Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

A study based on public forums conducted by the National Association for Colored People (NAACP) in six American cities, incorporating the perspectives of police representatives, criminal justice experts, community leaders, public officials, and citizens. The study concludes that racism is a central

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

This study, spurred by the 1991 beating of African American Rodney King by four white police officers in Los Angeles, examines racism in the police departments of Miami, Houston, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Norfolk, Va., as well as Los Angeles. According to the report, ``The relationship between the police and black communities is a continuing source of friction'' nationwide; and King's experiences don't represent a worst case: ``Rodney King and his family...are blessed, because had they been in Indianapolis he would have been killed.'' Findings relate that beatings, shootings, strip searches and other forms of harassment are ``standard'' practice by white law-enforcement officers in dealing with urban minority members. As for antidotes, the study recommends ongoing training of police, implementing community-oriented policing and establishing civilian review boards for police departments. This is important reading for all citizens. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

In March 1991, Rodney King, an African American, was pulled over and beaten by Los Angeles police officers; the acquittal of four officers in a state trial precipitated a massive riot. In this work, the NAACP and the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard University have combined forces to systematically review the salient elements involved in this case. None of their findings--for example, that racism continues to influence police decision making and that excessive use of police force is not uncommon--should be surprising to anyone conversant with the relevant literature. The same applies to their recommendations, e.g., that police departments should hire police officers free of race, gender, and sex-orientation bias and that some form of civilian review should be adopted by all departments. Despite a general absence of originality, this study serves a useful purpose in concisely highlighting an important problem and the necessary responses to it. The book is especially noteworthy because the authors have drawn on the testimony of a broad range of police department representatives, criminal justice experts, community leaders, public officials, and citizens. General readers; upper-division undergraduates. D. O. Friedrichs; University of Scranton