MUGGABLE MARY: The Most Decorated Woman Cop in America

by Mary with Evelyn Fiore Glatzle ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 28, 1980

I guess I never took well to being passive,"" deadpans this 5'2"", 100-lb. street cop, veteran of more than 500 decoy operations involving rapists, muggers, and, most recently, bank robbers; but readers will cheer her exploits even if they yawn through her sermons on NYPD ""brotherhood"" and the need for rehabilitation, particularly among minors. A young divorcee with a son to support, Glatzle graduated from the Police Academy ten years ago. Fed up with the menial jobs assigned to female newcomers, she managed to get herself onto the streets as a ""prostitute""--her training for eventual entry to the specialized ""Street Crime Unit,"" which enjoys a conviction rate of 98 percent. The story accelerates here: Glatzle nearly packed it all in after a close call with a bear-like rapist in rustic Van Cortlandt Park (her backups just couldn't get close enough in that setting). And she revels in posing as an old lady ripe for a purse-picking: like any good actor, she studies her subjects closely and mimics gestures, dress, and even an air of helplessness to a T. But the book wobbles back and forth between anecdotes and personal philosophy; and the philosophy itself proves vacillating on occasion (Glatzle goes strictly by the book for average Joes; but when a fellow cop approached her in her hooker garb, she alerted him to steer clear). There may be more here than most people want to know about the inner workings of a police department; but Glatzle comes across as a very nice lady with her head screwed on tight, in love with ""a job that's almost like a husband to her,"" so there's a cozy feeling altogether.

Pub Date: May 28, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Prentice-Hall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION