WHAT COPS KNOW
Live Bait Theater
The setting of both shows is Chicago’s north side–Area 6, a police microcosm because of its socioeconomic sprawl. This was Fletcher’s turf when she interviewed a slew of uniformed and plainclothes officers–beat and tactical cops. The book that resulted both benefited and suffered from the close access to police sources Fletcher enjoyed. While the stories have an authenticity a less privileged reporter might not have been able to achieve, Fletcher’s friendliness with her interviewees generally keeps her out of problematic areas like police corruption and brutality.
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Finally, though, the work suffers from fragmentation–Frandsen’s efforts to weave the loosely structured text into theatrical form don’t completely succeed–and from reliance on a book that would have been better titled “What Cops Want You to Know.”
One cautionary note: Cops should be avoided by people with an aversion to gunfire–not really dangerous, of course–and secondhand cigarette smoke. Now that’s dangerous
