Product Description

Policing is a consuming profession with incredibly high elements of stress. Research suggests that police divorce rates are more than double the national average of ordinary marriages. The spouse's fear of physical danger, adjusting to shift work, transfers and changes in the officers' personality are only a few of the contributing factors, but the most crucial problem is the breakdown of communication within the relationship. From the beginning of the officers' careers they are trained to control their emotions, and thus are accused of being cold-hearted. Spouses agree that law enforcement officers grapple with the real-life horrors on the job and that the bitter belief that 'cops don't cry' is sadly untrue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #412071 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 235 pages

Customer Reviews

Not what I expected
This book is not what I expected. It is basically two hundred pages of a police officer's wife complaining about being a police officer's wife. Now, certainly, venting one's stress is important, and perhaps sharing one's feelings with others in the same situation has some degree of merit. However, the book claimed to be "a book of help and hope for police families." Well, I guess my main point is I didn't find too much help and hope. I felt like the book offered very little insight and the author dwelled on her complaints about her life.

A Bible of Good Advice
Too often, communities take our police forces and their protection of society for granted. "Cops Don't Cry" is a story that needs to be told, for both the families of police officers and the public they serve, and who better to tell it than the wife of a cop. In collecting testimonies from cops and their spouses across North America along with anecdotes of her own experience, Vali Stone has uncovered the main reason for the high divorce rate among cops. It is a breakdown in communication. To show how this happens, Vali takes her readers through every step of a cop's life, from training and the stress of the daily beat to the loss of a comrade. She also shares the spouse's roller-coaster ride of emotions, from the sexual appeal of a romantic partner in uniform to pride in their job to fear that every good-bye kiss may be their last. Vali's conversational style of writing makes her feel like a friend to her readers. By the end of the book, she not only provides police families with help and hope, she also offers insights and sensible tips for all couples experiencing problems communicating with each other.

This Book Hits the Target
This is a well-written, easy reading book with a strong message. It should be required reading for police recruits and their spouses. I saw much of what this book lays out in my years in law enforcement. Too many good cops run into trouble by living in a world of denial. Great preparation for this tough job.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of Managing Police Stress. docwifford@msn.com