Public space is unavoidable. Whether one comes from a small, quaint town such as Sedona, Arizona or a city over-flowing with people such as Los Angeles, California, public space is an inescapable requirement that comes with the choice of living. Roads, sidewalks, parks, and even beaches qualify as public domain. Citizens use the streets and sidewalks to accomplish everyday life tasks; even simple chores such as buying groceries necessitates crossing through public space. With something so obligatory, it is concerning that so many people do not desire to use it. Power is fundamental to the usage of public space. Supremacy often determines who will occupy the space, how enjoyable the space will be, and how accessible the space will be to different …show more content…
Although present-day America advocates equality, this desire does not always translate into public domain. In Elijah Anderson’s novel, The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Diversity in Everyday Life, he highlights the dysfunctional relationship between power and public space in the urban city of Philadelphia. Through outlets such as the government, the police, and the wealthy, power has the ability to hinder or enhance the experience of a citizen in a public space. As an entity of power, it is only natural that the government contributes heavily to the creation and the function of a public space. The government’s power also allows them to establish the level of diversity and different demographics in an area. Government agencies have taken profound steps to incorporate all cultures equally into society. A noteworthy illustration of this is their expansion of affirmative action, a policy that services those who were historically segregated. Anderson recognizes the increase in “visible diversity in American institutional and cultural life” (Anderson, xiv) due to the extension of the policy. Admittedly, the inclusion of all ethnicities in public spaces has enabled public domains to be …show more content…
As one flicks through the news, he or she may be startled or shocked to discover the sheer amount of police cruelty occurring in public space. As an extension of government, the police inherit the same powers involving public space. Although they cannot create new policies, they act to enforce the policies designed by the government. Police are often mistakenly advertised as a source of protection for citizens. However, Anderson refuses to neglect the truth: they are the villains. Slamming any pre-existing admirable outlook readers may have had, Anderson inquires, based on his observations, “the authorities, particularly the police, paid scant attention and sometimes abused the victims themselves” (Anderson, 27). Philadelphia is notorious for its high crime rate, marking the police as almost a necessity to the function of everyday life. However, due to the mistreatment of citizens, people began to refer to the police as “ineffective” and “unworthy of trust.” The safeness of an area is key to the number of individuals using that public space, ultimately deeming the police a negative factor. In addition to the negative safety element, policemen also partake in plain acts of racism. Racism among the police force is a huge factor in the atmosphere of a public space. Anderson mentions the
The author begins by acknowledging Dallas's progress in terms of park space but quickly emphasizes the city's shortcomings. The author focuses on the areas the city needs to improve. By using logos to appeal to the reader's sense of logic and reason, the author can establish their argument's credibility and legitimacy. In addition, the author uses pathos to humanize the problem of accessible park space by insinuating that some people in Dallas do not live within walking distance of a park suited for recreational activities. The author can appeal to the reader's emotions and make the subject feel more urgent and personal by presenting it in this
“Circumspect Police Ends the Drop in Crime?” This debate topic speaks about police being less proactive, because of vitriol, and causing an increase in crime rates. This debate topic is not directly related to the book, Ghettoside, but falls into the same bracket. The debate talks about the police becoming less involved because of denunciation, and rates of crimes increasing because of that. Ghettoside talks about the black-on-black homicide rates going up, one reason, because of the ignorance of the police.
This article demonstrates how Bill Bratton, as the Commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) from 1994 to 1996, William J. Bratton fought crime throughout the city of Ney York with legendary achievement, leading a national revolution in attitudes toward policing. Bratton adopted a “broken windows”1 community policing strategy of zero tolerance for minor offenses and championed statistical analysis to prevent crimes before they occurred. In the 70s and 80s, as Bratton continued his career in policing, institutional theories seemed dominant. Nixon’s brand of “tough-on-crime” and “law and order” conservatism meant that community relations were largely ignored by police. In 1982, James Wilson sought to re-establish some balance.
Bittner (1970:45) states that policing is inherently a discriminatory practice as police are distinguishing suspects from everyone else. Despite there being ethical and impartial police officers within the force, there are those officers are perceived as the ‘rotten apples’ in the force. These officers engage in corrupted behaviours by exhibiting discriminatory and prejudiced conduct towards minorities, as racial profiling can be seen as a practice of ‘hot spot policing’ by allocating their resources and time to areas of high-crime. However, this is in itself discriminatory because by allocating vast amount of resources to these areas of high-crime’, which are mostly of minority neighbourhoods, innocent individuals get caught in the crosshairs
The book On the Run by Alice Goffman narrates six years Goffman spent hanging out in a black poor neighborhood of West Philadelphia that she calls 6th Street. During her stay there, she became friends with a group of resident young men, and got to know their surroundings such as girlfriends and family members. This experience in this disadvantaged neighborhood pushed her to write this book where she describes the neighborhood’s conditions, the violence encountered by the police and the residents, and the injustices of the criminal justice system. The book’s primary argument is that the continuous threat of surveillance and continuous investigations that lead to the arrest and imprisonment of young people did great harm to 6th Street, turning many of its residents into
After years of ungrounded criticism from the press and activists, after highly publicized litigation and the passage of ill-considered laws—such as the one making officers financially liable for alleged “racial profiling”—NYPD officers have radically scaled back their discretionary activity. Pedestrian stops have dropped 80 percent citywide and almost 100 percent in some areas. The department is grappling with how to induce officers to use their lawful authority again to stop crime before it happens. Garner’s death was a heartbreaking tragedy, but the unjustified backlash against misdemeanor enforcement is likely to result in more tragedy for New Yorkers” (36, Heather Mac Donald).” Here, Mac Donald makes me feel threatened by the criminal justice system.
Both public and private spaces can be included, and it portrays a mapping and experience that is not additive, linear, or dualistic. According to Keifer-Boyd and Smith, it is an “extension of self in visual narrative form” (2012, p.4). Situated knowledges are how one knows what one knows via a relationship between lived experience and the influence of social location. There is no such thing as ‘neutral space.’ By pairing my experiences with locations and particular spaces, I could navigate
Policing in today’s society has been impacted through a multitude of influences including social, political, and economical to name a few. One factor that has, in more recent years, left its imprint within policing is race. Race, brings up the subtopics of ethics, corruption, accountability, and public views on policing. The following paper will discuss these subtopics to help further understand why and how race plays such a significant role in current day society and policing.
Police culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, and practices of the police force within a given society. It is a subculture that is distinct from the broader culture of the society it serves, and it is shaped by the unique demands and challenges of policing work. Arguably, the police force shares certain biases with the general public. From the association of Black communities with criminality produced through media (news & entertainment) & stats, Police Culture has created a racist symbolic imagination. As viewed in the course, blackness has become “identified as a social disorder in the public consciousness”
Ethics and the Evolution of Police Policing in this present day is defined as an individual or group of individual who prevent and detect crime within a community. Policing compares in many ways. They all attempt to provide services, keep the peace and reduce crime. Policing has evolved into something much more than what it used to be. Within this essay are the many different perspectives and how ethics were learned.
Recently, the topic of Critical Race Theory has entered the cultural zeitgeist. An academic framework used for sociological analysis, it seeks to examine the systems around race and the systemic inequalities that perpetuate racism. Though some say that this kind of thinking creates divisions between races, focusing on a past instead of the more equitable present and future, it is necessary to recognize how the past and how societal systems create the various injustices so apparent throughout society. In the absence of this understanding, mistakes of the past are doomed to be repeated. While having picked up relevancy more recently, Critical Race Theory emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a time when the poet Gwendolyn Brooks was particularly
Often called policemen, police women, or constables, police officers swear an oath to protect and serve the citizens they represent” (Sokanu 1). That is how modern society society is different. The government is enforcing the law instead of a police department. In conclusion, modern american society has some similarities and differences in literary versions of dystopian society, such as, the importance of reading, individual rights, and law enforcement.
Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public.
Why doesn’t certain statutes get the same recognition as the main and attention as bigger memorials. Some memorials get more attention than others Americans find the making of large national monuments would stand out more than the smaller memorials. Argument, however, is without political meanings, and when the public space in question is the National Mall the political meanings are amplified. In many cases, these aesthetic arguments echo, and are perhaps proxies for, political arguments. The belief, expressed by many critics, that the memorial should not be where it is, that it destroys the integrity of the open mall, impedes vistas and disrupts the flow of space, can be read as basic resistance to filling open space with meaning.
During the mid to late nineteenth century, the idea of public parks and landscape design were hot topics in town (GreenSpace). According to the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Report (2014), “the