oreword<br > PERHAPS only New York City could produce a<br >cop in the extraordinary mold of Detective Anthony<br >Schiano. In many ways， he reflects the contradictions and the<br >diversity， the toughness and the humanity of the city. A<br >second-generation Italian-American， he joined the police de-<br >partment while his school pals were settling comfortably into<br >the highways and byways of ci~me. New York gave him a<br >chance and he took it.<br > Some police officers go the book route， studying to achieve<br >promotion via the examination room. These are the new<br >breed who will bring education to bear as a weapon against<br >villainy.<br > Others， like Schiano， who has only a basic education， work<br >on the streets where the hard reality is the mugger with a<br >knife， the pusher with a gun. It s a different sort of education<br >in the South Bronx， in Harlem---one where failure in an<br >examination can mean a knife in the back.<br > Detectives like Schiano are not heard on TV or radio<br >because their accents are inelegant and because they cannot<br >use the language of social workers and psychiatrists. To<br >them， a punk is a punk， not the victim of a rapacious system.<br > Anthony Schiano knows this because he knows how close<br >~td-Hudson<br >Lib~a~ims<br ><br >