Jill Leovy’s Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America posits an intriguing idea. The murder rate of black men is so high not because of over-policing, but a lack of policing. Black men are over-policed for all crimes but murder. The lack of policing leads to a kind of shadow or vigilante justice in black neighborhoods. The police are supposed to have a monopoly on “violence.” The fact that they is ceded in cases of black and black murder, compounds the problem, creating a power vacuum that gang fill.
Is this true? Do statistics back it up? I am in no position to say so. The book is about (mainly) white detectives in LAPD who decide to prosecute gang violence like any other crime. They are painted as heroes. The LAPD? Heroic people? White saviors helping (helpless) blacks? I feel uneasy about endorsing this book with more information.
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