JOHN SHEDLER brings to us the absorbing story of a unique emergency response
team in a unique setting: the frozen streets of Alaska. Chronicling his time with
the Anchorage Community Service Patrol, Shedler relates a series of compelling
actual episodes, from life-or-death medical emergencies to dangerous police
situations, set against a backdrop of kindness and empathy as the CSP carries on
their humanitarian mission to aid the city’s indigent and often inebriated street
population. As it pays tribute to the CSP’s compassionate and dedicated men and
women, always forced to do more with less and rarely given the respect or support
they deserved, “A Slow Death in the Streets” also raises important moral and public
policy questions regarding how we think about and care for our homeless.