Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats

By William E. Waters

Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats is a collection of poetry about law enforcement excesses. Most of the poems were inspired by actual cases from around the country. The author did not set out to compile a collection of these poems, but more and more, nearly every day, another case of law enforcements excessive use of force was reported in the Media. The author also did not set out to demonize law enforcement, but focused on those cases where things went terribly wrong, for a number of reasons. As a poet, as someone deeply committed to realizing a just society, the poet chose to report these cases in poetic forms. The poet acknowledges how tough the job is for those entrusted with public safety.
An earlier version of this book was among the finalists in the 2000 National Poetry Series competition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481722858

William E. Waters

William E. Waters is an award-winning poet, playwright, and author. His poetry has been in a number of anthologies and magazines, including Rattle and AIM. In 1998, he was the cowinner of the Edwin Mellen Poetry Prize for his epic poem, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Remembrance of Things Past and Present, published in 2000 by Edwin Mellen Poetry Press. He reissued this book in 2013 through AuthorHouse. He is also the author of Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, a National Poetry Series finalist, a collection of poetry about law enforcement excesses, which was published by AuthorHouse in 2013. Waters has a master’s degree from New York Theological Seminary and bachelor’s degrees from SUNY New Paltz and Albany University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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2013 by William E. Waters. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/06/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2286-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2285-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903867

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

We Own the Night!

Gang Blue

The Ends Justifies the Means

Star Chamber

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Ecce Homo!

Blue Knight Riders

On a Bronx Street After the Amadou Diallo Trial

Live from the Bronx

After the Verdict

Even a Black Poet is Considered Armed and Extremely Dangerous

Stolen Lives

Death in the Family

Remembering the Dead

Don’t Buy Your Son a Toy Gun

Chasing the Bullet

Another One Bites the Bullet

Six Strikes and He’s Not Out Yet?

Real reform can stop police brutality

It’s a Waco World

Killer Cops

Police Etiquette

Advice to Parents

Crazy Jennifer

Don’t let it happen again

Police Undergo Sensitivity Training

Beware the Squeegee Man

Dark Angel

TERRORISTS AND POLICEMEN IN THE SAME BASKET

Ninja Cops

Requiem to the No-Knock Raid

Dreams Die During Police Raids

A Domestic Dispute Turns Deadly

Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats

APB

Officers/Overseers

Profiling

Stop and Search in a Drug-infested Area

Black undercover cop is shot

Shot Four Times No Accident

Dirty Harry

A Public Service Address

$70 Million and Counting

A $3 Million Choke hold

The Plot to L.A. Confidential

The Joke

The Case of the Unusual Drug Theft

A Dangerous County, A Dangerous Country

The Chickens Came Home to Roost

Latter-day Heroes and the Drug War

In the Line of Duty

In Memoriam

My Father

William E. Waters

(1926-1982)

My Friend

Clarence Eric Howard

(1958-1986)

Acknowledgment

Chasing the Bullet was previously published