deeply human. Using New York City as a microcosm for larger national issues, the authors examine the realities of policing in America with clarity, nuance, and a sense of urgency- because, as they write, the face of Ameri......more

Goodreads review by Chris on May 22, 2025

I worked at the CCRB, alongside Investigators Muir and Finch, for three years. I found Cop Cop to be an accurate portrayal of what the job was like, and this look at how New York City has set up both its police and their civilian oversight to fail is a valuable read. Muir and Finch use their experie......more