Rise of the Warrior Cop

The Militarization of America's Police Forces

By: Radley Balko

Narrated by: Greg Baglia

This groundbreaking history of how American police forces have been militarized is now revised and updated. Newly added material brings the story through 2020, including analysis of the Ferguson protests, the Obama and Trump administrations, and the George Floyd protests.

The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: The home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies.

In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. His fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through today shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.

©2021 Radley Balko (P)2021 PublicAffairs

Great stats to use in court

Read this on the road. gave me great ideas to related to my speeding ticket defense at a jury trial.

Fascinating expose’ of data

The book starts off a little slow after the introduction but quickly picks up speed by presenting an avalanche of compelling data. Extrapolation of statistics, tables and first hand stories command your attention and will challenge even the most diehard blue lives matter crowd if they really listen. Highly recommended.

Hands Up!!!

The story of unnecessary escalation.
Worth reading to know how you might be affected.
Be careful.

every person in America should read this

this book for the most part is a history book on some sensitive topics in the U.S. right now and as a proud American I am ashamed I didn't know more on these topics before listening.

the startling history of American policing

I couldn't turn this book off. It's a history of policing in the United States. starting in the 1970s things get very frightening. I was unaware of how many rights we had had stripped back in the subsequent decades. it was strange to see Joe Biden portrayed as inept and part of the problem with American policing. I had just read peril and he was more or less the hero of that book.
an education in the erosion of the third and fourth amendment this book is a must read. updated to reflect recent events including the Capitol riots I was fascinated with what I learned.
every American citizen needs to read this book to understand the direction policing has taken and how radically different it is from what was envisioned by our founding fathers
I can't recommend this book more highly

We really do need to defund the police!

Radley Balko's "Rise of the Warrior Cop" is an amazing book. Everyone who wants to understand the multiple negative outcomes that militarization of the police and the related and misguided War on Drugs create should read this book. The pattern he describes should rock the US to its foundations, driving the public into the streets to demand change. This disturbing pattern is that the more money and power a police department has, the more likely the department is to abuse its citizens, and the more abusive a police department is, the more likely they are to be given extra money, and etc.  In addition, the more abusive a police department is, the more likely it is to draw those who have abusive personalities to policing (excluding those that want to help people) and the more it shapes those that could be either abusive or not abusive (depending on their training) into abusive cops. So the situation is the more abusive the cops are, the more likely they are to continue to accelerate their abuse until we have a massive change in the entire structure of police departments.


Balko carefully lays out all the details for the conclusion I just outlined in the body of his "Rise of the Warrior Cop." However, in his written "conclusion," he misses the mark on a few points that he himself has already proven. The most glaring of which is when he says that studies indicate that more cops means less crime, but at a price to at least some members of society. When he says this, he forgets his previous exploration of data that shows that the more abusive cops are, the more members of persecuted communities will just stop contacting the police. Balko even noted that rapes are just not reported when rape victims are afraid of the police. So, unfortunately, lower crime stats when a police department is heavily militarized (which is tied to them being more abusive and having more money) probably doesn't even mean they are doing at least one thing right. Instead, lower crime in communities with a militarized police, probably means they are less effective than they even appear to be. 


Balko makes similar errors in calling for more training of cops as the solution to their abusiveness. Nowadays, the worst cops have nearly always been through hours and hours of training that is labeled "de-escalation." That this training is probably junk could be part of the problem, but the larger problem is the more money that is given to the police after a necessarily base (if such a thing exists), the worse they behave. So, despite the public not liking the term "defund the police" that is what has to happen. We need massive budget cuts to police departments as the best way out of the current tragedy. This doesn't mean no police at all, even if curiously that might be the goal in an ideal society, but it means fewer police with fewer dangerous weapons.


 Less Balko's fault, because he wouldn't be expected to know the history of drug prohibition, is that he suggests/implies that treatment should take the place of policing. However, like with policing itself, the more money that is spent on the War on Drugs, the worse things get overall. Thus, spending massive amounts on "treatment" is as ineffective (or nearly as ineffective, albeit in different ways) as spending massive amounts on policing, and the two are even tied together. So, spending less on the War on Drugs, in terms of both policing and treatment, is really the bonus for society. 

Great insight into why American policing is the way it is.

This is a great, thoroughly researched book about the trend over the last 40 years to make LEOs essentially unanswerable to the communities that they theoretically serve.

Are there good LEOs, of course there are, but they are good in spite of the institution and culture of policing. He also provides us with some truly usurp advice on how to move forward.

entertaining but bias bordering on lying

this book would be far better if it stuck to the facts and tried to be objective. I'm inclined to agree with the core message, but the spin put on events by this book has about the academic rigor of a Facebook post. it undermines it's credibility in the sections that are telling the truth and hit at the heart of the problem of police militarization by playing fast and loose with the truth elsewhere

Do Not Assu

I enjoyed this book up until I reached Chapter 9. In this chapter, the author referenced Chris Kyle from the American Sniper movie. The author labled Chris Kyle as a "Marine" when in fact, he was a Navy SEAL. After I read this, I could not continue reading. If the author did not take the time to verify such a simple fact, then how can I take his word for any of his other bold claims about police conduct? Sloppy work. As a college student, I do not have the time to fact check all of his claims. Furthermore, I felt his criticism of Grossmans work was very disingenuous. If I could get a refund, I would.

Valuable breakdown, strong political bias near end

I was impressed at how natural and factual the book appeared to be. However, the last couple chapters discredited the rest of that by speaking in mostly politicL terms bashing the right, and with very subjective anaalyses. Would have been 4 stars without the lady couple of chapters, but im glad they were there so I can better gauge the integrity if the rest. Made me think!