AJ 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Rodney King, Major Crimes, William Bratton
Document Summary
Crime fighter and civil servant: the police are hearing conflicting signals from the civil on certain kinds of violence. They are required to enact laws against, but not too specifically, gambling, pornography and prostitution. Extra-legal means are permissible unless used against us. People who want police to drive the transients out of a park or get the drug dealers off the corner are not worried about the fact that the police do not have the legal authority to do so. If to accomplish the job, a little "informal" justice is required, that is fine with some people, as long as it is used against those we don"t like. If, in certain cases, we embrace and support such extra-legal force, we should not be surprised when it is also used in other cases. In a pluralistic society the position of police as enforcer is problematic.
