NCJ Number
78958
Date Published
1968
Length
114 pages
Annotation
Written from the perspective of Danny, the younger, teen-age son, this novel depicts the life of a family in which both the father and the elder son are law enforcement officers in a small rural town.
Abstract
A motorcycle gang of teenagers dominates and intimidates the student body at the local high school. An effort is made to divert marginal kids from the gang's influence and forestall serious lawbreaking by the seasoned members of the 'Troopers'. Will, newly admitted to the police force and not long out of high school himself, attempt to establish an understanding between the youths of the town and its law enforcement representatives. When the Troopers hold a party, planned in noncompliance with school regulations and threatening other possible illegalities, Danny attends as inside observer to assist Will in his crime prevention work. Danny's best friend, whose jealousy at having lost his girl to the leader of the Troopers, convinces him to leave home armed on the evening of the party. Although the story has a happy ending and is resolved without lawbreaking, violence, or arrest, it illustrates the dilemmas of the police officer. Officers are often caught between responsibility and fear for their own safety, between public misapprehensions of their work and the need for citizen support. The stresses of a police officer's family are likewise portrayed.