The Crime Fighter

The Crime Fighter chronicles Jack Maple's career in the New York City Transit Police and NYPD during the high-crime decades of the 1980s and 90s. Maple details his rise from transit patrolman to Deputy Police Commissioner and the development of his data-driven policing strategies. The book outlines Maple's system for tracking and responding to crime patterns through detailed statistics and maps, which became known as CompStat. This approach helped transform the NYPD's operations and contributed to New York City's dramatic reduction in crime rates during the 1990s. Maple recounts investigations, encounters with criminals, and battles with police bureaucracy throughout his career. His narrative covers both street-level police work and the implementation of broad organizational changes within the department. The Crime Fighter presents a blueprint for modern law enforcement while examining tensions between traditional policing methods and data-driven reforms. The book raises questions about measuring police effectiveness and balancing enforcement with community relations.

Readers appreciate Maple's first-hand accounts of implementing data-driven policing in New York City during the 1990s, with several highlighting the practical crime-fighting strategies and colorful anecdotes from his career. Multiple reviews note his engaging writing style and self-deprecating humor. Common criticisms include Maple's ego and boastful tone, with some readers finding him too self-congratulatory. A few reviews mention the book could have provided more detailed statistics and analysis of the CompStat system. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (89 ratings) Amazon: 4.4/5 (64 ratings) Sample review quotes: "Valuable insights into modern policing methods, but Maple comes across as arrogant" - Amazon reviewer "Great mix of street stories and strategic thinking" - Goodreads reviewer "Would have benefited from more data to support his methods" - Goodreads reviewer

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🚔 Jack Maple began his law enforcement career as a transit cop in New York City, patrolling the subway system during the crime-ridden 1970s and 80s. 📊 The CompStat system, which Maple helped develop and describes in the book, revolutionized policing by using data and mapping to track crime patterns. It has since been adopted by police departments worldwide. 👔 Maple was known for his distinctive fashion sense, particularly his bowler hat and two-tone spectator shoes, earning him the nickname "The Dapper Deputy" during his time with the NYPD. 📈 Under Maple's strategies as Deputy Police Commissioner, New York City's crime rate dropped by more than 50% in the 1990s, marking one of the most significant crime reductions in American history. 🗺️ The colored pins and maps Maple used to track crime in the subway system—which he called "Charts of the Future"—were initially drawn by hand on 55 feet of wall space in his office at Transit Police headquarters.