class11: Over policing and Under Protecting, Closing out Policing the Racial Divide

a “community policing” driven idea

to have districts reflect coherent communities, to “aggregate” types of problems, so that policing strategies could be community specific

• data driven

• proactive

• chief in river city → changing boundaries for community specific policing strategies

How is this effort connected to the economic revitalization of River City?

east - economically booming (entertainment district)

• taxes when they do go there

• police presence to support shiny happy place to go

west - ‘contain the west’ away from the east

• you dont want high crime to spill over into east

east chart

One year: 16,400 calls came in; 12% “priority one”

• a lot of police quit

• lack of policing resources

west chart

One year: 45,000 calls came in; 25% “priority one”

priority one call

life threatening situation happening

constructing crime: crime is created

• Richard Quinney (1970): Definition of behavior conferred on some persons by others to serve political interests

• Varies by space and time

• Power matters!

How do powerful interests determine what the law of the land effectively is in “Policing the Racial Divide”?

• police incentives: support the politics/money

  • responding better in the eastern district

  • east is more pleasant for a cop to do their job + nicer place to be

• economic/spatial/labor issues

  • from this there is a cultural perception of what these neighborhoods are like

  • strong reputations

  • matters for enforcement (hotspot policing)

  • redistricting plan

• west arrested more than the east

there is a paradoxical dynamic over

over policing and under protection in the west district

overpolicing

aggressive enforcement of low-level offenses;

• Police targeting, profiling, and harassment; Police brutality

• Frequent police-resident contact, often hostile or abusive; targeted proactive stops

  • stop and frisk

  • getting at low level crime to get at the bigger things → not true/didnt work → racial disparities in who they arrest

under protection

Ineffective protection from crime, Slow and apathetic responses; Dismissal of victims; Low clearance rates

• high exposure to violence

police had a

very low clearance rate

clearance rate

solve/charge a person

police are

political and social entities

Chief Ramsey

47 years as an officer, worked as officer in Chicago, then served as Police Chief in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia

Chief Ramsey: What did he say were the effects of policing strategies during the community era?

• community based policing → slow change (broken windows; didnt have a strategy for when window is repaired)

• CompStat (NY) → data driven approach → dramatic reduction in crime

• engage or do other things

• whats the attitude of people after police leave (build that relationship + trust)

• certain things arent acceptable in some places

• police are public servants

Chief Ramsey: Police Mindset and bias: What change in police mindset does Chief Ramsey say is necessary?

• police working on the wrong side of history and their role of police

  • working alongside german soldiers

  • slave catchers being police/alongside police

• need to get rid of us against them mentality

• bias - needs to be fair and impartial policing

  • recognize everyone has a bias → knowing that we have it, how do we not let it impact our job

• dont take dignity + self respect away

  • people will fight you to hang on to it because sometimes its all they have

what did chief ramsey get wrong?

• he talks about community policing and aggressive policing separately when in River City these aggressive methods were APART of community policing

• he said there are proven strategies but we discussed that correlation doesnt equal causation

accountability mechanism not utilized heavily

need of oversight boards and giving them the power to do things