Three corrupt cops raiding an Amish community with shotguns...

Yeah, that was waaaay over the top!

Yeah, they could have just hired a stone cold assassin to do the job. He comes along sets up on a hill overlooking the fields, with a high powered sniper rifle, and one day John Book is out tilling the fields and then POP. There's blood on the onions.

But desperation will do funny things to you, and it's possible that they were so paranoid at that point that they figured the only people they could trust to do the job and keep quiet were themselves.

The hunt for Book is three things: (1)It is to cover up corruption in a police department, the corruption going from Schaeffer on down. The killing of Book would have had the blessing of Schaeffer. (2) It is to show that the hunt is personal--Schaeffer and the detectives want Book to know who would be killing him. (3) It is a vehicle for Book to show his character is a brave, stand-up cop who will personally shield innocent people from corrupt people.