Book Review: Herbert, S. (2006). Citizens, Cops, and Power: Recognizing the Limits of Community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. x, 180 pp

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325715
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Date: 01 June 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

270 Criminal Justice Review

Prohibition (p. 38). Likewise, opium use was associated with the Chinese and marijuana

use with Mexicans, both being ethnic groups toward whom there was extremely negative

societal sentiment.

The current war on drugs, Provine argues, is also informed by racial prejudice, although

unconscious. She contends that “crude racial labels have been replaced by a race-and-class-

specific geography that pinpoints the source of dangerous drugs in the (minority/poor)

ghetto and speaks of contagion spreading to (white/middle-class) suburban areas” (p. 101).

Fear of a crack epidemic fueled the development of the 1986 and 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse

Acts. Even when the racial impact of the legislation caught the attention of judges and the

U.S. Sentencing Commission, Congress refused to modify it, a phenomenon Provine cred-

its to a current color-blind ideology in America. This ideology, embraced by Congress and

the courts alike, recognizes only intentional, and generally individual, acts of racism.

Therefore, Provine concludes, “the prevailing ideology of color blindness protects officials

from having to acknowledge and deal with the blatant racial and class inequalities in the

punishment system” (p. 164).

In summary, Provine uses a social constructionist theoretical framework to logically, sys-

tematically, and thoroughly examine the history of drug control policy in the United States.

Her book adds significantly to the literature in that it provides an historical, social, and

political context to fully understand the current war on drugs, its impact particularly on

African American communities, and the apparent reluctance of the government to critically

address America’s approach to drug use. Provine could have expanded her examination of

the historical and current impact of America’s drug control policies on other racial/ethnic

minorities, an issue that should be addressed in future research. Nonetheless, Provine’s book

contributes greatly to the literature in this area and would prove valuable as a supplemental

text to any undergraduate or graduate course addressing drug abuse and/or race and crime.

Deirdre M. Warren

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX

Herbert, S. (2006). Citizens, Cops, and Power: Recognizing the Limits of Community.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press. x, 180 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325715

Herbert’s book-length discussion of his observations of community and policing con-

tends that community-oriented policing (COP) cannot succeed because it is based on unten-

able definitions of community and on state–community relations. His observations were

gathered from citizen and police officer interviews, ride-alongs, and community forums

from three Seattle beats. This book continues a major theme of Herbert’s previous work:

the implications of liberalism for community and policing.

In the introduction, Herbert presents his main arguments: community does not function

in any way that supports political action, and the nature of the state–community relations,

as experienced through the police, precludes equal partnerships. The first two chapters

expand on the first of these arguments. Herbert explains that the vision of community as