Policing and Crime

The State, Power, and Violence State: Monopoly on Violence Monopoly maintained by state’s authority (legitimized power): Police, Military, Laws, Policy, etc. Private property, self-defense, justified violence Contradictive to enlightenment values of personal sovereignty

Policing is a practice Policing is something that is enacted by social players within society to different degrees Policing is conceptualized, understood, and reproduced through cultural means Police: Occupy space of activity and practice where violence and/or potential for violence meets and influences the order of the every day Consider the police line. A symbol that demarcates a specified space to a set of temporary and abnormal rules and standards.

Policing as a set of Relations Policing is done differently in every context on a macro and micro scale Current policing practice is influenced by contextual and global history Policing creates a spontaneous polity with its own influences and rules, laws, etc.

Insecurity in Rio Rio de Janiero: Police in Favelas War Metaphor and Militarized Space Police disrupt and interrupt the order of daily life in favelas: direct violence, corruption, drug dealers, illegal behavior, unpredictable

The uncertainty of the police in the favelas ‘otherizes’ police Dis/order: Maintaining the power relations and a more complex ‘order’ through interruptions and disorder The uncertainty of the police in the favelas ‘otherizes’ police ‘Policify’ not ‘prisonize’: Favela police contribute to feeling of dis/order and anxiety and affect daily life and experience The police help “abnormalize” favela life What role doe the favelas play in globalization for Brazil? World cup? Favela tour?

Paris Banlieues: densely populated suburbs High African and Arab populations Anti-crime squads Preemptive assumptions of danger Stark differentiation between residents, police, and law abiding civilians

ethnic profiling and stereotyping are not absent among the BAC Notions of criminality are ascribed along ethnic, class, and national lines The BAC nurtures a harsh, almost paranoid environment of xenophobia, racism, and hypermasculinity

Policing: A Group Effort Policing is practiced at most, if not all parts of society to some extent

Policing Meth Policing extended to other societal spheres Policing through policy and regulation Cooperation of people from every sector Surveillance, Observation, Communication, Enforcement

Policing and Police: Publicly Realized Public reinforcement of law Socially realized and legitimized power Police’ positions are understood, realized, and reinforced by the society in which they practice. Context is important

Resistance? Question power and legitimacy Formally and informally constituted values and norms Question of efficiency and goals of policing Definitions of criminality, morals, values, ethics, etc. Resistance: Intentional criminality? Organized crime? Is there a way to resist policing practices that is legal and/or uncriminal?

Policing Boundaries, Markets, and States Concept of criminality is influenced by shifting relationship between capital, governance, and the state Policing is a mode of managing crime, practiced by civilians and police alike Various overlapping and shifting jurisdictions and authorities Durkheim: Crime is a way to identify, reproduce, and reinforce norms Shifting boundaries and changing forms of the nation-state, its privatization, and its expanding competition within the corporate sector.

So what does crime look like these days? The massive global illicit market. The idea of international criminals. Wars on drugs, crime, and terrorism. Cybercrime.

Policing in the Western World mid 17th to late 18th century Interstate competition Police states “Police” meant something different

Policing in the Western World Population size Life necessities Health Activity of population Circulation of goods Police regulated everything Maximize the well being of the nation and its people: its “splendor” Polizeiwissenschaft (police science)

Policing in the Western World Shift in economic ideology and reason Liberal market values Jobs of the police changed

Policing in the U.S. Slave patrols and night watches Protect economic practices and property from invaders and thiefs

Policing in the U.S. Lower social classes and wages -> illicit economic mobility Slavery outlawed except for as a form of punishment Policing “matter out of place” & idleness

Policing in the U.S. Responsibility to “civilized life” four major components to understanding of crime Crime affects labor, property, and production There are often “types” who commit crime for whatever reason (class & race) Crime is a major sin against liberal society Policing must be extended to all places of disorder