Author Description

“As the spotlight on law enforcement grows ever harsher, the perspective of a top cop—a black cop—makes one sit up and take notice. [Corey Pegues] gives us an incisive look at life on both sides of the blue line....a nuanced perspective of the often-fractious relationship between communities of color and law enforcement.” —USA TODAY “A rollicking, no-holds-barred account of life on the streets, seen from both sides.”—Booklist (starred review) During the 1980s, crack cocaine devastated many of America’s inner-city communities. Drug dealers seized neighborhoods, terrorizing its inhabitants with brutal violence. Aunts and uncles, next-door neighbors, and best friends became addicts. No longer were playgrounds and parks a safe-haven for kids; the sound of bouncing basketballs by day was replaced by the pop of gunshots by night. Those who lived through the nightmare tell unimaginable stories of that era. Once a Cop is one of the most extraordinary. Raised in Queens, New York, as a teen, Corey Pegues watched drugs uproot his stable, working-class neighborhood almost overnight. When times got tough, he had a choice: continue to watch his family struggle to buy food, to pay bills; or sell dope. He chose the latter, eventually becoming part of the notorious Supreme Team street gang. After a botched murder attempt on a rival gang member, Corey, the only member of his family to graduate from high school, knew he had to get out. Barely eighteen, with two kids by two different women, Corey left under cover of night to enlist in the US Army. After several years in the military, he set his sights on becoming a New York City cop and breezed through the police academy. In this provocative memoir, Corey Pegues tells how a onetime crack dealer became one the highest ranking members of the largest police force in the country, living and working in the nation’s most violent neighborhoods. His meteoric rise from patrol officer to depu