by Michael Fanone & John Shiffman
Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul.
Mrs. Q says: Yes, I did like this book.
Fanone is divorced and has four daughters. While he remained estranged from his ex-wife until the January 6th attack, after the attack he described her as “a pretty integral part of [his] support system”. He lives in Virginia with his mother.
It’s well written, yes, but the author doesn’t mince words or play politics. He tells it the way he sees it and bravely shows authenticity. Be forewarned the language is rough. Fanone became the unwitting face of the beleaguered police at the Capitol on January 6th. He was simply doing his job when he was pulled by duty to defend the Capitol against a mob that subsequently pulled him into the mob, beat him with fists, clubs, flagpoles, etc., tased him three times, attempted to take his gun, while screaming, “Kill him with his own gun!” He returned to the tunnel semi conscious and slipped into unconsciousness for approximately 4 minutes. I encourage everyone to watch his body camera footage. He is every officer defending the Capitol that day.
Fanone is, for the most part, apolitical. Although not explicitly stated, I am under the impression that he subscribes to Republican ideals. That said, he is equally critical of far left and far right politics and strongly advocates to depoliticize police, provide more comprehensive training, and quit using the police to run political scrum. See a problem? Provide a solution and involve all parties to address it. Then fund it.
Fanone provides a comprehensive background on himself and does not hide his character flaws. He owns his mistakes and provides how they shaped him and taught him. He was a Capitol Police officer for a short time and street cop for most of his career. He understands the unintended biases and worked with the attitude of increasing public safety, taking the real criminals off the streets. His goal was not to be punitive or meet quotas. He served the people in his assigned area.
The last part focuses on some real world ideas to bring about police reform. As he sees the people he served, he doesn’t believe in punitive actions except in the case of truly bad actors (he singles out Chauvin), but pushes the ideas of training in all aspects of law enforcement, including the cultural aspect.