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

Recommendations

Info

up, a very large number of citizens will get roughed up during the year. Thus,their violence may seem occasional to individual policemen, when in fact for theforce as a whole it is routine."71Of course, the propensity for violence is not distributed evenly throughoutpolice departments. The Independent Commission on the Los AngelesPolice Department (also called the Christopher Commission) noted:Of nearly 6,000 officers identified as involved in a use of force ... fromJanuary 1987 through March 1991, more than 4,000 had less than fivereports each. But 63 officers had 20 or more reports each. The top 5 percentof officers ranked by number of reports accounted for more than 20percent of all reports, and the top 10 percent accounted for 33 percent.72These numbers may not be as comforting as they first seem. For onething, 6,000 cops is still quite a lot, even when the occasions of their violenceare spread over four years. In fact, it seems the Christopher Commissionfell into precisely the trap that Rodney Stark described: by emphasizingthe idea that most officers rarely use force, they demonstrate that brutalityis individually rare, while obscuring the fact that it is collectively common.Four thousand officers, with fewer than five reports each, together couldhave nearly 20,000 such reports. Moreover, the unruly 5 percent, in numericalterms, would add up to about 300 officers.73 One retired LAPD sergeanttold the Christopher Commission that there were at least one or two copsin every division who regularly use excessive force,74 This would imply thatnot only is brutality routine, it is widespread.But, however common police brutality may be, its victims are not a perfectcross-section of the American public. In 1999, for example, 86.9 percentof the victims of police violence were male, and 55.3 percent were betweenthe ages of sixteen and twenty-four."' While most victims were White (58.9percent) , Black people and Latinos were victimized in numbers significantlyout of proportion to their representation in the general population. Latinosmake up 10.2 percent of the population nationally, but accounted for 15.5percent of those victimized by the police. Black people constitute 11.4 percentof the population, and 22.6 percent of those facing police violence,76 Ofthose killed by police from 1976 to 1998, 42 percent were Black?7These figures, which I have recited with relatively little comment, offeronly a very limited representation of police violence. The studies producingthese numbers, with their statistics and their charts, seem altogether toosanitized. They should, to do the subject justice, come smeared with blood,with numbers surrounded by chalk outlines. The real cost of police violence,the human cost, is too easily forgotten, figured away, buried under a mountainof decimal points. We must not allow that to happen. We must bear inmind, always, that each of these statistics represents a tragedy. Behind eachthere lies real pain, humiliation, indignity, often injustice, and sometimesdeath. Our understanding of police brutality relies on our ability to hearthe scream behind the statistic. Once we do, the rage of L.A, of Miami, ofCincinnati becomes comprehensible. Their fires may burn inside us.15
EXPLAINING AWAY THE ABUSEIn Up rooting Racism, Paul Kivel makes a useful comparison between the rhetoricabusive men employ to justify beating up their girlfriends, wives, or childrenand the publicly traded justifications for widespread racism. He writes:During the first few years that I worked with men who are violent I wascontinually perplexed by their inability to see the effects of their actionsand their ability to deny the violence they had done to their partnersor children. I only slowly became aware of the complex set of tacticsthat men use to make violence against women invisible and (0 avoid takingresponsibility for their actions. These tactics are listed below in therough order that men employ them ....(1) Denial.(2) Minimization.(3) Blame.(4) Redefinition.(5) Unintentionality.(6) It's over now.(7) It's only a fe w men.(8) Counterattack.(9) Competing victimization."I didn't hit her.""It was only a slap.""She asked for it.""It was mutual combat."'Things got out of hand.""I'll never do it again.""Most men wouldn't hurt a woman.""She controls everything.""Everybody is against men." 7 HKivel goes on to detail the ways these nine tactics are used to excuse (ordeny) institutionalized racism. Each of these tactics also has its police analogy,both as applied to individual cases and in regard to the general issue ofpolice brutaIity.l9Here are a few examples:(1) Denial.'The professionalism and restraint displayed by the police officers, supervisors,and comtnunders on the '/rani line' ... was nothing short % utstanding. "80"A merica does not have a human-rights problem. "8 J(2) Minimization.The injuries were "of a minor nature. "82"Police use fo rce infrequently. "83(3) Blame."This guy isn't Mr. Innocent Citizen, either. Not by a long shot. "84"They died because they were criminals. "85(4) Redefinition.It was "mutual combat. "S6"Resisting arrest. ''87"The use of fo rce is necessary to protect yourself. "8816
Page 5 and 6: WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY•J O YJ
Page 7: (e) 2007 by Kristian WilliamsIntrod
Page 10: acknowledgmentsBOOKS DO Nar WRITE T
Page 13 and 14: ZSugE-
Page 18 and 19: forewordPOLICE AND POWER IN AMERICA
Page 20 and 21: 1POLICE BRUTALITY IN THEORY AND PRA
Page 22 and 23: copter. Of these, ten Los Angeles P
Page 24 and 25: way of understanding the lives led
Page 26 and 27: vidual officer, perhaps it leads us
Page 28 and 29: given incident, while excessive use
Page 30 and 31: The difficulties in measuring exces
Page 34 and 35: (5) Unintentionality."[0 lffi cers
Page 36 and 37: Between 1995 and 2000, 360 cops wer
Page 38 and 39: emember that the available statisti
Page 40 and 41: even be supported by the lieutenant
Page 42: standing of those with power-those
Page 45 and 46: specialized function, and professio
Page 47 and 48: TIlere is a further advantage to th
Page 49 and 50: and frequently drunk.In 1727,Joseph
Page 51 and 52: the town, preparing elections, impr
Page 53 and 54: In fact, the first major reform of
Page 55 and 56: of personal honor. No White man sho
Page 57 and 58: stopping slaves whenever they were
Page 59 and 60: Charleston formed a City Guard in 1
Page 61 and 62: civil rather than military activity
Page 63 and 64: and Watch. This body was responsibl
Page 65 and 66: t::Uviolence, the committee argued,
Page 67 and 68: ity by policemen, dismissing thirte
Page 69 and 70: Political corruption was not new to
Page 72 and 73: 3THE GENESIS OF A POLICED SOCIETYIN
Page 74 and 75: first moment, the importance of pol
Page 76 and 77: deals could be quite profitable for
Page 78 and 79: suppressing such riots. Not that th
Page 80 and 81: influence in wards where popular su
Page 82 and 83:
delphia, investigated vegetable mar
Page 84 and 85:
quo (that is, to protect the intere
Page 86 and 87:
To the degree that industrializatio
Page 88 and 89:
This analysis does not solve the pr
Page 90 and 91:
well. 1I3 A more telling difference
Page 92 and 93:
down. TIlls breakdown was in each c
Page 94 and 95:
4COPS AND KLAN, HAND IN HANDAND THE
Page 96 and 97:
tom .... A door opens outward on th
Page 98 and 99:
very much like their previous statu
Page 100 and 101:
tious driving, the model of the car
Page 102 and 103:
statistics tell us that police arre
Page 104 and 105:
fits the unit's established modus o
Page 106 and 107:
Police investigators later document
Page 108 and 109:
And let's not forget the enormous r
Page 110 and 111:
area: they would pull up in a squad
Page 112 and 113:
The Klan would meet the bus at the
Page 114 and 115:
___ stoppedin terms of what the Fre
Page 116 and 117:
SELMA, ALABAMA: BLOODY SUNDAYViolen
Page 118 and 119:
point. The Panthers personified eve
Page 120 and 121:
were killed, and ten other people w
Page 122 and 123:
5THE NATURAL ENEMY OF THE WO RKING
Page 124 and 125:
The practices surrounding the enfor
Page 126 and 127:
lar officer's ties to the local com
Page 128 and 129:
monopoly on it. Despite the continu
Page 130 and 131:
troops, fifty cops from the Metropo
Page 132 and 133:
and filled it with tear gas. As the
Page 134 and 135:
Nine workers were arrested, charged
Page 136:
the courts, and the police could be
Page 139 and 140:
all health and well-being. The main
Page 141 and 142:
ment retaliation, and a formal grie
Page 143 and 144:
In 1912, Herman Rosenthal, a profes
Page 145 and 146:
leadership. Increasingly, the polic
Page 147 and 148:
struggle for status in urban Americ
Page 149 and 150:
than before. But the main effect of
Page 151 and 152:
The police also returned to open el
Page 153 and 154:
policy. Henry Wise, the lawyer for
Page 155 and 156:
the power and rewards of the upper
Page 157 and 158:
found the FOP was sympathetic enoug
Page 159 and 160:
whereas even the rookie patrolman s
Page 161 and 162:
This process then results in a tran
Page 163 and 164:
class. The police rebellion came wh
Page 165 and 166:
is an obvious threat to democracy.T
Page 167 and 168:
speeches, but as the evening wore o
Page 169 and 170:
The Haymarket tragedy ... marked th
Page 171 and 172:
154The role of the red squads furth
Page 173 and 174:
Democratic Convention, and later go
Page 175 and 176:
tion. Bail would be set at astronom
Page 177 and 178:
tapped, then admitted that it was b
Page 179 and 180:
Department's Inspectional Service D
Page 181 and 182:
dissenting group, representing rela
Page 183 and 184:
instructions on infiltrating and di
Page 185 and 186:
convention," was scheduled to coinc
Page 187 and 188:
170supposed to do that."1Z7 Another
Page 189 and 190:
terrorism that covers virtually all
Page 191 and 192:
In a typical case, Hady Hassan Omar
Page 193 and 194:
a threat had already developed. The
Page 195 and 196:
For most of that day, the police we
Page 197 and 198:
the McCartby reportas a "crude and
Page 199 and 200:
practical consequence of the Show o
Page 201 and 202:
Such force took different forms. So
Page 203 and 204:
at Rockefeller Center. Jeff Jones,
Page 205 and 206:
On the tactical level, Stark notes:
Page 207 and 208:
sion and brutal tactics is dangerou
Page 209 and 210:
PLAYING BY THE RULESThe Negotiated
Page 211 and 212:
f-;Cl.But the city council's perspe
Page 213 and 214:
formalizes the strategy of violence
Page 215 and 216:
Militarization ... can be defined i
Page 217 and 218:
The nationwide craze for SWAT teams
Page 219 and 220:
a--institution into believing that
Page 221 and 222:
tiUCommon features seemed to connec
Page 223 and 224:
are not difficult to discern. Mispl
Page 225 and 226:
Community policing does not imply t
Page 227 and 228:
.. Narcotics En forcement Area" sig
Page 229 and 230:
one to the other) . lther than inve
Page 231 and 232:
tubetter terms with the community o
Page 233 and 234:
center . . .. I don't think there's
Page 235 and 236:
urglaries"; "Biber, tell me about t
Page 237 and 238:
Of course, many community policing
Page 239 and 240:
in a long series of institutional s
Page 241 and 242:
Rodney Stark writes, "It is vulgar
Page 243 and 244:
the name of "gang suppression."I.1
Page 245 and 246:
228ed civil rights workers through
Page 247 and 248:
the elderly and unemployed.40 Meanw
Page 249 and 250:
these clumsy efforts. All this occu
Page 251 and 252:
It is tempting to try to distinguis
Page 253 and 254:
sion. Underlying the search for jus
Page 255 and 256:
0-'Ilr)[/)'"-l()et::01516[/) 17'"-l
Page 257 and 258:
'"'i'..".,..-
Page 259 and 260:
98 This grotesque overstatement ori
Page 261 and 262:
140 \X'illiam Chambliss explains th
Page 263 and 264:
-.0MIMMrn'"-10I¥0rn'"-1E-
Page 265 and 266:
tr)"1"I.."1"rJ)00rJ)E-
Page 267 and 268:
lI'1I0'"1'rJJCjg;(;:G0r...rJJb0Z18'
Page 269 and 270:
252Chicago offering one of the few
Page 271 and 272:
'-0l"-I..I"-rJJ>..
Page 273 and 274:
..,..00I000
Page 275 and 276:
o'"I0000rJlWc..?c.::o'""'rJlWf-;ozG
Page 277 and 278:
-.cC1'IO'lC1'rJJ'-'0::0f,.1.,rJJf-
Page 279 and 280:
M0,...I00,...rJJC)0rJJ1-
Page 281 and 282:
2D Quoted in DonnC1", I'rotectors o
Page 283 and 284:
00.-
Page 285 and 286:
lr)N...INN...VJC)g;0VJE-03132333435
Page 287 and 288:
00N'I
Page 289 and 290:
U')
Page 291 and 292:
274145 Braverman offers a clear des
Page 293 and 294:
Dominance," 17.176 Smith concurs: "
Page 295 and 296:
46 Ford Fessenden and Michael Moss,
Page 297 and 298:
...t--...I00...c...CFJ00::0]:.l;.CF
Page 299 and 300:
U"\..I
Page 301 and 302:
1 Eugene L Leach, "The Litcratllre
Page 303 and 304:
M'"""I0000,...(fJ00::0'""(fJ1-
Page 305 and 306:
00N100a--,...(J)C)0>0-(J)E-
Page 307 and 308:
(:ommunity Policing," in Victor E.
Page 309 and 310:
the United Statf>" (Pittsburgh: Uni
Page 311 and 312:
I'- ..NI"
Page 313 and 314:
1'5olire (Berkeley, CA: Center for
Page 315 and 316:
and oppressed people suffer. The Pa
Page 317 and 318:
70 J\kl:voy and Mik,l, "Republican
Page 320 and 321:
selected bibliographyI HAVE TRIED T
Page 322 and 323:
This is the most readable of the hi
Page 324 and 325:
INSTITUTIONALIZED BRUTALITY AND POL
Page 326 and 327:
Six Sociological Essays, edited by
Page 328 and 329:
Smith, Bruce. Police Systems in the
Page 330 and 331:
CHAPTER 7: SECRET POLICE, RED SQUAD
Page 332 and 333:
This collection features studies of
Page 334 and 335:
Policing Consortium. NCJ 148457. Au
Page 336:
Mika, Harry and Kieran McEvoy. "Res
Page 339 and 340:
Andrews, Avery D., 288n.4Anthracite
Page 341 and 342:
...>< California Supreme Court, 291
Page 343 and 344:
Constables of the Commonwealth(Mass
Page 345 and 346:
Ettor, Joseph, 112-113Everett cotto
Page 347 and 348:
homelessness and vagrancy (cont.)Se
Page 349 and 350:
...X "Letter from Harlem." See "Fif
Page 351 and 352:
National Commission on the Causesan
Page 353 and 354:
:>< Pennsylvania State Federation o
Page 355 and 356:
prostitution (ca nt.)See also broke
Page 357 and 358:
X Scranton Commission (President's
Page 359 and 360:
:>< Ta mmany Hall, 51, 52, 55, 250n
Page 361 and 362:
Weisburd, David, 243n.137Weiss, The
Page 363:
Even critics have a difficult time
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?