Valentin Gendrot

Cop Valentin Gendrot

The story of a French journalist who infiltrated the country's police force, revealling a culture of racism and violence in which officers act with impunity.

What happens behind the walls of a police station? In order to answer this question, undercover journalist Valentin Gendrot puts his life on hold for two years. He decides to undertake training and become a police officer. Several months later, Gendrot is working in a police station in one of the tough northern arrondissements of Paris, where relations between the law and locals are strained.

Gendrot hides nothing. He witnesses police brutality, racism, blunders, and cover-ups. But he also sees the oppressive working conditions that officers endure, and mourns the tragic suicide of a colleague.

Asking important questions about who holds institutional power and how we can hold them to account, Cop is a gripping expose of a world never before seen by outsiders.






'An explosive new book by an investigative journalist has drawn fresh attention to police brutality and racism in France ... Chronicling the author's training and the six months he spent as a police officer in one of Paris' poorest districts ... its vivid portrayal underlines how France's history of racism and present-day police tactics have remained relatively unexamined.'
-Matt Bradley, NBC News

'A journalist who spent almost six months undercover in a Paris police force witnessed racism, almost daily violence and a culture of impunity for officers who mistreated civilians ... The book's release follows a period of increased criticism of police in France.'
-Jamie Clifton, Vice