The recent debate over police reform has claimed, on both sides, statistics as its bedrock. And, not surprisingly, this hasn’t gotten us very far. The reason, as Selby, Singleton, and Flosi so adeptly demonstrate, is because context–the totality of known circumstances for each and every incident–provides the standard by which we must judge our law enforcement officers’ actions.

This is not a book for hard-hearted partisans or those looking for easy answers. But for those seeking a better–deeper, more nuanced–understanding of just what goes wrong when police kill unarmed civilians, I can’t think of a better primer. The authors must be commended for this critical contribution to our understanding of contemporary criminal justice and why we as a society can’t afford to ignore these issues.