VICE by STEVEN J. CONTRERAS (2020)
Take a walk on the wild side on the streets and inside the most secret meeting places in Hollywood.
In 1982, LAPD Officer Steven Contreras reported for his first day assigned to the vice unit. Little did he know the extent of moral depravity he would encounter—all of it hidden just under the surface. From lurking in parks and bars arranging lewd encounters to working deep undercover to infiltrate bookmaking operations and human trafficking rings, Contreras entered all of the dark places where criminals hide. Working the streets to deter prostitutes from engaging in illegal sexual encounters and covertly joining violent riots in progress to prevent the loss of life and protect the innocent, he also saw the very human cost in the faces of victimized citizens and the dedicated police officers who serve them.
WARNING: This book contains graphic, adult content and themes.
· Are police officers who are exposed to immorality and evil on a daily basis destined to become corrupted by it?
· What motivates ordinary people to engage in prostitution, public orgies, sexual exploitation of minors, and operations like illegal gambling and cockfighting?
· Is vice enforcement a dangerous but necessary part of law enforcement work or has it become obsolete?
Follow the author as he explores his own experiences and meets with today’s vice units to discover the truth about vice work in the 21st century.
About the Author
Steven J. Contreras has devoted his entire life to public service. He began serving with the LAPD in 1969, where he spent the majority of his career working directly with the communities as a patrol officer. After 27 years of uniformed law enforcement service, Steven then spent the next two decades as an investigator with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office before reinventing himself as an author.
Motivated by the desire to share his understanding of the current policing crisis and the need for fundamental change, Steven spent more than three years writing his first book, The Evolution of Policing in America (2017). In his new book, Vice, he examines the seductive lures, dangers and price of policing morality in modern society more closely.