The Big Policeman Book Report

I read “The Big Policeman” by J. North Conway. This book was about a detective named Thomas Byrnes. The book followed detective Byrnes through his most infamous cases like the Jack the Ripper copycat and the Manhattan Savings Bank robbery. Throughout the book the author described Byrne’s unique methods and strategies for gathering information from the suspects in custody. J. North Conway’s purpose for writing this novel is to demonstrate his views on limiting the police’s power. J. North Conway conveyed the idea of limiting the police’s power through both description and persuasion. He used a problem and solution pattern to further the reader’s understanding of the message. J. North Conway often described the torture methods known as the “third degree”. Thomas Byrnes would attack the suspect in places where bruising would not be seen such as the stomach or genitals. During this time he would show the problem was the suspect would lie or refuse to give detective Bynes the answers he wanted. Then by beating the suspect the answers would eventually be released. Mixed in with the description there was persuasion to further push the idea of limiting the law enforcement’s power. The persuasion was often seen through the other detectives. The 3rd person omniscient point of view allows …show more content…
During the many interrogations we feel empathy for the suspects because we understand how it feels to be bullied and to be hurt. Our emotions kick in and it becomes easy to think that reducing the amount of power detective Byrne’s has that the bullying and abuse will end. The emotions we have urge us towards a thought that goes along with the authors purpose of writing the novel and he therefore succeeds in his goal. By appealing to emotions J. North Conway made it easy to agree with his thoughts on limiting the law enforcement's