It is an established fact that rehabilitative efforts yield more results at less cost than incarceration. It is a constant theme in our posts here, and with good reason.
Of course there are factors that can reach back to the cradle – problems like broken families, poverty, substance abuse and myriad others. Today I’d like to take note of one that I don’t believe we have covered – mistrust of the police, particularly within minority communities.
I’m the member of the team that lives in New Orleans, a city that often exemplifies the worst in the American justice system. As a result I live with the repercussions of that system’s failures every day.
Crumbling infrastructure, some of it still lingering from our experiences with Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee failure, combines with gross ethnic disparity and crushing poverty to give us one of the highest murder rates in the nation.
One major factor, especially recently, is distrust of the police. If no one calls there is no chance of apprehending offenders, much less getting them as far as incarceration or treatment. This is certainly the case here in NOLA.
Columnist Jarvis DeBerry of The Times Picayune provides this nasty little tidbit:
‘NOPD’s use of force practices present a significant threat to the safety of the public and NOPD officers, and create a substantial obstacle to strong community-police partnerships.’ — Page vii of the March 16, 2011, Investigation of the New Orleans Department conducted by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
I wish I could say that I am shocked. A few minutes on Google is all it takes to see the tarnished history of enforcement here. Incidents like NOPD officer Antoinette Frank who was convicted of first degree murder after firing nine bullets into a 21 year old girl and a 17 year old boy do little to inspire confidence.
This toxic police culture has continued on into the present day. DeBerry brings us the words of Rev. John Raphael, a local priest who is also a former New Orleans police officer. The comments are made in the wake of interviewing a youth who saw a wounded man and failed to call the police. The next day the wounded man was found dead:
We were told by the New Orleans Crime Coalition last week that 61 percent of New Orleans residents are satisfied with the Police Department. Officials in most cities would weep at such a finding, but in New Orleans, Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas pronounced himself pleased at the ‘highest level of support we have received to date.’
And yet, learning that public satisfaction with the department has risen 14 percent since August and 28 percent since 2009 seems much less significant than the news of a witness finding a body and deciding against calling the police. That decision not to call speaks to the alienation, to the out-and-out terror many residents have for our police. It illustrates how some residents see the police not as friendlies but as members of an occupying force.
I’m sure that there are many other communities where this is a problem, although I concede that New Orleans is probably one of the single most extreme examples.
Our policing is yet another aspect of our justice system’s breakdown. The nationwide imbalance of enforcement actions against minorities bears this out. It is all part and parcel of the same issue we address when writing about physical or sexual abuse by correctional staff. In both cases violation of trust has wider and more horrific repercussions.
For a better view of our broken system and practical ideas for how to fix it check out our latest offering- Born, Not Raised: Voices From Juvenile Hall, coming this Thursday.
What are things like in your community? How about in the nearest low income or ethnic community?
Image Source: Mark Gstohl on Flickr, used under it’s Creative Commons license
