Armed And Dangerous Summary

The book Armed & Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman is a biography of Gina Gallo career as a police officer. She served as a police officer for Chicago P.D. from 1982-1998. Gallo addresses the infamous “Blue Wall of Silence” by recalling events in which it was used. She offers a unique perspective of her duty as a police officer, she not only tells of incidences and crimes she dealt with but also what goes through an officers mind afterwards.

Gina Gallo’s memoir of her time as a police officer follows her story from the police academy to the call that ends her career. She exposes the reader to what it is like to be a police officer through her various calls. Some of hear accounts are heartbreaking dealing with crimes against children,

Her field training officer Vaughn does not like getting involved with dangerous calls sticking to mostly writing tickets. When Vaughn is told the Watch Commander is riding on their job and they are not where they are supposed to be. Vaughn turns on the lights and sirens and speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour but he fails to see a car pulling out of a parking space and they crash. Gallo’s seatbelt malfunctioned and she ends up through the windshield while she is recovering at the hospital Vaughn reminds her of the most important rule to cover your

But with this book I finished reading it within 3 days because it was so interesting and I wanted to hear more of Gallo’s stories, more of her perspective of what it’s like to be a police officer. And she tells it like it is, she recounts of some horrendous and heartbreaking calls she has had to deal with. Armed & Dangerous is a very well written book that switches between different accounts and her thoughts and feelings. It’s not just a continuous recount of her assignments, she adds what is going through her head before and after the assignments and how they are changing her.

In class we have discussed use of officer discretion which is widely used in Armed & Dangerous. The officer using their judgement to handle certain situations. Gallo mentions “The job teaches us early on that, for any cop, your brain is your most powerful weapon.” (pg. 79). In some neighborhoods involving gangs, Gallo has to keep a low profile and not draw attention to herself otherwise she might be shot at by gang members. She also learns that people are more comfortable talking to female cops than male cops because they are more understanding. Officer discretion is very important for the protection of an