- by Mandeep Thind
Violence and criminal activities that occur in schools aren’t something new. The scariest thing a parent has to hear is a violent attack against school students. Unfortunately, the percentage of these crimes has grown in schools across the country. Schools that are near violent neighborhoods and unsafe districts are even more dangerous. In order to keep schools safe, educators are starting to hire more aggressive security measures and police officers that have received the right type of training. For educators, an undeniably effective method of reducing the chances of violent activities happening on campus is tighter security.
In our required text, Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys, author Victor Rios tells his own story of how he grew up in the ghetto of Oakland and was pulled to join a gang at the age of thirteen. He states, “I joined the gang seeking protection that I thought the police and other authority figures in my community had failed to provide.” I remember in high school one of my friends who was of African American descent would always get stopped by the school security because they always thought he was up to no good even though he was innocent. For example, Rios talks about how his friend Smiley used to get stopped by the police while walking home from school just because his baggy clothes had a connection with a gang.
Just this past Saturday, at UC Santa Barbara a event called Deltopia which is a giant drunken street party into what people described as a “riot.” Once it turned violent, hundreds of law enforcement officers were sent in to help. More than hundreds were arrested and citations were also given. News reported that there was cases of alcohol poisoning and people were sent to the hospital. A freshman at UC Santa Barbara explained how the riot got out of control and people were tearing down stop signs, holding them up like weapons and even burning things. Many law enforcement officers were sent to the hospital because students threw glass bottles at them, so, either way, this is a illustrative example of policing getting out of control. The question that rises here is how we, as a society, could prevent riots at schools from happening and also how we could construct a good relationship with law enforcement. With all aspects considered, having tighter security in schools would be effective in disciplining students, thereby paving a clearer path for the future.
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/06/299913190/deltopia-spring-break-party-morphs-into-riot-in-santa-barbara
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/ucsb_students_react_to_deltopia_riots_20140406
Rios, Victor M. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. New York: New York UP, 2011. Print.
This post reminds me of policing during the protests in Berkeley police turned violent on students that were protesting peacefully.What type of policing is appropriate for each kind of situation? Is violence appropriate against peaceful protest? How are police supposed to quell a violent crowd? Legitimacy is crucial if authority is to be maintained in law enforcement. If the police aren't respected, the public wont be afraid to fight back with violence. Racially profiling ethnic minorities is not going to gain police legitimacy. Youngsters joining gangs is an effect of minorities that feel distrustful of the police. In order for one problem to be eradicated, all the problems linking to it must also be dealt with at the same time. Sharlene Djuhari
ReplyDeleteMandeep, Security is important to an educational environment. But the take away messages of Rios and of the Kupchik reading focus on the problems with securitizing schools and the way the new punitive strategies reinforce ethno-racial bias. Most writings suggest that urban schools are safe havens compared to the surrounding streets, but not because of extending penal logic and practices into the schools.
ReplyDeleteI agree that cases like the 'riot' in UC Santa Barbara have to be prevented. Violent attacks on students should be as well considered unacceptable. However, I am not sure what the solutions to this problems can be. As it was described in the post - excessive securitizing can lead to the methods of racial profiling used by police, which can result in police legitimacy crisis. These practices have to be avoided as they do not contribute to the improvement of security in educational institutions.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Solodovnikov
I think the case you bring up that occurred at UC Santa Barbara, brings to light that policing techniques must be adapted to avoid such riots and violence. I think the job of police officers is one that is difficult and one that should be looked up to by the community. It saddens me to hear that college students were injuring police officers to the point they had to receive medical assistance, when they were simply responding to a report of a stabbing. Maybe in cases such as these of large campus parties, university police can hire undercover cops to help contain the crowds and event. I know this is a strategy the Berkeley police uses during the welcome week celebrations.
ReplyDelete-Michaela Acebedo
I like how you focused on the policing of youth specifically. However, I was a bit confused in your last paragraph when you said "Many law enforcement officers were sent to the hospital because students threw glass bottles at them, so, either way, this is a illustrative example of policing getting out of control." I'm not quite sure how this is an example of policing getting out of control rather than the policed population getting out of control. In this particular case, I don't think that it was the fault of law enforcement officers, at least from the information given; there was heavy drinking, and the situation became violent, so officers were called in. I can see how their presence may have agitated the rioters, but in this case I don't see how they might be responsible. Yet in regards to their very presence being agitating, I can see the base for your claim that relations between the community and police department need to be improved.
ReplyDelete-Chey Iwamoto
You covered a range of issues regarding police-youth relations, and it's hard to respond to any of them properly without invoking a lot of sub-issues. It's just so many issues, with so many implications, and differences, it's hard to respond.
ReplyDeleteThe information is packaged, three different ideas in three paragraphs. Such a brief overview of so many issues. So I'll just topically respond to them, in brief, but these are more normative opinions.
1. Schools have plenty of security, they’re not under-policed, most large urban schools have police officers that works on campus.
2. Joining gangs in response to police protection failure makes sense in post-social revolution 1970’s El Salvador, not 20th century Oakland.
3. Maybe it’s presumptuous to assume that “Smiley” is a low-level street gang member, but I think it’s pretty common police procedure to assume anyone that operates under an alias, is doing so to avoid self-incrimination.
4. I don't think anyone is surprised that UCSB had a huge party that got out of hand. Which I think speaks to more of a cultural component.
-Mark Sheppard