Across the globe police services routinely provide descriptions and data that can be found with a few clicks. Seeking to investigate policing practices in greater depth, editor Mbuba offers a much more nuanced critique. He amasses 20 insightful essays from 29 contributing authors examining contemporary law enforcement in different countries. The contributors, all academics or researchers, summarize police developments, cultures, and procedures in nations they know well, spanning Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Poland, Serbia, the UK, Uruguay, the US, and Zimbabwe. Those interested in sharp perceptions of law enforcement in these states will likely find these chapters enlightening. The authors write candidly and often fearlessly about the realities they perceive. Some list points for improvement; in other cases the need for further reform is made clear. If policing leads to authoritarianism, corruption, and abuse, then reform is vital, if in fact it can be achieved. The broad trend in these countries—surely with exceptions—is for policing to embrace a non-military style of protection and service. Yet public safety anywhere can be achieved at great cost and then deplorably lost. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.