There aren't too many would-be authors who have the LA Times as a mouthpiece to talk about a book that a) hasn't been finished b) hasn't been published anywhere yet. But then, LAPD Commissioner William Bratton isn't your usual aspiring author, and he can get Patrick McGreevy to listen to his future publishing plans. The book, a collaboration with Rutgers criminal justice professor George Kelling, proposes to offer solutions to the increase in crime in much of the United States, drawing on the success of a handful of cities, including Los Angeles, where crime remains in decline. Kelling said this week that he and Bratton hope to finish the book by the end of 2007.

The book might not have happened had publishers not turned down Bratton's previous proposal, another book on terrorism, saying the market was glutted. "It's just as well," Bratton said. "The Kelling book is much more timely because one of the things we are looking to raise nationally, and we are confident that with the Democrats taking control it will be raised, is the issue of crime growing in the country. We are something of an anomaly here with crime declining for four years." He has a point, even if this entire article sounds like a great "please buy my book, publishers!" pitch...