From 1992 to 2008, activist and feminist theater director K.D. Codish directed the New Haven Police Academy. Collaborating with local community members, organizations, youth, and artists, she worked tirelessly to transform a militaristic bootcamp into a “non-traditional” academy where students engaged in community research and created art and performances to share their findings. Codish’s 1996 article “The New Haven Police Academy: Putting One Sacred Cow Out to Pasture” (originally published in Police Chief magazine) details her efforts to recruit and educate a new kind of police officer, as well as the many challenges faced along the way. The 12-page pamphlet reissue is wrapped with a new 24-page publication Police Others As You Would Have Others Police You: The Non-Traditional New Haven Police Academy 1992-2008. Containing a recent interview with Codish, this pamphlet provides more details about Codish’s work with the police academy, as well as a contextual overview of her lifelong commitment to social justice and graphics and photos from her archive.

Sacred Cow was originally reissued for artist-publisher Emily Larned’s installation Police Others As You Would Have Others Police You, Artspace New Haven, Fall 2020. -Publisher