“Oh hell no, we don't talk to police”

• Date: 01 August 2019
• Published date: 01 August 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12448
• Author: Brian A. Wade,Rod K. Brunson

DOI: 10.1111/1745-9133.12448

RESEARCH ARTICLE

WE DON’T TALK TO POLICE

“Oh hell no, we don’t talk to police”

Insights on the lack of cooperation in police investigations of urban

gun violence

Rod K. Brunson1Brian A. Wade2

1Northeastern University

2Rutgers University—Newark

Correspondence

RodK. Brunson, School of Criminology and

Criminal Justice, Northeastern University,360

HuntingtonAvenue, Boston, MA 02116.

Email:r.brunson@northeaster n.edu

Thisresearch was supported by the New

YorkCity Mayor’sOffice of Criminal Justice

(MOCJ).Conclusions and opinions expressed

hereinare t he authors and do not necessarily

representofficial positions or policies of MOCJ.

Weare extremely grateful to the editors for their

helpfulfeedback and guidance on previous

drafts.

Research Summary: We conducted face-to-face inter-

views with 50 young Black men, residents of high-crime

neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx, individuals who

had considerable knowledge about illegal gun markets and

the resulting bloodshed. Our findings confirm that dis-

tressed milieus reliably fail to produce cooperative wit-

nesses as a result of the cumulative impact of anti-snitching

edicts, fear of retaliation, legal cynicism, and high-risk vic-

tims’ normative views toward self-help.

Policy Implications: Disadvantaged communities of color

typically have low fatal and nonfatal shooting clearance

rates in part as a result of poor witness cooperation. Dimin-

ished clearance rates have also been shown to intensify

minority residents’ claims that officers do not care about

keeping them or their neighborhoods safe. Respondents’

accounts identify three overlapping areas instructive for

informing public policy: (1) reducing gun violence so

that high-risk individuals live in objectively safer areas,

(2) using intermediaries to launch grassroots campaigns

countering pro-violence and anti-snitching norms, and (3)

improving police–minority community relations.

KEYWORDS

clearance rates, crime reporting, police–community relations, underpolic-

ing, urban violence, victimization

Police administrators often hold press conferences after particularly heinous street violence, sur-

rounded by victims’ inconsolable loved ones. Routinely, while standing at the podium, city officials

Criminology & Public Policy. 2019;18:623–648. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/capp © 2019 American Society of Criminology 623

624 BRUNSON AND WADE

will decry the lack of eyewitnesses willing to come forwardwith valuable information. Although much

has been written about bystanders’ reticence to cooperate with investigators as a result of reduced

police legitimacy, “stop snitching” campaigns, and fear of retaliation, we have little firsthand infor-

mation from those at considerable risk for becoming victims and perpetrators of urban gun violence.

We conducted in-depth, face-to-face interviews with young Black men living in Bronx and Brook-

lyn high-crime neighborhoods, individuals with extensive knowledge about New York City’s illegal

gun markets and the ensuing violence.1Their perspectives are critical toward better understanding the

persistent challenges many police departments face in partnering with citizens to develop effective

crime-control strategies.

Crime scene investigators frequently express tremendous frustration after tirelessly canvassing for

potential witnesses in urban areas characterized by low fatal and nonfatal shootingclearance rates. The

situation is worsened because most gun violence occurs in disadvantaged minority neighborhoods,

typically at the hands of gang- and drug-involved individuals. The aforementioned types of shootings

are least likely to be solved and disproportionatelycompr ise youngBlack males as victims and offend-

ers. Finally, distressed milieus have reliably failed to produce cooperative witnesses as a result of the

cumulative impact of anti-snitching edicts, fear of retaliation, legal cynicism, and high-risk victims’

normative views toward self-help.

Over- and underpolicing simultaneously underway in certain communities have strained already

fragile police–minority citizen relations, critically reducing officers’ legitimacy in the eyes of law-

abiding individuals and those embedded in high-risk networks. For example, heavy-handed crime-

control efforts, coupled with poor service delivery, help to shape Blacks’ collective belief that police

are incapable of, or unconcerned with, effectively addressing violence occurring in distressed commu-

nities of color while seemingly always managing to protect valiantly majority White neighborhoods.

Irrespective of their veracity, widespread claims of raciallybiased policing have the potential to exacer-

bate community violence because rather than involving the police, disaffected residents might elect to

settle disputes on their own in the hope of preserving reputations and fending off future attacks. Also,

coercive threats from individuals involvedin violent offending networks likely successfully discourage

would-be witnesses from coming forward, leading officers to conclude hastily that “anti-snitching” is

universally endorsed.

Rarely included in contemporary discussions of race, place, and policing is recognition that similar to

their counterparts from other racial groups, most Black citizens are law-abiding and support the notion

that officers must play a critical role in effective public safety strategies. Thus, ample opportunities

for mutually beneficial police–minority community partnerships should exist, including in persistent

pockets of concentrated disadvantage.Regrettably, the promise of meaningful police–citizen collabora-

tion is unwittingly undermined when Blacks participate in demonstrations of civil unrest after dubious

police actions. The resulting disquiet is inadvertently intensified when some police leaders struggle to

understand that whereas people of color generally support law enforcement, they might occasionally

emphatically denounce individual officer’smisdeeds. This unreconciled tension fuels mischaracter iza-

tions of Blacks as tolerant of crime, contributing to ineffective policing strategies that leave residents

feeling perpetually unsafe.

In our study, we extend the findings of prior scholarship that have cast considerable light on street

norms guiding anti-snitching sentiments, self-help remedies, and urban violence. We purposely focus

on the lived experiences of individuals at considerable risk of being shot and shooting others. Examin-

ing study participants’ real-world reasons for not providing evidence to help investigators reduce and

solve shootings might be instructive for developing policy in the hope of safeguarding persons whose

lives might literally depend on their own, as well as on their fellow community members,’ earnest

cooperation.