NCJ Number
93606
Journal
American Journal of Police Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1983) Pages: 51-81
Date Published
1983
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Leading police researchers have provided some support for the following propositions of conflict theorists: (1) police constitute a bureaucracy that operates through coercion and violence; (2) police represent the interests of the ruling class; and (3) the victims of law enforcement are the lower socioeconomic classes.
Abstract
This study evaluates the propositions of conflict theorists by examining some police studies by James Q. Wilson, Egon Bittner, Jerome H. Skolnick, Peter K. Manning, Herman Goldstein, Abraham Blumberg, and Arthur Niederhoffer. These researchers confirm the view that the police are a bureaucracy that acts as an instrument of coercion. They document historic and contemporary institutionalized actions by police that show them to be finally committed to the maintenance of social control through the use of coercion and force. The researchers also provide evidence that, historically, the police in capitalist society represent class interests. This is documented by the use of the police to suppress mass protests by those claiming oppression under the dominant socioeconomic system. Studies concluded that the police act as the agents of the dominant political interests in their handling of some operations, which negates impartial and democratic law enforcement. Regarding discriminatory actions by police against lower socioeconomic classes, researchers provide arrest statistics and documented observations and experiences by minority citizens to indicate that police are apt to process the economically disadvantaged, who lack political leverage. Graphic data and 39 references are provided.