Surviving: Drunk Drivers - Gutter Politics and Police Corruption
by Raymond D. Schaffer
Book Review by Hal Brown
Disclaimer: This is a book review, not a news report, and as such I have not sought out the other side of the story. The allegations set forth by author Raymond Schaffer are taken at face value for the purposes of this review.
Raymond Schaffer's
autobiographical book is the story of an honest cop who refused to play
along with the politically corrupt game in the Broome County, New York
sheriff's department ruled by a cruel, vindictive and buffoonish sheriff
named David Harder. At 554 pages it is a long read, and the real story of
Schaffer's journey into agency hell doesn't begin until 200 or so pages in.
(Click image of book, right, to enlarge.)
By then, whether you've read every word or skimmed some of the minutiae I personally would have edited out, you will know Ray Schaffer very, very well. He examines himself with unflinching, even brutal, honesty. His is a journey into the underworld of police and political incompetence. Following the election of a sheriff whose opponent Schaffer had supported, he found himself in a department run by authoritarian, narcissistic, inept and none-too-bright leaders. The sheriff's are characterized as sycophants, or as the author calls them "slugs."
Schaffer, an innocent, believed the newly elected sheriff's word when he said there would be no retribution against those who supported his opponent. Within days after the new sheriff took office, he was proved wrong. And thus began the story of how a principled officer struggled to survive in a morally bankrupt law enforcement agency.
The author just doesn't tell a story, he also describes a journey of self-discovery that took him to the brink of a mental breakdown only prevented by timely psychotherapy.
When he worked under a
competent and honest sheriff who was secure in his own skin, Schaffer was on
the fast-track to move up in the department. He was derailed from this
fast-track in a few seconds when, on the way to a call his cruiser (left) was
broadsided by a drunk driver. His body was shattered, and he had to undergo
a painful course of surgery and physical rehabilitation before he could
return to work on limited duty. (Click on image for more about the
accident.)
Instead of opting for a disability retirement, which I have little doubt he could have taken, Schaffer returned to work and ended up as the head of the police academy which the sheriff's department ran for forty police agencies in the county.
His tenure there is accounted in great detail in the book, and again I would have been a harsh editor as much of this does not advance the story. He threw himself into this job enthusiastically, learned from his candidly documented mistakes, and developed an excellent, highly regarded, program. (Photo below was taken during his tenure as academy director, click to enlarge.)
His unflinching refusal to
bend, even break, academy rules at the behest of
three politically connected and unethical police chiefs was a primary factor
in Schaffer's eventual downfall when the sheriff backed the chiefs.
The sheriff appears to have entered that office with a "hit-list" of only two deputies he wanted to get rid of, allegedly because they had supported his (highly qualified) opponent in the primary. One of these deputies was Schaffer and another was the captain of the road division who was immediately moved to a job with no authority where he languished for several years, shorn of his pride.
Had Schaffer not been protected by his status as head of the police academy where he served under combined state and sheriff's department jurisdiction, he would likely have been "punished" immediately, too. If this happened my hunch is he would have avoided the numerous confrontations with the sheriff that kept their relationship on "high boil." This is because he, too, would have been given a do-nothing job where his talent would have been wasted and where there would be little opportunity for him to "cause trouble." Instead, Schaffer had great responsibility and enough authority to defy the sheriff and, basically, "piss off" this vengeful narcissist time and time again.
Once the battle was engaged, and Schaffer's enemies pulled out all the stops to destroy his career, and truly wallowed in some of most appalling gutter tactics to break him down him emotionally and spiritually, the book is hard to put down.
I became acquainted with Ray Schaffer when he emailed me after reading the Police Stressline website.
Schaffer states that he isn't a professional writer. At times, especially in the first 200 pages, he dwells too much on details of his life and career, like the training he completed at the Cooper Institute, that don't advance the story.
The reader needs to know who Schaffer is, as a person willing to admit to human foibles and frailties, and a cop trying to run police academy with high standards. Sometimes he gives readers more information about himself than we need, as if he's trying to justify himself, or trying too hard to get the reader to like him.
In the first half of the book writing is amateurish but not off-putting. This part of the book seems to have been edited by a friend rather than a professional editor.
Once Schaffer begins to describe his war with the sheriff and his minions a writing transformation takes place. There is a passion and urgency in his prose that the first half of the book lacks. With considerable insight and courage, he describes his thoughts, emotions and even his violent retribution fantasies.
Readers unfamiliar with just how dysfunctional a law enforcement agency can become may not believe that such a thing is possible. Sheriff Harder, seemingly with great relish of the inflicted real pain on Raymond Schaffer.
Although few in number, the insular worlds of these totalitarian law enforcement agencies exists. They can decide, on a whim, to ruin the lives of their subordinates. I can attest to this from my work as a police stress therapist helping honest cops cope with chiefs and sheriffs who have vendettas against them. Such law enforcement leaders are thankfully a small minority, but they are out there, often unbeknownst to the good citizens of the communities they serve.