Police Abuse: A Pathological Response to Fighting a War They Did Not Start and Cannot Win (From Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Ethics, Integrity, and Human Rights, P 583-596, 2000, Milan Pagon, ed. -- See NCJ-206270)

• NCJ Number: 206279
• Author(s): Harald Otto Schweizer
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: College of Police and Security Studies
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Slovenia

Annotation

This paper examines how politicians' framing of law enforcement as a "war" may promote aggressive police action against citizens, particularly minorities, in the United States and Europe.

Abstract

Numerous incidents of factual and alleged abuse by police in the United States indicate that minorities, particularly Blacks, are disproportionately stopped by police (vehicle stops); arrested in greater numbers; and disproportionately incarcerated for drug offenses, murder, and robbery. Discriminatory policing practices in the United States may be partly related to the existence of 18,000 separate and distinct law enforcement agencies in the country, with each having its own organizational culture under the control of separate State and local jurisdictions. Such autonomy and fragmentation of policing policies and practices makes reforms and uniformity of police policies and practices impossible. Civil rights abuses by police in the United States are likely due to a lack of accountability, inadequate screening and training of police, and the general reluctance of police officers to lodge complaints or to testify against one another. In Europe, victims of police abusive practices are reported to consist disproportionately of immigrants, legal and illegal, and asylum-seekers. Of all the countries in Europe, the United Kingdom has had the highest level of racist violence and complaints about discriminatory actions by police. There is debate about whether the police focus on minorities in both the United States and Europe is a result of discriminatory policies or the fact that the conditions under which many minorities live tend to produce more criminal behavior, thus drawing the attention of the police. Politicians have framed police crime-fighting as "war," including the "war against drugs" and the "war against crime," with crime referring to "street" crime and the drug war focusing on drug use and dealing in minority communities. The connotation of "war" implies that the police are a military force that uses weaponry and aggressive tactics against an enemy force that must be subdued by force. This leads to excesses in the police use of power and a combative interaction between police and citizens. It is unrealistic to expect that police will foster police-community relations and promote cooperation with citizens when politicians foster concepts of "war" and combat as the nature of the police enterprise. 57 references