Greetings friends,
As many of you know for the past five years or so I’ve been working on a book. Seattle Justice: The Rise And Fall Of The Police Payoff System In Seattle will be published next Tuesday, October 20th.
Here is a synopsis:
Despite its current reputation as a progressive and high-tech city, Seattle had a 100-year history of vice and official corruption. The system involved city officials turning a blind eye to illegal gambling, unlicensed bars, and prostitution, in exchange for which police officers demanded "operating fees" in the form of cash payments from establishment owners. The money trail that started on sordid streets traveled high up in the Seattle Police Department and affected top levels of both city and county government.
Seattle Justice captures the true story of how vice and payoffs became the rules of the game in a city where officials were comfortable with corruption, and what it took to clean it up, proving a city can reexamine the way it operates and fight to improve. The book tells of my upset election in 1970 followed by a grand jury that indicted many officials including my predecessor and the former sheriff. It describes my reforming the office into a “justice model” whose values radiate by example up to the courts, down to the police and outward to the whole community. I argue that the public prosecutor should lead in creating this model and believe that if it had been in place in communities like Ferguson, the tragedies there and elsewhere might have been prevented.
Right now booksellers and websites are taking pre-orders. These are important because they tell sellers there is interest in the book, which may lead to more attention and promotion. In this world of media saturation and distracted readers this “buzz” is enormously important, especially for an author whose first book is being published in his golden years!
I would be extremely grateful if you would pre-order the book at the link below. The whole country is concerned with criminal justice reform and I think this story will resonate with all ages. It makes a handsome and provocative host/hostess gift too or for the holidays ahead. Pre-orders help sales a lot.
For those of you in the Pacific Northwest, here is a list of public book events in the next few months.
October 27, 7 p.m. – Seattle Public Library – Book launch and Q&A with Robin Hunt
October 29, 7 p.m. – Village Books, Bellingham – Author talk and signing
December 2, 7:30 p.m. – Town Hall, Seattle – Author talk
Many thanks, friends, for your help. I’ve worked hard on the book and hope you like it. I’m proud of it.
Chris
|
