Book Review: Malcolm Holmes and Brad W. Smith Race and Police Brutality: Roots of an Urban Dilemma. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2008. ix, 152 pp. $21.95. ISBN: 978-0-7914-7620-8

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016809356303
• Published date: 01 June 2010
• Date: 01 June 2010
• Subject Matter: Articles

What both authors do well in this textbook is summarize a vast amount of literature about oppor-

tunity structures. They point out that race, gender, and class influence opportunity to commit

corporate-type offenses. They admit that opportunities are shaped by the formal legal system, as

Quinney noted way back in 1970, in his The Social Reality of Crime. Here, because the wealthy can

resist prosecution, it is much more difficult to bring prosecutions into the courtroom. The early guilty

plea and the 150-year sentence for Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff are clearly not the norm.

What I found strangely missing was any real discussion of the nexus between state and corporate

crime. It is simply not justifiable to ignore the work of Michalowski and Kramer in State-Corporate

Crime: Wrongdoing at the Intersection of Business and Government (2006).

David Friedrichs’Trusted Criminals: White-Collar Crime in ContemporarySociety (2007, 3rd ed.;

2010, 4th ed.) still remains the classic textbook in this area. Also notable are the collection of inter-

national perspectives by Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte titled Unmasking the Crimes of the Powerful

(2003), and a collection edited by Gary Potter entitled Controversies in White-Collar Crime (2002).

I recommend White-Collar Crime: An Opportunity Perspective for undergraduate courses, to be

juxtapositioned alongside more critical and theoretical material from political economy. Here, clas-

sic work by David M. Gordon, in Problems in Political Economy (1977), might be particularly use-

ful as an overall framework for understanding white-collar crime.

Malcolm Holmes and Brad W. Smith

Race and Police Brutality: Roots of an Urban Dilemma. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2008. ix, 152 pp. $21.95.

ISBN: 978-0-7914-7620-8

Reviewed by: Felix R. Vara, METRO Transit Police

DOI: 10.1177/0734016809356303

The ugly relationship between race and police brutality has been intertwined for decades, so much

so that today, when we hear of such instances, we presume a White police officer exercising exces-

sive force on a minority. Although always wrong, regardless of the race of the officer or victim, it

was not until recently that we as a society began to penalize those in law enforcement who apply

such abuse. The sanctions are severe, as they should be; no excuse is acceptable. Yet, today there

are those in law enforcement who still allow race to play a role. Why do officers risk such severe

sanctions? Criminal justice professionals and academicians are now focusing on the ‘‘why’’ in the

hope of eliminating such sad situations. Although much has been learned, more research is needed

and Race and Police Brutality: Roots of an Urban Dilemma by Malcolm D. Holmes and Brad W.

Smith is a step in the right direction. Following their similar works regarding disproportionate

minority victimization from police brutality and allocation of police resources to minority

communities, this writing furthers the existing body of knowledge. It is an intriguing study on the

relationship between race and police brutality.

Starting with an excellent foundation in societal recognition of the phenomenon, the authors’

arguments defining police brutality are exact. Supporting their explanation, they write of police

activities that may contribute to police brutality to include the widespread and focused training in

use of force. Holmes and Smith then progress to providing previously presented theories and how

they may be applicable in understanding police brutality and their implication toward minority

citizens as victims. With solid scientific underpinning, the book develops a clear understanding

of possible beginnings of police brutality and race. As an example Holmes and Smith use the Social

Identity model, originally presented by Turner in 1982, and discuss ‘‘in groups,’’ ‘‘out groups,’’ and

their relation to police brutality. This presentation provides the reader an understanding of the subject

Book Reviews 245

245