Books, books, books, yummy yummy books

[Penta]

OK, so.

School semester starts for me today - only 2 classes though. Which means I'm looking for stuff to keep me busy besides classes, studying, homework, etc.

So I'm asking if anyone can offer recommendations on non-school reading material, related to law enforcement (hence why this isn't in the OT section - unless the mods think it should be?)...It will, I hope, keep me from bugging people here and elsewhere if I have my nose in a book, at least - at best, it'll help me answer my own questions and assemble a bibliography on the topic. (I usually can assemble a good list of books on most non-fiction topics, but law enforcement/criminal justice? Not so much. I don't know where to begin.)

Further thoughts/specs/requests:

1. Primarily I'm looking for stuff on modern law enforcement - not 20, 30, or 50 years ago. I'll read older stuff happily, I should explain, but if I can only read so much, my preference leans towards stuff that'll help me understand the modern policing/LE environment. That said, if that includes history stuff, that's fine.

2. These books aren't going to be bought - I have no money. Instead, they'll be gotten through the library, either my town's branch of the county library system or my community college's library. So please, include at least author along with the title, even if you can't include the ISBN, so I can hunt for the ISBN and fill out an ILL request if needed.

3. I prefer non-fiction for this list; police fiction is somewhat easier to find.

4. Knowledge level about LE: I'd say medium...But then I get here and realize it swings precariously between "Nothing useful" and "medium" and fills the spectrum in between.

5. If you're recommending books on the law itself, please recognize that I'm training to be a paralegal, not in law school. (I'm taking Constitutional law this semester, so please don't include books on that - I think it'd just risk me confusing "what school says" vs "what the other books say") The level of understanding is different - while I can handle the basics and even some intermediate stuff, I'd be swamped by the advanced stuff. And, while I took Criminal Justice courses in college, my major was Political Science - CJ courses went quickly from my mind.

6. This is actually "Me reading for fun, instead of for school". (No, I'd never ask you all to do my research for me. I'm asking for reviews, in this case, or at least recommendations.)

7. If you're thinking "Broad topic", well, yes, it is. I'd appreciate things on any "sub-topic", whether that be focused on particular functions or particular LEAs or anything.

8. Idiot's guides or similar are welcome. Feel free to get very basic.

9. The reason I'm posting this is not because I cannot find anything on LE topics. It's because I can find a lot, but I can't even begin to separate the good from the bad.

With that said, if you have books to recommend, go ahead.