Ambler Campus, Temple University

After working in a community policing program in Boston in the 1970’s, however, she felt a “strong obligation” to shine a spotlight on what officers actually go through on the job through their personal stories; the triumphs, tragedies and everything in between.

With her book Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage, Brown sought to “change minds about law enforcement” through the stories of 15 New York City police officers. The book provides an up close, intimate perspective of all facets of law enforcement including the intricacies of undercover work; homicide and vice; SWAT; and utilizing technology to solve crime. The stories told are sweeping in scope from intelligence gathering to stop another terrorist attack to searching for survivors in the aftermath of 9/11 to tracking a serial killer to “the myriad of everyday crime responded to by the backbone of any law enforcement agency — the patrol force.”

On Wednesday, October 10, beginning at 2 p.m., Brown will provide an in depth look at the trials and tribulations that police officers face every day. The program, sponsored by the Office of Student Life and the Temple University Criminal Justice Training Programs, will be held in the Ambler Campus Learning Center Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“The stories are universal. The main thing of it is that every single person in the book — despite the problems they may have faced — was so proud of what they do. They have a life of meaning through their life of service and every one of them expressed that,” said Brown, who, since her initial experience in Boston, has been working with and advocating for police and law enforcement for more than 30 years and is publisher of American Police Beat, the largest national magazine for and about the law enforcement community with more than 250,000 readers. “I’ve had the good fortune to meet and get to know members of law enforcement for most of my life. I don’t think most people have a clue what police officers go through on our behalf to keep us safe.”

While Brown didn’t initially anticipate the potential academic applications of her book, police academies across the country immediately saw its enormous potential to help educate the next generation of law enforcement.

The Temple University Municipal Police Academy, offered at Temple University Ambler, is one of the first to incorporate Brave Hearts into its curriculum. The Philadelphia Police Department and Indiana Law Enforcement Academy are also using the book in the classroom and other academies are expected to soon follow.

“Brave Hearts is a compendium of incidents from officers in the field that faithfully and accurately describes so many different types of the work that police officers do. These are stories of successful officers with a strong work ethic and the courage to risk their own physical and mental health to protect and serve,” said Temple University Municipal Police Academy Director Robert Deegan. “It talks about the stress that officers are involved in, the frustrating nature of criminal investigation, the endless paperwork, dealing with people at their worst, but it also talks about the rewards — doing your work well and positively impacting people and communities.”

As an unvarnished look at the lives of police officers, Deegan said Brave Hearts is an excellent tool to help academy cadets think about and reflect on the law enforcement profession.”

“It’s one thing for an instructor to talk about what they are getting into. It’s another to see it in print, to read about the experiences of officers in the field,” he said. “Each chapter opens up a dialogue and encourages discussion — it provides insight into the culture of law enforcement through detailed and thought-provoking questions. The more you know about what you are getting involved in, the more prepared you are to deal with the problems and the stresses, the better the officer.”

Criminal Justice Training Programs (CJTP), a division of the Temple University Department of Criminal Justice, is a leader in the training of Pennsylvania’s criminal justice practitioners. From the Temple University Police Academy, which has been offered since 1968, and the Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program to in-service police training, to curriculum development for Deputy Sheriffs, to in-service training for Deputy Sheriff’s and basic and in-service training for Constables, the Ambler Campus program is one of the busiest law enforcement training centers in the state. CJTP is also one of two programs in the country to provide ProRanger training for the National Park Service. For more information, visit www.temple.edu/cjtp.

For more information about Cynthia Brown’s October 10 lecture, contact the Ambler Campus Office of Student Life at 267-468-8425 or osl@temple.edu.

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