No Lights, No Sirens: The Corruption and Redemption of an Inner City Cop

by Robert Cea

Book Overview

A New York Police Officer's relentless journey into the criminal netherworld, told with brutal truth and honesty. Perhaps Nietzsche described Rob Cea's life best, way before he was born: ke care when... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060587121
• ISBN13: 9780060587123
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A heart-pounding and heart-felt memoir

What makes No Lights, No Sirens the ultimate cop memoir is the brutal honesty and depth of storytelling by author and former NYC cop Robert Cea. Hold your breath and hold on to something comforting, because Cea is about to pummel you with the anxieties, fears, and and tragedies that made up his tenure as a NYC cop.

Cea tells it straight...with no chaser....

This book is for those who don't understand why cops have to cut corners sometimes to make justice work for all of us. Reading this book, some might think his actions are way over the line. Those of you who come to this conclusion, obviously do NOT live in New York City. There are reasons New Yorkers are the way we are. This city is tough, and sometimes the only way to survive is to be just as tough. New York City cops understand this better than anyone. I don't like the idea of cops being corrupt and breaking the law trying get justice. Looking at this concept, it doesn't make sense. But when the NYPD are out there on the raw, filthy, dangerous, crim-ridden back roads of this city, those laws don't apply very well. I will always be on the side of truth and justice and try to apply it in my life whenever possible. However, I have also lived in this city all my life, born and raised on the streets of the Bronx during the 1970's , the worst place and the worst time in the city's history. You learn that justice is very gray, not black and white. Cops know this reality everyday. NYPD cops do the best they can with the situation and circumstances they find themselves in. I applaud cops like Robert Cea who have the guts and the courage to seek out this type of "New York" justice to try and make the streets a little safer for those of us who live here.

The Ring of Truth, but I Hope It Isn't, Scary

There have been a lot of books on just how bad life can be to a big city cop, certainly enough to let me know that this wouldn't be the life for me. If you come from even the normal dysfunctional modern family, to get assigned as the author did to one of the hell hole areas in New York City has to be one scary damn way to get started on a career. Of all the books I've read on big city cops, this is the one most blatent, grim (how can people life this way), hard to vizualize and downright scary. It is also the one that confess, if you will, the lengths that the cops will go to in order to get someone off the street. This book says that the police, or at least this individual think little of being the judge and jury combined together to put people away. This gives me two real thoughts: one is that I hope they don't decide to come after me, and second, if the same rules are being applied to death sentences, our whole country is in trouble. Mr. Cea believes that the laws give criminals more rights than the police and you have to take that advantage back. If this is the way the whole criminal justice system is working.... This is an imposing book, well worth reading, but scary.

BOOM!

I just finished reading No Lights No Sirens. I was rocked into the reality of hell that the author lived through and the people he had to deal with every day had to live through as well. The author made me feel as if I were there voyeristically watching something I definitely should not be witnessing. I read it in two nights, something I would not advise another reader to do, as in any horrific true crime book, it gave me chills and nightmares. The dialogue and prose was so conversational it didn't feel like I was reading, but listening and watching a very noir like film. I absolutely was blown away by this book. There is so much more to tell, and so much I learned about one mans opinion of an over worked and broken justice system, one he tried to fix himself but almost died in the process. Read this book, but not at night - trust me! It was a fascinating and scary slap into a dark dark world. I loved the book and can't wait for the sequel. What happened to the author after the fact? Please write another one!

WOW - what an amazing ride!

I just finished reading this book, and I was hoping there were more titles by Robert Cea. Unfortunately there is only this one. Attn: Mr. Cea, can you hurry up and write another one? Thanks! The author's writing style makes you feel like you are right there, with him in the car, in the run down bars and in the back alleys of New York City. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who can handle the language and violence. Beyond that what emerges is a book of complete and open honesty. You can see where every step seems to be a logical next step in policing. Let a heroin junkie go to get info on a perp with a gun. Thats a good move. A gun gets people killed, a junkie just kills himself. But a small step like that leads to him being completely intertwined with the mean streets and he ends up paying for it. No more details than that. Its just too good :) Buy it! You will not be able to put it down. On a slightly different note, it shows how cops are the real backbone of our system, and they get dumped on from everyone. Defense attorneys, the media, even citizens groups - all for their own political gain. That really sucks, because a lot of good people probably get crushed by the system, who were just there doing a good job. I hate to think about that, but I am sure its true. Enjoy !!