One Cops Journey: Detroits Deadly Seventies

Detroit was once known as Murder City. Although it still has its share of violence and crime, the Detroit of the 1970's was a war zone, with more than seven hundred homicides a year.

In Murder City, police officers had to act more like the lawmen of the Old West. They had to be constantly ready for things to go south, quickly. Author and former Detroit Police Department officer A. W. Boudreau was in the thick of the violence. He survived, but not all of his coworkers were so lucky. Four times as many cops died in seventies-era Detroit as do today.

After completing extensive police academy training, Boudreau graduated and joined the Seventh Precinct of the Detroit Police Department in 1970. The reminders that his job was a dangerous one were all around him. The widow of a fellow officer killed in action attended the graduation ceremony, leaving Boudreau with a haunting memory of her sorrow. He devoted his career to making the streets safer for the innocent victims of violence.

Boudreau's memoir will give you a new perspective on the difficulties big-city cops face every day on the job.