Kristian Williams - Our Enemies in Blue - Police and Power in America

.. Narcotics En forcement Area" signs were posted. The ai 111 was to discouragedrug dealers and gang members from driving through the area. At the sametime, debris was removed from alleys and graffiti scrubbed off walls. X2Thc Christopher Conmlission report went on to voice concerns about the intensivcdeployment of officers, the specific targeting of high-ctimc areas, the "illusory"nature of the reduction in crline, and citizen complaitlts that the area had beenconverted into an "armed camp."H I But despite its reservations, the cOimnissionsaw value in the program-and more importantly, saw its place within the overallframework of community policing.1bis combination of militaristic tactics and community policing ideology isless mystelious than it might initially appear. 'nle community policing focus onproblem solving can easily tend towards a zero-tolerance approach with a strongemphasis on public order, rather than on crime per se. "Zero-tolerance policing refers to the strict enforcement of all criminaland civil violations within certain geographical hot spots (a code word forlower-income, minority areas) using an array of aggressive tactics such asstreet sweeps, proactive enforcement of not just the law but "communityorder," and a proliferation of drug raids on private residences."'I1le effect is to crimillalize an ever-wider range of public order offenses ;mel minornuisances-some of which might not even, really, be illegal. Hence, standardfeatures of urban life that may previously have been considered mere irritations,inconveniences, annoyances, or eccentricities, suddenly become matters forpolice attention.Worst of all, the new intolerance sometimes makes crimes out of tlle most humcU1,humanizing, and humane parl