A Different Shade of Blue How women changed the face of police work by Adam Eisenberg
Trade Paperback	5 ½ x 8 ½	Non-fiction
Release date: July 2009		ISBN:978-1-933016-56-6
	$15.95	Your order will be processed by Blu Sky Media Group

Ms. Magazine's "Great Reads for Summer 2009."
1 bestseller at Seattle Mystery Bookshop.

In 1961, a policewoman sued the city of New York, demanding equal treatment to the male police officers.  She won. Her victory signaled the end of segregation in police departments nationwide.  Not overnight and not without tremendous upheaval and conflict, but both male and female officers work the streets today in a dramatically different way because women are now a significant part of the police force.

A Different Shade of Blue: How Women Changed the Face of Police Work is told through the candid voices of 50 women on the Seattle Police Department and covers the predictable challenges: sexism, size differences, harassment; and the unexpected ones: crooks embarrassed to be caught by a woman, going undercover to capture an illegal abortionist in the days before Roe v. Wade, moving up the chain of command, why affirmative action isn’t such a good idea, how there wasn't a feeling of camaraderie among the women hired.

Seattle is the perfect backdrop to see the full history of women in uniform since it was one of the first cities to hire women in 1912, the first to promote a female to captain in 1946, and one of the first to put women on the street as equal beat cops in 1975.

Reviews and Accolades

"As a long-time female police officer who was ultimately one of two female pioneers ever hired, Eisenberg's A Different Shade of Blue definitely struck a chord. I had to keep checking the cover to ensure this book wasn't written by a female officer herself! His in-depth, gritty, and thorough look into the lives of female police officers, coupled with his own background in law enforcement, brings the reader along to shatter the glass ceiling. As a crime writer myself who is currently working on a memoir about my own life as a female police officer, I finished the last page of A Different Shade of Blue feeling somewhat defeated--Eisenberg essentially wrote my memoir for me. Quite simply, he nailed it! A fascinating read!"
~ Stacy Dittrich, former detective, author of Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill and numerous other books, and law enforcement media consultant as seen on CNN, Fox, and E! True Hollywood.

About the Author

After earning a journalism degree from the University of Colorado, New York native Adam Eisenberg moved to Los Angeles and covered the entertainment industry as a freelance writer.  His work included extensive behind-the-scenes coverage of such movies as Ghostbusters, The Right Stuff, Terminator and Return of the Jedi, and feature interviews with such Hollywood elite as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Oliver Stone, Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise. 

His credits include The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Denver Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Twilight Zone Magazine, American Film, Prevue, Cinefex, American Cinematographer, Cinefantastique and publications in Japan, France and England.  He also wrote and produced a documentary on forest preservation narrated by William Shatner and directed a 16 mm adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story, There Will Come Soft Rains. 

After his stint as a journalist, Mr. Eisenberg graduated from the University of  Washington School of Law and spent seven years as a criminal prosecutor for the city of Seattle.  During his tenure, he conducted hundreds of jury and bench trials, and successfully argued a case before the Washington state Supreme Court that changed a statewide drunk driving law.  

In addition to his work in criminal law, Mr. Eisenberg has practiced as a civil trial attorney, written freelance articles on a variety of social issues from homelessness to domestic violence, and produced televised public forums on relationship abuse for the City of Seattle Domestic Violence Council.

Adam Eisenberg currently serves as Court Commissioner of the Municipal Court of Seattle, where he presides over criminal and traffic court matters.

Be sure to visit Commissioner Eisenberg's website.