Race, Gender, and Responses to the Police Among Ferguson Residents and Protesters

• DOI: 10.1177/2153368717699673
• Author: Jennifer E. Cobbina,Michael Conteh,Collin Emrich
• Date: 01 July 2019
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article
Race and Justice
2019, Vol. 9(3) 276-303
Race, Gender, and
ª The Author(s) 2017
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Responses to the Police
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DOI: 10.1177/2153368717699673
Among Ferguson Residents
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and Protesters
Jennifer E. Cobbina1, Michael Conteh1
and Collin Emrich1
Abstract
A large body of research has examined police behavior toward citizens and shown that
police practices are geographically patterned. Disadvantaged neighborhoods are more
likely to receive punitive policing than more affluent communities. However, little is
known about how citizens manage encounters with police when they occur and few
studies have examined how gender intersects with race and neighborhood context in
determining reactions to and outcomes of police encounters. Using Black feminist
theory as an analytical framework, we draw from in-depth interviews with Black
residents and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri to analyze men and women’s narrative
accounts of involuntary police encounters to investigate how they respond to
encounters with officers, how such tactics shaped police–citizen outcomes, and
whether these patterns vary by gender. Our findings suggest that the strategies that
citizens employed are common across both genders; however, the police–citizen
outcome is demonstrably shaped by gender.
Keywords
African/Black Americans, race/ethnicity, race and policing, race, class, and gender
articulation, criminological theories, problem-oriented policing, traffic stops
On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed Black male, was fatally shot
by Darren Wilson, a White officer of the Ferguson Police Department. On November 24,
1 School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Corresponding Author:
Jennifer E. Cobbina, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 560 Baker Hall, East Lansing,
MI 48824, USA.
Email: cobbina@msu.edu

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Cobbina et al.
277
2014, at 8:30 p.m., St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, Robert McCulloch, announced
that the grand jury would not be indicting Officer Wilson. The killing of Brown in
conjunction with the announcement sparked civil unrest across the nation.
Michael Brown’s death, along with the social unrest following the recent killings of
Blacks at the hands of the police, have driven issues of race, justice, and policing to
the forefront of the American conscience. Nearly five decades of research has generated
a wealth of studies on police officers’ treatment of civilians. Scholars have shown that
Blacks are less likely to have confidence in the police and more likely report negative
police encounters compared to Whites and Hispanics (Gabbidon & Taylor Green, 2009;
Russell-Brown, 2009). In particular, Blacks, males, juveniles, and individuals of low
socioeconomic status have less favorable attitudes toward the police than Whites,
females, adults, and those with high socioeconomic status (Taylor, Turner, Esbensen, &
Winfree, 2001). Others have explored the social ecology of policing and the dis-
proportionately negative effect of police practices on people of color (Boyles, 2015;
Brunson & Weitzer, 2009; Weitzer, 1999, 2000). Specifically, Blacks who reside in
disadvantaged neighborhoods experience increased levels of surveillance and stops,
disrespect and abuse, use of force, and slow police response time (Brunson & Weitzer,
2009; Mastrofski, Reisig, & Mccluskey, 2002; Weitzer, 1999).
While researchers have sought a number of explanations to describe Blacks’ per-
ceptions of and experiences with the police, important gaps remain in our under-
standing of race, gender, and policing. First, there has been an increasing emphasis on
the intersection of race, class, gender, and crime (Barak, Flavin, & Leighton, 2006; De
Coster & Heimer, 2006; Gabbidon, Higgins, & Potter, 2011; Like & Miller, 2006).
Much research has examined the plight of Black men and their treatment by the police,
with many scholars demonstrating that minority youths who reside in poor urban
communities are subject to aggressive policing tactics (Kochel, Wilson, & Mastrofski,
2011; Warren, 2011; Weitzer & Brunson, 2009). Fewer studies, however, have paid
specific attention to how gender intersects with race and neighborhood context in
determining reactions to and outcomes of police encounters (Brunson & Miller,
2006b). It is taken for granted that young, Black men are the central targets of negative
police interactions. While Black males report more dissatisfaction with and dis-
criminative treatment by police compared to Whites and minority females (Cochran &
Warren, 2012; Weitzer & Tuch, 2006), Black women also have negative experiences
with the police and are not immune from harmful police encounters (Brunson &
Miller, 2006b; Bush-Baskette, 1998; Crenshaw, Ritchie, Anspach, Gilmer, & Harris,
2015; Gabbidon et al., 2011). Black females’ experiences may adversely affect the
way they respond to involuntary police stops.
Second, much of the research on this topic is largely quantitative, based on survey
research or official data on citizen complaints (Mastrofski, Snipes, & Supina, 1996).
Thus, it is difficult to fully investigate the nuances of gendered patterns of police
encounters. Few studies have drawn from in-depth interviews, which provide an
opportunity to understand both the social context of events and the “lived experi-
ences” for the individuals involved (Boyles, 2015; Brunson & Gau, 2015; Brunson &
Miller, 2006; Phillips & Bowling, 2003; Weitzer, 2000; Weitzer & Brunson, 2009).

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Race and Justice 9(3)
Such examinations are particularly warranted in economically distressed, high-
crime neighborhoods, where residents face increased unwelcome police attention
and the police–citizen relationship is tenuous (Kane, 2002; Klinger, 1997; Terrill &
Reisig, 2003). Against the backdrop of a high profile incident that garnered national
media attention for weeks, the purpose of this study is to analyze the narrative
accounts of 50 involuntary police encounters among Black residents and protesters in
Ferguson, Missouri. Drawing from in-depth interviews, we investigate how Ferguson
residents and protesters respond to encounters with the police, how such tactics shaped
police–citizen outcomes, and whether these patterns vary by gender. In particular, this
exploratory study examines whether there are key similarities and variations among
Black men’s and women’s responses during police encounters.
Before moving to our present research, we will briefly examine the facts of the
Michael Brown shooting. This is followed by a review of three bodies of literature
which are relevant for our research. First, we draw on Black feminist theory to provide
an analytical framework that places the lived experiences of Black women at the focal
point of the analysis. Second, we discuss the scholarship on gender, race, and policing,
which serves as a basis for understanding the nature of citizen–police interactions.
Third, we explore Braithwaite’s (2003, 2009) work concerning the various ways in
which people respond to and manage encounters with regulatory authorities.
The Michael Brown Incident
In their criminal investigation into the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown,
an unarmed Black male, by Darren Wilson, a White officer of the Ferguson Police
Department, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) determined that the evidence did
not support the conclusion that Wilson violated federal law (2015). According to the
DOJ, at approximately 12 p.m., on August 9, 2014, while on duty, Officer Wilson
observed Brown and his friend walking in the middle of the street on Canfield Drive in
Ferguson, Missouri. Both young men had just come from a convenience store where
the store’s surveillance video captured Brown stealing several packages of cigarillos
and forcefully shoving the store clerk away. Because a dispatch call went out over the
police radio for a “stealing in progress,” Wilson was aware of the theft when he
encountered Brown and his friend in his vehicle and told them to get out of the street.
Based on Wilson’s statement to the prosecutor and investigators, after instructing the
teens to move to the sidewalk, Wilson suspected they were both involved in the
robbery. Wilson testified that as he tried to open the door of his vehicle it closed,1
Brown punched him, reached for his gun, and a struggle for the gun ensued during
which Wilson fired two shots, one of which struck Brown in the hand. After the
shooting occurred inside the vehicle, evidence showed that Brown ran, and Wilson
gave chase, ultimately shooting Brown after he turned and charged him. Reports show
that Wilson fired 12 bullets, 6 of which hit Brown, including 2 in the head.
Although several witnesses asserted that Brown had his hands up in an act of
surrender prior to Wilson shooting him dead, the DOJ concluded that such accounts
were not congruent with physical and forensic evidence and pointed to inconsistent

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and changing statements from witnesses (U.S. DOJ, 2015). The St. Louis Prosecutor,
Robert McCullough, decided to bring the case in front of a grand jury to determine
whether there was probable cause to indict Wilson for his actions. On November 24,
2014, McCullough announced that the grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson.
The killing of Brown and the grand jury announcement sparked civil unrest across the
nation, including Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Pro-
testers rallied for several weeks outraged by the death of Brown...