Our Militarized Society

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by BigV

Let me ask you, those of you who support such an approach, give me an example of another zero-tolerance policy that has succeeded in the prevention of transgressions?

Well, there was that one little future terrorist that nibbled his Pop-Tart into the vague shape of a pistol...he ain't killed nobody lately.

Must be working.

[gvidas]

Sarge, I read this article and thought of you. It's a veteran itemizing the weapons, ammunition, and equipment used against the protesters in Ferguson.

http://www.thenation.com/article/181...olice-weaponry

There is a growing chorus of military veterans who have chimed in on the absurdity of photographs like this one. Let me join the parade. What we’re seeing here is a gaggle of cops wearing more elite killing gear than your average squad leader leading a foot patrol through the most hostile sands or hills of Afghanistan. They are equipped with Kevlar helmets, assault-friendly gas masks, combat gloves and knee pads (all four of them), woodland Marine Pattern utility trousers, tactical body armor vests, about 120 to 180 rounds for each shooter, semiautomatic pistols attached to their thighs, disposable handcuff restraints hanging from their vests, close-quarter-battle receivers for their M4 carbine rifles and Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights. In other words, they’re itching for a fight. A big one. It’s a well-known horror that the US military greets foreign peoples in this fashion as our politicians preach freedom, democracy and peace. It’s an abomination that the police greet black communities in the States with the same trigger-happy posture. Especially on the occasion of an unarmed teen’s death by cop.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Considering that alternatives up 'til now haven't worked, what should the response have been? It's just a modern Boston Tea Party.

Sorry, I mean Ferguson the police officers, not Ferguson the community. The community protested, the police response turned them into riots when they didn't need to be.

Originally Posted by BigV

I think the broken window policy of policing is stupid doomed to failure.

First of all, it can never actually happen, that there'll be a zero tolerance approach to crimes. There will **always** be crime, large and small, and the hope that by enforcing criminal prosecution of every crime, no matter how small, will prevent crimes in the future is an unprovable fantasy.

Let me ask you, those of you who support such an approach, give me an example of another zero-tolerance policy that has succeeded in the prevention of transgressions? What about zero-tolerance for weapons or drugs in schools? What about abstinence only policies for sexual behavior? Mandatory minimum sentencing in our courts? What about "broken-window-policing" in any location, anywhere? Where has it worked?

You misunderstand, "broken window" policing is nothing like a classic zero tolerance policy. I'll give you THE example: New York City.

For years, the NY subways were a sewer of crime. Muggings, murder, open air prostitution in front of other passengers--not just the soliciting of, but the actual sex. The police were run ragged trying to keep up with all the crimes being committed down there, and barely making a dent.

Then a new police chief came in, a follower of the "broken windows" philosophy. And what he said was, forget the murders and muggings. We're obviously not stopping them anyway. Instead, we now do two things, and only two things--we catch, arrest, and fine every single fare-jumper, and we get rid of all graffiti. The trains had turnaround tunnels at the end of every line, and they literally stationed dozens of painters inside those turnaround stations who would paint over new graffiti within minutes of it going on. Meanwhile other staff would climb inside and clean every marker tag the punks had drawn on in the last hour, fix every broken seat. Kids would break in to the train yards at night to draw these massive tagged murals on the trains, and they didn't even try to keep them out. They just hired overnight painters to stand there and follow behind them, painting over it right in front of them, before the spraypaint was even dry. For the fare-jumping (and keep in mind, at this point approximately 70% of riders were fare-jumping,) they placed officers at every single turnstile, and handcuffed each one they caught together in a line, and made them stand there publicly until they had about 20. Then they marched them up to the street where a roving "police station" bus would come by and process each arrest and issue a fine within an hour.

And what happened next is exactly what the "broken windows" philosophy said would happen: with the environment changed, the fundamental social attitude of the people riding the trains changed. Muggings and murders plummeted. Normal people have the capacity to turn into thugs when placed in an environment where they feel everything is permitted, but normal people also have the capacity to hold themselves to a higher standard when the environment declares that this is not a place of chaos.

It worked so well that the police chief in question was brought in to be a consultant for the city as a whole when Giuliani was elected, and they did the same thing there: quit chasing endless murders. Instead, get the hookers off the streets, get the aggressive panhandlers out of Time Square, get the graffiti down everywhere. And again, major crimes plummeted all on their own, once these minor crimes were aggressively targeted. And not "aggressively" in terms of punishment, but in terms of swiftness and guarantee of getting caught. Studies have shown that the average person will not even risk a $5 fine if they are certain to be caught, but they will risk a $5000 fine if the chances are less than 50% that they'll get caught.

Why yes, I did just finish Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," which details the NY crime story in great detail and also goes into several other examples of broken windows theory being applied with great success, why do you ask?

[Clodfobble]

Sorry, this stuff excites me.

Using "broken window" policies in schools, for example, would mean putting kids in uniforms; taking two minutes at the end of every single class period to check for gum under the desks, and making the student sitting at that desk clean it off right then and there; and again, getting the graffiti off the walls every single night.

Do that, and the weapons and gang activity and drug dealing go down all on their own. It's counter-intuitive, but it's been shown to work.

[glatt]

Thanks for that explanation. It sounds very smart, and I support it too.

[BigV]

Yes, Clodfobble, thank you for your explanation. I would revise my remarks based on what I've read. I stand by my point that zero-tolerance policies are approximately equal to zero-intelligence/zero-hope-for-success-policies. But as you point out, "broken windows policing" IS NOT the same as zero-tolerance for crimes, even a subset of crimes. Respectfully, Big Sarge was wrong to explain it that way.

Not that he's alone; many people, many police agencies have interpreted "broken windows policing" in the same wrong way (and they're just as hosed for so doing).

In other agencies though, broken windows policing has been synonymous with zero tolerance policing, in which disorder is aggressively policed and all violators are ticketed or arrested. The broken windows approach is far more nuanced than zero tolerance allows, at least according to Kelling and Coles (1996) and so it would seem unfair to evaluate its effectiveness based on the effectiveness of aggressive arrest-based approaches that eliminate officer discretion. Thus, one problem may be that police departments are not really using broken windows policing when they claim to be.

The link leads to a short section that describes the evidence of the effects of broken windows policing, which is mixed. The goal of such a policy is to reduce social disorder, and a reduction in crime as one of the side effects.

Briefly, the model focuses on the importance of disorder (e.g. broken windows) in generating and sustaining more serious crime. Disorder is not directly linked to serious crime; instead, disorder leads to increased fear and withdrawal from residents, which then allows more serious crime to move in because of decreased levels of informal social control. The police can play a key role in disrupting this process. If they focus in on disorder and less serious crime in neighborhoods that have not yet been overtaken by serious crime, they can help reduce fear and resident withdrawal. Promoting higher levels of informal social control will help residents themselves take control of their neighborhood and prevent serious crime from infiltrating.

Long story short: there is no consensus as to the effectiveness of such a policy. In my opinion, broken windows policing is like a specialized tooth, say, a canine, in the effort to take a bite out of crime; good for what it does, grab and hold. A mouthful of only canines though, or broken window policers is effective in a limited range of situations. Much better to have a varied set of teeth, multiple approaches to cut, tear, and grind up the criminal element. This link describes what's working and what's not in my own city's police department.

[sexobon]

The police incident probably wouldn't have happened if that Ferguson neighborhood had a community watch.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Maybe they could get George Zimmerman to organize one.

[Beest]

Originally Posted by sexobon

In the OP photo, I'm amused by the tactical officers wearing bright, tan, desert boots ... an urban-camo fashion faux pas.

I just read a book(!), Zero History by William Gibson, the cross-over of military clothing to street fashion was one of it's main plot devices.

[Big Sarge]

Hey guys, there is more than one form of broken window. As you surmise, I used the pattern I described. This was based upon my tenure of a vice/narcotics task force. Over my years I saw the transition in my area from Chicago based gangs to Meth heads with ties to Mexican Cartels through McAllen, TX. My articles were regularly published in the DEA Quarterly Intelligence Bulletin, MS Association of Drug Enforcement Officers, and Police magazine. I was one of the major "preachers". I did this after working as a DARE and GREAT officer in the schools. In addition. I was writing grants for universal hire under the COPS (Community Oriented Policing) program funded by DOJ. Essentially, I chose what worked best for communities that were besieged with street level narcotics dealers and resulting in related crime to drug abuse. If you do a search for me under TOP Cops, you will see the award I received. Also, you can pull up articles I published in Police magazine. Warning, you will probably see other things to include a major First Amendment case and others. I have stated here before, I wasn't that nice of a person for quite awhile. I guess I should mention I am currently involved with a use of force case in the 5th Circuit.

As far as the equipment being used in Ferguson, the vehicles and weapons are not from the Defense Re-utilization Program. The only items I saw that were likely from the military are the knee/elbow pads, kevlar helmets, and uniforms. I saw none of the MRAPs or HMMWVs that have been the point of contention. The weapons, vehicles, LRAD, radios, and chemical munitions would have come from grants under the Dept of Homeland Security. I know because I have written grants through both. Don't listen to the crap about tanks from the media. They are not available to law enforcement agencies.

[sexobon]

But did you ever wear your rank on your elbow?

[Big Sarge]

Nope, I had mine tattooed on my butt a long time ago. It is kind of droopy, but I'll post a pic if you want, but it is a few years old. I am grayer now.

[Pico and ME]

Soooo....does the 'incorrect' version of 'no broken window' policy explain the preponderance of stop and frisk (and pull-overs) on people of color?

Or is it just another way to fill prisons?

[Big Sarge]

stop and frisk based upon Terry vs. Ohio is a great tool. Since NYPD has been forced to curtail their practice, there has been a rise in gun violence. Another fantastic tool is RICCO. I can get you convicted based upon association rather than overt criminal act.

[BigV]