Police, politics, and culture in a deeply divided society.

• Author: Hasisi, Badi
• Position: Symposium on Redefining International Criminal Law

1. INTRODUCTION

   A review of the academic literature in the field of police-minority relations in deeply divided societies reveals that tense relations between the minority and the police are a frequent phenomenon. One of the sources of this tension is the political and social marginality of the minority, which is most often accompanied by unbalanced and unfair policing. (l) Researchers emphasize the centrality of the political variable in understanding police-minority interactions in deeply divided societies. In fact, often hovering above deeply divided democratic societies is the question of the legitimacy of the political regime in the eyes of the minority group.

   The tense relations between the Arab minority in Israel and the police are common knowledge. Throughout the history of Arab-Jewish relations in Israel, this tension was sharply brought into relief in several mass political events, with the most violent example in October 2000. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, an act perceived by the Arab minority as violating the sanctity of the Al-Aksa Mosque. The visit incited eight days of violent riots that ended with twelve Arab citizens dead, all of them by police gunfire. This event emphasized the influence of political variables on minority relations with the police in Israel, and yet this is not the sole variable on which we should focus.

   In deeply divided societies where divisions are also based on different ethnicities, emphasis is put on the cultural distinction between the majority and the minority. This distinction is liable to find its expression in the cultural perception of governmental institutions, including the police. The impact of cultural pluralism on police-minority relations is reinforced due to the under-representation of members of the minority in the police force. The combination of these factors exacerbates the cultural disparity between the service-providers--police officers who belong to the majority group--and service-users--members of the minority group. We can assume that where there is greater cultural disparity between the majority and minority, there will be greater tension in minority-police relations. The Israeli-Arab minority is a native, traditional minority that differs significantly in culture from the Jewish majority, who are culturally Western-oriented. This cultural distinction, and not just political variables, will be reflected in minority attitudes toward the police.

   This Article aims to evaluate the impact of political and cultural variables on minority perceptions of the police in deeply divided societies. First, I will try to illustrate the distinction between political and cultural variables and explain how making this distinction facilitates a better understanding of police-minority relations in deeply divided societies. Then I will compare the attitudes of Israeli Arabs and Jews toward the police and turn to the core of this Article: an in-depth analysis of the attitudes of different Arab sub-groups (Muslims, Christians, and Druze) toward the Israeli police. In so doing, I wish to elaborate upon the cultural explanations for the existing tension, along with the more obvious political reasons.

2. POLITICS VERSUS CULTURE

   When analyzing police-minority relations, the line between political and cultural variables can become quite vague. Nevertheless, I will try to argue that there is an analytical distinction between the two variables that has significant ramifications on police-minority relations. The political aspect in police-minority relations becomes manifest when we ask the following questions: How do minority groups perceive the role of the police in the construction of the (controversial) socio-political order? What is the image of the police in society? What do the police represent among minority groups? Are the police there "to protect and to serve" or "to chase after and repress"? What styles of policing are practiced toward minority groups? Is it "high" or "low" policing?

   Criminological and sociological scholars have tried to answer these questions by addressing the socio-political variables that characterize several minority groups. Many studies have pointed to the tense relations that often exist between police and minorities in various societies. There is evidence of high rates of minority arrest and incarceration, high rates of police violence toward minorities, and negative attitudes among minorities toward the police. (2) Furthermore, stereotypical images of minorities are prevalent among police officers. Most commonly, police view minority members as a potential criminal threat. (3)

   Research also shows high rates of crime among minorities. These crime rates are influenced by various social factors associated with minority status. (4) For example, evidence shows overrepresentation of broken families, high rates of divorce, high residential density, low economic status, high levels of unemployment, and high adolescent drop-out rates. These variables increase social disorganization and affect crime rates. In addition, minority populations tend to be younger and more likely to be visible in the streets. (5) All of these factors create a supportive environment for the development of criminal behavior and, in turn, increase the contact between minorities and the police. Police officers face many obstacles in policing underclass minority neighborhoods because criminals and innocent citizens may share the same socio-economic characteristics. (6) This, in turn, increases complaints from minority groups regarding racial profiling by the police. (7)

   Research shows that a tense and alienated relationship between police and the minority community strongly discourages police officers from enforcing criminal laws while also dissuading minorities from collaborating with police to prevent and report crime. (8) The primary complaint of minority groups is that they are simultaneously over-policed as suspects and under-policed as victims, which has reduced their confidence in and willingness to collaborate with the police. (9)

   The political explanation of police-minority relations is quite common in many researches; nevertheless, it lacks any reference to the impact of societal-cultural diversity on minority interactions and perceptions of the police. The cultural explanation of police-minority relations focuses on the impact of police organizational culture and how it affects interactions with minority groups. The pertinent questions are: How does the cultural context of police activity interact with the cultural pluralism of some minority groups? How do the cultural characteristics of the minority groups affect their perceptions of police organizational knowledge? To what extent are police officers aware of the various cultural characteristics of the different communities in society?

   The cultural approach focuses on the interaction between the formal rules of the police and the sub-cultural values of minority groups. Some of the disparities between the majority and the minority are not merely political, but can also be attributed to cultural differences, such as language, religion, customs, family structure, informal social control, moral perceptions, and gender relations. Some cultural minorities act according to their own cultural norms and consequently may be accused of committing crimes because the legal culture of the state reflects the views of the dominant group. Examples of such cases include bigamy, family honor murder, spousal and child abuse, parent-child suicide, acts of blood revenge, and celebratory shooting. It is reasonable to expect that the interactions of the minority with the police will reflect these cultural differences.

   Some studies have claimed that the police generally represent and act in accordance with the culture of the dominant group, and this is further emphasized by the under-representation of minority members in the police force. (10) As a result, some actions taken by the police might be viewed as culturally inappropriate by traditional communities. Standard police procedure among the majority group may create unpredictable reactions in the minority community due to cultural differences.

3. POLICE-MINORITY RELATIONS IN A DEEPLY DIVIDED SOCIETY

   There is no better case that draws attention to the dominance of the political explanation in police-minority relations than the example of deeply divided societies. (11) These are societies divided along ethnic lines where the state traditionally is affiliated with the dominant group. (12) Examples of these societies include Northern Ireland until 1969, Israel, Georgia, Estonia, and Latvia. (13) The minority perceives the state as non-neutral, and this view, as a result, decreases the legitimacy of the government and police in the eyes of the minority. The minority's perception of the police is not only influenced by police actions, but also by what the police represent to the people. (14) Such perceived illegitimacy produces a threat to internal security, and the bulk of the state's policing resources are therefore consigned to the management of political offenses. (15) This pattern affects the nature of police activities in deeply divided societies so that when policing public events, for example, the police generally practice a "zero tolerance" policy toward minority group protesters and regard their actions as political subversion against the state. (16)

   At the same time, the policing of non-political crimes among the minority is typically less effective. This is due to police neglect of incidents that occur in the minority community, particularly when the crime bears no threat to the dominant group. (17) Weak police performance in the minority community is also attributable to the minority group's lack of cooperation with the police. The literature shows that the main reason that minority groups in deeply divided societies tend to...