NCJ Number
69415
Date Published
1980
Length
165 pages
Annotation
THE POLICE ARE DISCUSSED AS WILLING AGENTS OF THE OPPRESSION OF GHETTO BLACKS BY THE LARGER WHITE SOCIETY; PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TRAINING OF POLICE, THE POLICE SUBCULTURE, AND THE NEGATIVE RESPONSE OF GHETTO CITIZENS ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
FORCES PRESENTLY SHAPING THE BEHAVIOR OF POLICE IN THE GHETTO INCLUDE RACISM, BLACK MILITANCY, GENERAL SOCIAL UNREST, HOSTILITY AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT, AND BURGEONING CRIME AND DRUG USE. POLICE THEMSELVES GENERALLY COME FROM WHITE, WORKING CLASS BACKGROUNDS THAT ENCOURAGE RACIAL BIAS, AUTHORITARIANISM, RESOLVING CONFLICTS BY PHYSICAL MEANS, AND PRESERVING THE STATUS QUO. MOREOVER, POLICE ARE VIEWED AS INSECURE AND UNDULY RESPECTFUL OF SOCIAL STATUS; POLICE TRAINING AND PRACTICES TEND TO EXACERBATE THESE QUALITIES AND INCREASE POLICE SOLIDARITY AND ISOLATION. THE POLICE THEREFORE TEND TO VIEW THE BLACK GHETTO AS A CRIMINAL ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE ITS CITIZENS ARE NONWHITE, POOR, AND WITHOUT SOCIAL STATUS. FURTHERMORE, THEY TREAT GHETTO RESIDENTS MUCH MORE HARSHLY THAN THEY TREAT OTHER CITIZENS. ON THE OTHER HAND, GHETTO PEOPLE, VIEWING THE POLICE AS AGENTS OF WHITE OPPRESSION, TREAT THEM AS OUTCASTS, THUS INCREASING POLICE ISOLATION AND SELF-JUSTIFICATION. FINALLY, SINCE POLICE ARE PRIMARILY A BUFFER BETWEEN WHITE SOCIETY AND THE BLACK GHETTO, THEIR SERVICES TO GHETTO BLACKS ARE MERELY ATTEMPTS TO PACIFY AN UNDERCLASS. CHAPTER NOTES ARE INCLUDED.