Last weekend, Michael Bailey became the third police officer killed in the past two months. A 20-year veteran of the force, Bailey was just weeks away from retiring when he was shot outside his South Side home. The recent spate of violence against police officers got us wondering how a cop would describe the threat of danger on and off the job. Martin Preib gives us a glimpse of this life in his new collection of essays The Wagon: And Other Stories From the City. The Chicago cop talks with Alison Cuddy about his relationship to the city and the jobs that shaped his perspective.

Music Button: Cochemea Gastelum performing “Arrow’s Theme” from the release The Electric Sound of Johnny Arrow (Mowo! Inc.)