Crime Stoppers and the Police: The Ideological Construction of Community (From Constructing Danger: The Mis/Representation of Crime in the News, P 160-177, 1995, Douglas Beall, ed. - See NCJ-162999)

• NCJ Number: 163007
• Author(s): T Thomson
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Fernwood Publishing
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This chapter examines Crime Stoppers, where the police publish the particulars of a crime and solicit the assistance of the public to solve it, within the context of the police/media relationship.

Abstract

In modern society the police can use the media to solicit help from the public, to warn people about crime in their community, and to promote the need for more police resources. The Crime Stoppers program has been prominent in soliciting public help in solving crimes, and there has been much publicity surrounding its successes. The chapter looks at what type of discourse they employ, what types of crime they publicize, and how the program is linked to other efforts to extend the role of the police. One of these efforts is the concept known as community policing, and there is consideration of who defines community and threats to its safety. Crime is as much an ideological construction as a real threat, and whoever controls the definition of crime is in a powerful position to manipulate public opinion. Crime Stoppers offers a very particular representation of crime, one that emphasizes public, violent crime committed by strangers, and that increases fear in the very community the police help define. Table, notes