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Table of ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................3

Log..............................................................................................................................5

CHAPTER 1: FOLK DEVILS.......................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2: WHY?..................................................................................................11

CHAPTER 3: TO WHAT EFFECT?...........................................................................15

Conclusion................................................................................................................19

Annotated Resource List...........................................................................................21

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Introduction [Draft 2]Stanley Cohen’s Folk Devils and Moral Panics1 identifies a societal mechanism whereby commercial media and fear of fringe groups snowball to create widespread alarm about a perceived threat to society that is moral in nature. It used a case study where 1970s British society took the form of agents of social control creating hyperbolised images of the mods and rockers fringe groups. Throughout my past as a left wing activist, however, I saw attitudes to police, (particularly in youth) spiral into the same framework, leading me to ask if the change in society since the early 1990s has in part flipped the relationship between authority and individuals, making police officers the subject of a moral panic. Hence, I found these questions to take precedence:

How do our attitudes to authority groups originate among youths and progressives2 and why do they take the form that they do? How does this impact the occupational status and lives of police officers and how do these relationships affect the fabric of society, its stability and its future?

Crucial to my search for insight and understanding is an increased awareness of these attitudes’ continuities and changes since the early 1990s. I aim to comprehend how the structure of the media, the nature of liberal culture, and the behaviours of police officers themselves have changed over time due to the influences of emerging technology to diversify media into niche outlets, including social media, and impact of landmark events such as the Rodney King beating.3

My personal experience travelling and meeting progressives and youth in Los Angeles, California has also been a factor in how I think about the public/authority relationship4 and I have attempted to compare the origins and nature of cultural attitudes towards police officers in Los Angeles with those in NSW and how each society has been impacted due to said perceptions and relationships.

Answering these questions necessitated employment of a number of methodologies such as content analysis of mainstream and fringe media outlets over time (to determine the extent of moral panic) and questionnaires to detail individuals’ images and rationale behind their attitudes cross culturally. I also utilised interviews with both LA and NSW police officers to gain qualitative data on how they feel they are portrayed and why, and personal reflection on my past experiences as a left wing protestor and self-perceived status as a low-level deviant. These primary

1 (Cohen, 2011)2 A term describing a 21st century, new approach to left wing politics, in reaction to the war on terror and Bush-era conservatism3 A videotaped incidence of white-on-black excessive force in LA in 1991, which triggered full-scale riots when many officers were aquitted. (Wikipedia, 2013) (Rodney King Beating)4 A term I use to describe the reciprocating attitudes, views, perceptions, and behaviors between police and the general public, which has influence on the effectiveness of law enforcement, social stability, a societal sense of justice, etc.

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methodologies were combined with secondary research both from sociological literature as well as media sources and institutional reporting.

In the duration of the project, multiple media events such as the 2013 Mardi Gras “police brutality” media cycle5 that have highlighted the importance of my research to Australian and Californian society; in-depth examination of societal relationships and their origins are the only way we can determine the extent of social problems and look at ways to bring harmony to an increasingly complex multicultural world. Moreover, my research has brought me enlightening insight regarding my social and cultural world, bringing me to remain discerning of the media, empathise with both sides of a polarised conflict, whilst reflecting on my own life and micro world, ultimately improving my relationships with authority.

5 (Rubinsztein-Dunlop, 2013)

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Log [Draft 1]My original idea for my PIP was came from an personal reaction to the media circus surrounding the series of spree shootings in the United States in 2012.6 My teacher recommended I refer to Cohen’s material on the media as it was similar to some of the opinions I had. However, I began to realise that the spree topic was already well researched and did not possess a personal angle, nor was there a cross-cultural aspect to it. I began to think “how could this theory be applied to other aspects of society, culture and the media?” I remembered my time as an activist and the attitudes towards authority that existed and began to see parallels between them and the world of hostility, distortion, and reaction being portrayed in Folk Devils and Moral Panics.

With this topic in mind, I read through the full copy of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and other secondary literature, noticing the prevalence of a sociological structure of what defined a moral panic and the chronological process which they followed. I originally planned to use this scaffold to structure my PIP by, however, having to include both a cross-cultural study and a continuity and change study made it impossible to do this in the allotted word-count and time. Hence the chapter content just focused on whether Police were folk devils, why this was/wasn’t the case and determining the effect this has on the present, and the future, was chosen. When I began my content analyses in the summer holidays, my results were so fascinating that I outlined the need for a fourth chapter- where my sociological insights which could not fit into the first three chapters could go. However, as I proceeded, I found no room for the fourth chapter and begun to fit these insights into my first three, and discarded the leftovers.

After I had finished my content analysis and my questionnaires, I begun to notice the issue was not as clear cut as I had expected. Namely, the structure and conceptual nature of Folk Devils and Moral Panics led me to believe public attitudes would be much simpler, easier to understand and describe, and that my methodologies would reflect that. However, my content analysis seemed to indicate that on a mainstream level, mostly, the moral panic (against police officers) did not exist. This was because I had been spending much of my time viewing and consuming content on the left wing side of the media where these attitudes existed, and extrapolated this to the norm which was a false assumption. This meant I had to instead survey a different section of the population for my questionnaires and change the target group of my questionnaire questions and personal reflection from a broader one to one more focused on youth and progressives. However, I returned to the mainstream applications of my research in my third chapter, where I discussed the possibility that as media becomes more polarising on the web that these attitudes expand and enlarge on a societal level.

6 (Wikipedia, 2013) (2012 Aurora Shooting)

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My research became less about the moral panic youths possess towards authority and more about the police-public relationship in general. I have not just produced a piece of research which I am proud of and which fills a gap in sociological literature, but I have undertaken a journey which has refined my research skills and enriched my social and cultural literacy on a whole.

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CHAPTER 1: FOLK DEVILS [Draft 2]The 3rd edition of “Moral Panics and Folk Devils” preface essay includes a case study involving police misconduct, analysing why police were actually “unsuitable as folk devils. Moreover they had the power to deny, downplay or bypass any awkward claims about their culpability.” Cohen adds the case lacked “a soft target, easily denounced and preferably without even access to the battlefields of cultural politics.”7 Twenty years have passed since, leading me to ask: Has this changed? Have Police become folk devils?

Personal reflection, led me to see the need to disclose several fundamental biases present in my work. Primarily, my perspective on power, authority, deviation, primarily derives from my status and privilege as a cisgendered, heterosexual, white male. Hence, not only are there many aspects of police misconduct I am unlikely (and some might argue unable) to experience, but my interpretations of public knowledge are strongly influenced by my benefit from past and present societal and cultural structures such as patriarchy and colonialism. Moreover, although my adherence to a solidified ideology of moderate socialism has been gradually challenged by philosophical exploration and evaluation of socialism as a political and economic system, my past and present self-identification as a liberal and social democrat strongly remains evident and influences my ideals of law enforcement, and my rejection to violations of hegemonic concepts sacrosanct to my society and my liberal belief system. Although there are many who feel that in some way my perspective remains inherently biased, I feel like addressing this at the beginning of my writing, and analysing my finished work from this assumption has immensely helped my literacy and improved my judgement.

This is important to my interpretation of numerous crucial concepts to my research. Namely, Goode and Ben-Yahuda’s8 criteria determining moral panic status, of which I will be measuring:

1. “Concern – There must be awareness that the behaviour of the group or category in question is likely to have a negative impact on society.

2. Hostility – Hostility towards the group in question increases, and they become "folk devils". A clear division forms between "them" and "us".

3. Consensus – Though concern does not have to be nationwide, there must be widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real threat to society. It is important at this stage that the "moral entrepreneurs" are vocal and the "folk devils" appear weak and disorganised.

4. Disproportionality – The action taken is disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the accused group.”9

7 (Cohen, 2011), prologue 8 (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009)9 (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009)

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A deviation from the theory I have made is that I will be attributing moral panic status to behaviors of groups rather than entire societies, and thus my study has focused on youth and social progressives.

My cross-cultural content analysis of four newspapers, (30 articles from each were selected containing keywords “police” and “cop”)10 two of which were moderate/center based and two left-leaning,11 indicated concern12 as present to some degree in all publications, as is expected in a free journalistic system.

Sydney Morn-ing Herald

LA Times Green Left Weekly

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Fig. 1. Alignment of Articles Analysed

NegativeNeutralPositive

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Hostility, however, only existed on the left side of the spectrum. My analysis is that the “us” vs. “them” mentality was catalyzed by high rates of “racism” and “political bias” themes among left-leaning articles compared to center articles13 as these are strong violations of the left-liberal worldview. This facilitated increases of emotive language among left-leaning papers, compared to the center papers.14

10 The search engine on the website of each paper was searched for the keywords “cop” and police and the 30 most recent articles were chosen. 11 See appendix12 Concern, among other concepts, alignments and themes are defined in the pre-research section of the content analysis documentation in the appendix13 See fig. 214 See fig. 3

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Sydne

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Fig. 2. Amounts of Themed Depictions in the 30 Article Sample

Brutal, inhumaneCorruptMilitaristicRacist, BiasedLazy

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Fig. 3. Instances of Emotive Language

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Among the left-leaning sample, consensus existed but was varied. Sydney’s Green Left Weekly expressed unanimity: 100% of articles expressed a negative view of police officers, and themes such as “racist/biased” had appearance rates of 56%. Although police misconduct is generally considered to be a larger issue in Los Angeles, the LA Progressive’s consensus was less clear and more diversified among themes. In general, articles in the LA Progressive focused less on demonization and individual reports of misconduct, and more at higher-level institutional activity and attempts at reform. Hence, statistically, the LA Progressive offered a more balanced view of police affairs, even though the general consensus was predominantly

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negative, reporting actually offered more positive depictions than negative depictions.

Disproportionality or distortion is the most difficult to determine, as it relies on being able to quantitatively measure threats to the moral fabric of society and compare them to the perceived threat. No amount of research could objectively determine this. However, due to my observation that group images of misconduct are largely out of touch with those identified by NSW Police Integrity Commission (PIC) statistics15, qualitative opinion from several NSW police officers interviewed16 and the large number of questionnaire responders ranking it as one of the most important issues we face17, I’ve reasoned that there must to some degree be distortion of police misconduct and it’s severity as a social issue. Obviously, this is not to devalue misconduct and it’s victims, only to highlight the disproportional response to it.

Hence, my sample reflected two groups of attitudes to power and authority in society in general. Firstly, revolutionary, as seen in the Green Left Weekly (GLW) sample, sought to delegitimize police as an authority group, (the sample showed no neutral depictions, as to them police are not authority, and thus not a viable source) and replace Australian power structures with their own, evidenced by quotes such as

“It’s long past time for an “Arab Spring” type insurrection … to overthrow this fascist, racist, corrupt brutal police state we suffer under.”18

The revolutionary position also used misconduct as a tool of social entrepreneurship, as hyperbolizing authority’s oppression makes one’s cause seem more attention-worthy, e.g. police presence at the tent embassy to

“deliberately provoke arrests, confrontation and take away from the positive image”19.

The other, seen in the LA Progressive article was reformist and sought to create change within the existing system, acknowledging negative incidents and positive incidents, while also including the police as an authority on crime and hence a neutral source in many events. Moreover, LA Progressive reporting focused less on specific, low level interactions and more on higher level departmental activity and institutional change.

While it may be easy to conclude that these differences originate geographically, further analysis would conclude this variation is ideological in nature. GLW has its

15 [insert PIC stats here]16 See appendix Part 217 See questionnaire part 318 See appendix part 119 See appendix part 1

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roots in far-left Marxism which seeks to create change outside traditional power structures through conflict, and the publication has strong political affiliations with the Democratic Socialist political party. The United States, however, has in general been unreceptive towards structured leftist ideologies and hence the LA Progressive’s attitude towards change has been more pragmatic, more open to opinion subversive to the collective worldview. One commenter responded to one of the more extreme articles on the LA Progressive, saying

“according to Alinsky,20 the main job of the organiser is to bait an opponent into reacting … which makes this entire operation not an exercise of intellect but an exercise in manipulation and public relations. Inciting violence is shameful.”21

Hence, although openly hostile, disproportional attitudes cease to exist towards police officers in a mainstream media context, I found that progressives possess a desire to react against perceived acts of brutality, corruption and invasiveness. This reaction can be expressed in ideologically dialectical and inherently anti-authoritarian ways, (like GLW) or those calling for progressive, pragmatic and reformist change in a more reserved way (like LA Progressive).

20 Saul Alinsky, 1960s and 70s community organiser and writer of the famous “rules for radicals”. A full list of these rules can be found in the appendix.21 See appendix part 1.

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CHAPTER 2: WHY? [Draft 3]The previous chapter’s findings led me with one question in particular. Why? My revolutionary/reformist theory gave some answers, but it still made me wonder: how did these positions emerge? And how were these attitudes distributed twenty years ago, when police were “unsuitable as folk devils”22? Hence, more specifically, I needed to answer:

a) How have global events affected crime, the police and how people interact with police? How have these cultural elements interacted cross-culturally?

b) How has the media itself changed in representing this relationship? And what role has technology played in this change?

Veteran Los-Angeles-based political analyst Dan Carlin argues that Richard Nixon’s “war on drugs”, which was escalated by the “crack cocaine epidemic” appearing in the mid-1980s, radicalised and militarised local police forces intended to defend citizens.23 He claims that through his experience studying military history, a reporter and newscaster in 1980s and 90s Los Angeles and an academic analyst, he has seen local forces such as the LAPD inflate their weapons, armour, police aims, values and attitudes to fight a para-military objective over time. He recalls:

“One thing I learned in military history is that a military fights the enemy. So when the police become the military, with their SWAT teams and gestapo-like outfits, the people become the enemy, and therefore the government becomes the enemy of the people.”24

Although the drug war exists throughout the Anglosphere, nowhere, he says, was this truer than inner-city areas such as Compton, LA, in the early-to-mid 1990s25. The resulting public scandals such as the Rampart Scandal26 and the infamous Rodney King beating were incredibly well syndicated reflections of the conflict which was always but became polarisingly racial in nature as the decade progressed. 27 It was out of these conditions that cultural expressions like Niggaz Wit Attitudes’ “Fuck Tha Police” flourished locally and around the globe.28 As a cultural touchstone, this phrase has remained a dominant expression of anti-authoritarianism, and as a transmission of political attitudes from LA to NSW, as 64.5% of the NSW sample of progressive youths admitted their usage of the phrase at some point.29 22 (Cohen, 2011), prologue23 (Carlin, 2012), Fearsome Safety24 ibid25 ibid26 (Glover & Lait, 2003) 27 A 1990s police corruption scandal in an anti-gang LAPD unit, with convicted offenses including unprovoked shootings, unprovoked beatings, planting of false evidence, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and the covering up of evidence of these activities (Wikipedia, 2013)28 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2013)29 See appendix part 3

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It can be seen that this paramilitary escalation along with the international perpetuation of the vehement response to it has significantly skewed public perception of police towards fear, anger and distrust. An Anonymous LAPD officer told me:

“All this Rodney King, Rampart stuff is what happens when you fight a war against the people. I joined the force to not be that, but it’s hard when people think you’re the enemy… Rodney King and Rampart have changed things big time. People no longer see us as your friendly neighbourhood law enforcement.”30

Director of the documentary “The House I Live In” Eugene Jarecki, who interviewed many officers as research for his investigation, stated:

“Despite their commitment to their work officers I spoke to across the country expressed growing concern not only about the effectiveness of drug laws but about their larger impact on the worsening relationship between police and the public”31

According to both interview Subjects A & B (LA & NSW police officers), the advent of camcorders and mobile phone cameras has also increased the visibility of misconduct, especially excessive force, racial discrimination and harassment.32 This, combined with social media’s ability to distribute said footage is a testament of changing technology’s ability to shift public attitudes.

Moreover, the change in the media in the last two decades has undoubtedly played a large role in shifting the perspective by which people view authority and misconduct. New technologies like cable television, the internet, and social media have introduced increased competition to traditional news mediums of print, radio and TV, producing a series of belt-tightenings33 and firings. Carlin argues this has forced the mainstream media to change their news product into one more simplistic and with a clearer message, case in point, the conservatisation of Fox News34 and the liberalisation of MSNBC35. Both interview subjects identified ideological news sources as a negative and hyperbolising influence to public-police relations.36 Moreover, although both of the left-wing papers analysed remain fringe media outlets, they hold significance in their own right and are a powerful image of how mainstream media could become in the future.37

30 See appendix Part 2 31 (Jarecki, 2012)32 See appendix, part 233 A term describing a contemporary process whereby commercial media output stagnates but journalistic infrastructure is simplified, including firing of seniors for less experienced junior journalists34 (Carlin, 2012)35 An american cable news network famous for being the counter for the conservative opinion network “fox news”36 See appendix, part 237 See appendix, part 3

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David Simon, veteran journalist and creator of the critically acclaimed US crime drama The Wire, claims that the downsizings caused by the decline of print journalism produces a journalistic system that is unable to produce skilled professionals that are capable of going “behind the curtain” and producing an “independent, unaligned voice” adept enough to cover a Police force38. He purports that the “newspaper of today” opts instead for inexperienced, junior journalists that “love cops or hate cops” and is not providing them the means to be trained to the point where they can provide nuanced, experienced analysis.39

Another shift has been towards media personalisation. In the past a news media product was uniform- your newspaper, TV show or magazine was the same as everyone else’s. New media like Google News,40 Reddit,41 Tumblr,42 RSS,43 YouTube and social media like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ give everyone an individualised media product the media available to the public, and as a result individuals are more likely to view media that is highly tailored to their ideology and worldview.44 This has fostered an increase in trust45 that people have in online media and social media probable to decrease scepticism in these forms and solidify ideologies further.46 Interview Subject A (NSW) claims:

“I think people in general see what they want to see, but it’s definitely more so with all this Facebook twitter stuff. It’s one thing to deal with journalists, and another to deal with people who get everything they think about us from some little niche… if you’re a journalist you can decide for yourself whether someone who claims they’ve been beat up is telling the truth, right? But if you’re just on Facebook then there’s no way to tell and suddenly the whole world knows.”47

Some of these websites democratise the user experience- articles with many views or votes receive more visibility and less popular content is viewed less. Similarly, a commercial news outlet’s website can measure metrics48 of each article and hence prioritise more “click-worthy” articles with misleading titles and thumbnails, focusing on less newsworthy topics like celebrity culture or extreme, unusual events.

38 (Simon, 2013)39 ibid40 A customised service run by search-giant google which aggregates news from all over the web based on what you’re most likely to click on41 A democratised news website where users submit links and users can “upvote” or “downvote” them based on their taste. The most popular links (higest upvotes, minus downvotes) make the front page of the site.42 An aggregated blog service where users can “follow” other blogs and “reblog” their posts onto their feed43 A web tool for subscribing to favoured web pages, creating a “feed” from blogs, news sites, podcasts, etc. 44 (Sasseen, Olmstead, & Mitchell, 2013)45 (Editor, 2012)46 (Pew Research Center, 2010) “Ideological News Sources: Who Watches and Why” 47 See appendix, part 48 Amount of views, clicks, advertising attention, “likes”, “shares”, and other information

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However, after all this my cross-cultural categorisation of revolutionary and reformist remained largely unaccounted for. Although no one theory could encompass all cross-cultural difference, Halbwachs’ theory of collective memory, whereby society’s attitudes are in part shaped by past events, could explain it to some degree49. In the same way that contemporary Germany would be more resistant to anti-Semitic outlooks than the average society, LA could be more resistant to anti-police rhetoric due to the tragedy of the 1992 LA riots, which resulted in 53 deaths and over one billion dollars of property damage occurred50, triggered after the Rodney King verdict took place. Content analysis results also reflected this: GLW writers did not refrain from more extreme thought while the LA Progressive seemed more familiar and aware of the dangers and repercussions of such perspectives.51 (See chapter 1, fig. 3)

Hence, the police’s status as folk devils, might have spawned out of the militarisation and radicalisation that shifted civilian protection authorities into the pursuers of state enemies, and the cultural diffusion producing perpetuation of attitudes reactant to this shift. Changing technology and its effect on communications and the media has brought a culture whereby the stories of the disenfranchised may be heard and believed. However, their sociocultural relevance may be easily misunderstood to disseminate polarising and misrepresentative attitudes. Moreover, collective memories of past tragedy as a factor determine, in part, how these views eventuate in individuals and societies.

49 (Halbwachs, 1992)50 Insert LA riots Wikipedia page here51 See appendix part 3

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CHAPTER 3: TO WHAT EFFECT? [Draft 2]Moral Panic towards police remains insignificant to the police-public relationship if their effect on behaviour and events is not examined. Hence, the following endeavours to explain how dialectical, hostile attitudes between authority and public perpetuate conflict and violence, and compromise peace and justice rather than vice-versa. By studying such factors as a trend, I aim to predict and extrapolate possible futures of these relations.

Police (as opposed to military) work requires the consent, participation and assistance of the civilian population52. Both interviewees agreed hostile attitudes, whether justified or unjustified, produced an environment where said co-operation could not exist.53

“it makes it harder to investigate crimes because people don’t want to talk to you, it makes it harder to report crimes that happen to you because people don’t want to be associated with you, and they don’t think that we can help because we’re the bad guys and we’re racist or whatever. It’s difficult.”54

- Subject A

You know, sometimes you’ll have a murder right next to an apartment building at night and not a single person will call the police, because they think they’ll be blamed or something. It shouldn’t be like that.55

- Subject B

Both questionnaire samples indicated a lack of participation and consent56 in policing. (See Fig. 1.)

52 (Wikipedia, 2013)53 See appendix, part 254 See appendix, part 255 See appendix, part 256 This is to say, a willingness to obey the orders of police officers and respect the duties of police as to make the process of law enforcement a somewhat co-operative one

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NSW LA0%

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Figure 1: Progressive Youths' Beha-viors Around Police

disrespect, lack of co-opera-tion

the smallest amount of obedience possible, con-stant questions about what’s happening

With no respect but obe-dience

with respect and obedience

57

This lack of citizen participation in policing is conducive to what Cohen calls “innovation”,58 whereby increased demands on policing are introduced when investigative needs are not met, originating from the lack of human intelligence in the form of witnesses, corroborators, and informants. This may have contributed to militarisation of police forces across the United States, meaning the increase of other intelligence from surveillance, (aided by the rise of technology for wiretapping on phones and internet & public recording technologies such as CCTV and others) increased presence (more officers on the streets) and reductions in civil rights (i.e. the right to warranted search and seizure) for the law to be effectively enforced. David Simon claims these attitudes promote a type of policing that

“does not require anything other than getting out of your radio car and jacking people up against the side of a liquor store. Probable cause? Are you kidding?”59

It has been said that overtly corrupt police forces operate similar to a state endorsed gang,60 hence if this is the perception of youth then they will act accordingly. While some argue this is an understandable course of action in South Central and Compton, Los Angeles where communities have been negatively impacted by corrupt policing,61 62 63 the justification remains irrelevant, in the sense that it makes policework difficult either way. Subject B claims:

57 See appendix, part 358 (Cohen, 2011)59 (Jarecki, 2012)60 (Wikipedia, 2013) (Police Corruption)61 (Wikipedia, 2013) (Rampart Scandal)62 (Wikipedia, 2013) (Rodney King)63 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2013) (NWA)

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“It’s this gang stuff that gets me. Some of these guys just see us as another gang to fight, and it makes it really difficult to be a police and not just a combatant.”64

The future of the police-authority relationship and its influence on youth is hazy, as found using a “Three Ps” analysis65. A possible scenario would be where the general drop in drug use and crime in NSW and the United States seen over the last 20 years continues to create a less invasive police force that becomes a smaller part of daily life. This could combine with, in the case of LA, an increased historical distance from the tumultuous early 1990s period to produce a population less hostile to police, warranting an improvement to the relationship outlined previously, creating a highly preferable scenario. Alternatively, one could see a more probable scenario where increasing consumption of citizen journalism and ideological media as contributing to a more hostile culture. This could prompt greater innovation and a cycle of distrust and polarisation. Combination with new forms of militarisation resultant from innovation could enable a new culture of western policing which opposes the general population rather than co-operating with it.

My findings regarding the police-protest movement relationships were also personally interesting. I saw, during my time as a left wing activist, protest movements attempt to walk the line between justified and illegal, blocking off traffic, sleeping in public areas, pressing collectively against police barriers, etc. to garner more attention from the mainstream media as well as to provoke a response from the police.66 My experience saw the purpose of this was that a movement could label itself as an oppressed enemy of the state, thus attracting more sympathy and attention.67 Both myself and interview Subject B saw the occupy movement as an eventuation of this phenomena:

“I thought it was really sad, actually, they were trying really hard to provoke a reaction, because, you know, they can just put it online and it makes them seem like they’re so.. Oppressed. We became the bad guy, not the government or the banks or anything.”68

During my content analysis of the revolutionary Green Left Weekly, I detailed several instances where authorities had been perceived to be directly provoked and brutality constructed.69 While it is arguable that the police response was an overreaction, these were situations that could have been avoided had the normal course of action (peaceful protest) had been adhered to. These represent to me a loss of integrity resultant from a desire to pursue the conflict-ridden, dialectical attitudes that left-wing

64 See appendix, part 265 An analysis whereby scenarios are evaluated upon their possibility, probability, and preferability.66 See appendix, part 467 ibid68 See appendix part 269 See appendix, part 1

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groups possess towards these authority figures. As a result, I, and by extrapolation, probably many others are unable to identify with any of these organisations.70

The number of progressive youths who answered police misconduct as being “the most important issue we face in society”71, also highlighted to me the issue of distraction as a sociocultural phenomenon, whereby more important issues become overshadowed by less significant, more visible problems. I saw this as a consumer of left-wing podcasts, blogs, and other media: topics I found to be important like foreign policy, corporate influence in politics and banking gained far less attention than one off incidents of brutality.72 As this animosity escalates in future years, it is possible that other issues could become forgotten in the alternative and mainstream discourse, preventing an effective reaction.

Regarding the future of the public-police relationship and its influence on protest and activist movements, predictions vary. One could see the increase of police misconduct recordings stemming from the proliferation of smartphones and digital cameras73 74 as a catalyst to improve police accountability and punitively punish offending officers, resolving tensions and producing greater harmony. This could combine with the popularity of the new media and its focus on misconduct to bring public attention to the issue and require a response from federal and state governments. However, I deem it more likely that, as reflected in my content analysis, interviews, and personal reflection,75 that proliferation of digital communications could produce incomplete and misleading portrayals of misconduct. This, joined with the demise of journalistic integrity and ideological basis of citizen journalism and the new media, may well drive public attitudes further down the “moral panic” path I identified in Chapter 1, and transform fringe opinion and behaviour into mainstream phenomena. It’s also possible that this demonization and hostility could produce an escalating ideological landscape consumed by this issue, tensioning it further by removing the respect and co-operation the Police need to operate.

Summarily, the “reverse” moral panic against police officers has produced widespread attitudes creating a negative environment for law enforcement and investigation, creating a greater need for innovative policing methods. Moreover, the distribution of these attitudes has produced a disproportional response in fringe media, creating a degree of distraction and light forms of corruption. The result of this could create a future wherein police and public interests are opposing forces, creating militarisation and the “gang mentality”, but also where the “fourth estate”76 remains unable to effectively report on the matter, creating ideological polarisation. 70 See appendix, part 471 See appendix, part 372 See appendix73 Alternet article74 Usa today article75 See appendix76 A term used in the United states political lexicon referring to the extreme authority of the press, jokingly as the “fourth estate of government” (after the executive, legislative and judiciary bodies)

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Conclusion [Draft 1]My investigation filled a gap in sociological knowledge: I used a loose version of the Moral Panic model to learn about the hostile attitudes progressives possess towards law-enforcement, and to subdivide said attitudes into those dialectical and ideologically anti-authoritarian, and those progressive, pragmatic and reformist. Using secondary data to analyse, and provide perspective to my primary research, I studied the role of past, landmark events, cultural expression, cultural transmission, increasing availability of communications technology and changes in the media in contributing to the rise of these views. My journey ended with my examination of how these outlooks may have detrimented policework and society in general and used a large amount of primary and secondary data to propose and evaluate scenarios about the future of society and authority in relation to this crucial area.

The assumptions I made while drafting my hypothesis (that the state of moral panic towards youth and progressives, had, to an extent, reversed) were, in essence, correct. However, what I found out is that these phenomena are much less simplistic. I found that anti-authoritarianism exists for many, many reasons across the world and for different reasons, and although I may claim that some influences are the catalysts of change, this correlation is incredibly difficult to prove. Moreover, I found that it simply does not exist for the majority of the population and so my research saw myself focusing closer and closer in to niche areas to study this opposition.

My research methodologies were the key to the focus of my PIP; there was a logical procession that they followed in that allowed me to tailor each technique to the results of the last, to create a flow in my writing and an ability to cross-reference each result against the others.

Upon repetition, however, the reliability of my information could be increased by having a larger sample size for my questionnaire, to gain a larger cross-section of the demographic. In addition to this and other measures like conducting more interviews, a focus group could have been added, to gain greater, more qualitative and more detailed insight. It would have also helped to introduce continuity and change aspect to the content analysis by conducting a similar form of analysis on the same publications throughout the selected period.

My PIP began as means of consolidating and exploring my sense of social and cultural identity, and this was achieved as I inquired into the true nature of the Police-public relationship and the realities of misconduct. But more importantly, through acquiring the skills necessary for ethical and effective research and communicating my findings effectively, I began to empathise in a deeper way with both parties, bringing their behaviour into the field of rational and understandable conduct. The result of this is a complex and nuanced understanding of Police, showing my empathy for their difficult and challenging work, divergent from the polarising and

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oversimplified portrayals from the media and those who wish to enterprise from their mistakes, highlighting my discernment. I have developed into a person in favour of personal research to reach an informed decision, before participating in in an anti-authoritarian form of protest.

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Annotated Resource List

Carlin, D. (2012). Show 232 - Fearsome Safety. Eugene: Orator LLC.

Dan Carlin's "Common Sense" program offered a large amount of qualitative insight about US drug politics and how this has influencd crime, police culture and hence the course of policing in the united states in general. However, Carlin does not provide any qualitative proof to support his arguments. Hence, as Carlin is experienced in the field of US politics through his journalistic career, his judgements are reliable as a single perspective, however, they have not been proven via empirical means. Carlin, as a veteran political analyst and critique of mainstream political discourse, many biases exist in his work, however they are generally admitted beforehand

Cohen, S. (2011). Folk Devils and Moral Panics (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

Cohen, as a sociologist, was the main influence and academic source for this investigation and provided a large amount of material from case studies, to sociological structures and general theory. Cohen's cast academic experience as well as his added reputation as the creator of a famous, canonical piece of literature with terms that have been added to the general sociological lexicon shows that this text is a reliable source of the data it provides. Bias exists in every sociological work and this is no exception; Cohen is a well-known progressive, but the bias present is not relevant because all the claims he makes are logical, clear, and supported by evidence.

Editor. (2012). Diversification of Media Continues. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from http://trust.edelman.com/trusts/trust-in-institutions-2/diversification-of-media-continues/

This article was a good source of both qualitative and quantitative data elaborating on the expansion

Glover, S., & Lait, M. (2003, August 23). Ex-Chief Refuses to Discuss Rampart. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from StreetGangs.com: http://www.streetgangs.com/police/rampart/082303_ex_chief_uncooperative_

Goode, E., & Ben-Yehuda, N. (2009). Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance, 2nd Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Halbwachs, M. (1992). The Collective Memory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Howitt, B., & Julian, R. (2009). Heinemann Society & Culture Second Edition. Sydney: Pearson Australia.

Jarecki, E. (Director). (2012). The House I Live In [Motion Picture].

Marsha Jones, E. J. (1999). Mass Media (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press.

Pew Research Center. (2010, September 12). Americans Spending More Time Following the News: Ideological News Sources: Who Watches and Why. Retrieved July 5, 2013, from Pew Research Center: http://www.people-press.org/2010/09/12/americans-spending-more-time-following-the-news/

Rubinsztein-Dunlop, S. (2013, March 6). Police investigate Mardi Gras brutality claims. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from ABC News 24: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-06/claims-of-police-brutality-at-mardi-gras-parade/4554958

Sasseen, J., Olmstead, K., & Mitchell, A. (2013, February 7). State of the News Media 2013 - Digital: By The Numbers. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Pew Research Center: http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/digital-as-mobile-grows-rapidly-the-pressures-on-news-intensify/digital-by-the-numbers/

Simon, D. (2013). Dirt Under the Rug. Baltimore: David Simon.

Wikipedia. (2013, July 22). 2012 Aurora Shooting. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting

Wikipedia. (2013, June 28). Police. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police

Wikipedia. (2013, June 5). Police Corruption. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_corruption

Wikipedia. (2013, July 1). Rampart Scandal. Retrieved July 2013, 8, from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampart_scandal

Wikipedia. (2013, July 5). Rodney King. Retrieved July 8, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

Wikipedia Contributors. (2013, June 5). N.W.A. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A

Relevance, usefulness, reliability, bias

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AppendixPart 1: Content analysis

Pre-research: definitions and criteria

conducted 25 february 2013

Criteria for Alignment

the following decides the alignment of the article in respect to it's position towards police officers. If criteria conflicts in a given article, the one with more criteria wins (e.g. one positive INFORMATION criteria and two negative INFORMATION criteria is negative). However, OPINION factors trump informational factors (e.g. there is one positive OPINION factor and two negative INFORMATION factors, the article is deemed as positive)positive: INFORMATION defending police misconduct (i.e. defending an officer's use of pepper spray or lethal force as the offender was threatening the police or civilians)INFORMATION praising police or a single police member for doing the right thing INFORMATION illustrating aggression against police or damage of police property, without defending the perpetrators as justifiedINFORMATION personalising police officers (eg. showing how friendly and down to earth a particular officer is in an interview, picture or video)INFORMATION highlighting the social deviance of victims of police misconduct (e.g. Rodney King was a alcoholic, drink driving, violent armed robber and gang member, victims of unconstitutional wiretapping and other counterterrorist measures are anti-australian islamic terrorists)OPINION rebelling against antiauthoritarian behaviour OPINION identifying the need for more police power and influence

Neutral: the absence of, or the balance of, factors from positive and negative alignments (e.g. two INFORMATION factors are found from each.)

NegativeINFORMATION highlighting police misconductINFORMATION defending a civilian or offender's use of force against a police officer or police property (i.e. this poor inner city child who was being abused by police officers was justified in polling out a knife to defend himself, these oppressed proletariat union workers were aggravated by the elite to burn police cars and destroy public property)INFORMATION personalising victims of police misconduct (this victim of wiretapping is just a friendly migrant and deserves a fair go)OPINION identifying negative change in police officers over time, especially that leading to a "police/surveillance state"OPINION rebelling against other opinion supporting police efforts

Criteria for Themes

The appearance of the following justifies a tick in the box for the respective image of police officers. There can be more than one per article

LAZY:

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- information, pictures, opinion, statistics of, video depicting police members resorting to non-lethal (pepper spray, tazering) or lethal force in place of more traditional methods of halting offenders. - information, pictures, opinion, statistics of, video depicting officers being incompetent- information, pictures, opinion, statistics of, video depicting officers, due to corruption or other factors, not wanting to solve crimes or curb crime rates

CORRUPT- depictions of police forces that compromise the quality of policework to please the corporate sector, the government, gangs (bribery) or their own politics (racism and profiling, discrimination based on political inclination).

MILITARISTIC- depictions of police forces that appear to be or are moving towards a militaristic state and thus a dystopia (police/surveillance state) - pictures and other media depicting police and police misconduct becoming less personalised (soldier/gestapo-like)

DILUTION: the articles reviewed will be from a particular time, and at the end, the amount of articles featuring depictions of police (x) will be divided by the total amount of articles from the period surveyed (y) to find out the total percentage of articles out of all articles that feature police.

Insert definitions here

Green Left Weekly30 articles, earliest article 22/09/12. Average 15 articles a day

Alignment

Positive: 0

Negative: 30

Neutral: 0

Themes

Lazy: 5

Racist, Biased: 17

Militaristic: 11

Corrupt: 5

Brutal, inhumane: 11

Comments: Victims always defended and lionised as “one of us” and the other side of events was never shown. Police, unlike in mainstream news outlets, were never seen as a third party in events or a background character, or a source for crime. For

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example, in the SMH, an article could focus on crime, and quote police as a source. This would never happen in the above study.

Use of Emotional language: 20

Sydney Morning Herald30 articles Earliest 25/1/13. Average 92 articles a day

Alignment

Positive: 20

Negative: 4

Neutral 16

Themes

Lazy: 2

Racist, Biased: 0

Militaristic: 0

Corrupt: 0

Brutal, inhumane: 2

Comments: reporting on police usually took the form of the police talking objectively on events unrelated to the police department itself or misconduct. The relatively few articles on misconduct were accompanied by dialogue regarding to institutional reform.

Cases of emotional language: 2

LA Times30 articles, earliest 30/1/12. Average 129 articles a day.

Positive: 3

Neutral 21

Negative: 6

Themes

Lazy: 1

Racist, Biased: 2

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Militaristic:

Corrupt: 1

Brutal, inhumane: 1

Emotive Language: 1

LA Progressive30 articles – Earliest 10/12/12. Average 22 articles a day.

Alignment

Positive: 12

Neutral: 7

Negative: 12

Themes

Lazy: 1

Racist, Biased: 8

Militaristic: 2

Corrupt

Brutal, inhumane: 1

Comment: Positives narrowly outnumbered negatives to both discourage bad policework and praise positive policing. The LA Progressive, although critical, recognised the LAPD as the rightful authority and sought to reform it rather than replace it. Many statistics appeared citing academic studies, and emotional language was infrequent. One report, among various critiques, praised the current police chief for his pragmatism, and wisdom. Another was negative overall but justified this analysis and acknowledged good intentions rather than nefariousness. Realising this, I went back to the beginning to count instances where the past had been acknowledged and an attitude contusive to progression had been seen. (7 overall.)

[insert quotes here]

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Part 2: InterviewsImprovisation: during the course of the interview cartain unexpected answers may be made, upon which I may decide wo question the answer further to understand it better or get the subject to link it to another area of the research project. I may also feel the need to consolidate an answer with sociological terms e.g. when asked how negative perceptions affect the life of the officer, and the answer is given colloquially, I may ask a follow up like “so you’re saying your status as a deviant has lowered your status as a member of society” to avoid false conclusions when writing evaluations

NSW

Interviewee: Anonymous (Subject A, or SA), officer with the NSWPF for 26 years, residing on the northern beaches.

Preface: First of all, I’d like to just remind you that in this interview, you will remain completely anonymous, sop you’re free to say whatever you without consequence, but do only say what you are confortable saying.

1. From your personal experience as a police officer in NSW what can you see as the leading areas of police misconduct? Follow up, if the answer is outside of the public perception of police misconduct (brutality, corruption, discrimination), ask if he thinks traditional conceptions of misconduct are issues on the scale of other issues in NSW.

SA: Oh, it’s hard to say… I suppose it’s mostly pretty shady stuff, not the kind of thing that finds its way onto a newspaper headline easily, does it?

Me: What do you mean by that?

SA: Well, I guess up here [on the northern beaches] you see minor stuff here and there, but most of the stories from inside the force you hear are coming from out west. I haven’t personally experienced a heap myself, but it’s different than how people think it is.

Me: So would you say that there’s a divide between the public perception of misconduct and the reality of it?

SA: Yeah, definitely. The stuff you’ll see in the papers is more dramatized. If you look at any of the PIC [Police Integrity Comission] reports you’ll see are

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based around bribery, association [when officers are known to be associating with criminals] and other abuses of power. Things like racism and brutality exist, they’re relatively minor compared to other issues.

2. if you had to put the problem of misconduct on a scale of 1-10, with one being not a problem at all and ten being the biggest problem we face, how much would you say police misconduct is a problem in NSW? (Follow up: about 60% of youth I surveyed put it from 7-10, what do you think about that)

SA: I’d say maybe a 4. Around that area. Depends what part of town you’re in.

Me: 60% of youth I gave questionnaires to put it from 7 to 10, what do you think about that?

SA: Oh, I don’t know. They’re a bit misguided, I think.

3. what areas of media coverage of police do you think are any of these things: exaggerated, distorted, unfair, unsympathetic, or inflammatory?

SA: The news is usually fine. I listen to the radio a bit, and I’ve heard some of the call-ins get pretty hostile, but other than that fine. It’s mostly the entertainment and music and tv that give us a bad rap, you know? I take issue with a lot of the cop-bashing that goes on in rap music and action movies and all that, like some stuff can be pretty openly aggressive and that’s pretty sad. But there’s also a lot of crap on that glorifies cops and makes the job a bit harder. It’s interesting that you said unsympathetic, because there’s that too when it comes to these big stories where someone gets shot or injured, which is really sad, but people fail to see the police’s side which is that an officer, whose job it is to put themselves on the line every day is being threatened with a deadly weapon. If I came to your work on some illicit substance and got out my switchblade, you would feel threatened too. Mistakes are made, but you really just have to see the different sides to the story sometimes.

4. Are there any positive depictions you see in the media?

SA: Yeah, good question. I think anything that gets you to see things from more than one perspective and gets you to see more than good cops and bad cops is good. If someone’s just trying to prop up their own view you won’t see that.

5. Do you think anything else impacts on how people view police, like the impact from social and familial influences?

SA: For sure. Family’s big, because they’re ultimately your boss, so if Dad doesn’t like cops than why should you?

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Me: So you’re saying that like, because your parents are your highest authority, they decide where police go in the hierarchy of who tells you what to do?

SA: Yeah. If your parents tell you to listen to your big sister than you do. Even after they’re gone, you do. Police generally work best when people regard them as authority. That’s what the whole tough guy image is about. Oh, and the social thing is big too.

6. Regarding the Jamie Jackson incident at the Mardi Gras parade this year, a) do you think the video online and the media coverage distorted the event, b) do you think it was a case of misconduct and c) do you think events like it happen frequently?

SA: wait, can we take that one at a time?

Me: Sure. So, with the Jamie Jackson incident at Mardi Gras this year-

SA: Is this that kid on youtube that-

Me: yeah, that one. The question was, do you think the video online and the media coverage surrounding it distorted the event?

SA: Well, obviously it was horrible. Really. I hope the [officer] in that video really gets it. And the other thing is, it’s a video, so it’s not like you can say it was made up. But yeah, it’s not what you see, it’s what you don’t see. A lot of the time with these videos you don’t see the guy being threatening or resisting arrest or something like that, and you don’t see what he did in the first place, or what happens afterwards. So there’s all these different witnesses and accounts and reports and everything, so you never know what actually happened. The officer in the video was definitely using force excessively. No doubt. But there were people and videos of him kicking female officers in the face? Are you kidding me? That’s dangerous stuff. These aren’t footy tackles and bear hugs. On Friday nights and Saturdays sometimes these are people, not talking about this Jamie kid, but sometimes blackout drunk, sometimes on drugs, on ectacy, or something harder and they don’t know what they’re doing with their body, just punching and kicking and screaming. Most people would be amazed to learn just how many officers, mates of mine and others that have gotten broken noses, concussions, and stitches from guys probably pretty similar to that guy. And you don’t see that on youtube.

Me: Do you think events like it happen frequently?

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SA: Depends. Do you mean guys that are unfairly treated roughly by officers? It happens a lot. To that extent? A little less. Getting it taped on someone’s iPhone? A little less. But there’s still a few of those a year. What made this one big was the homophobia element. I think only that officer knows if he’s homophobic. It’s hard for us to judge, because that could’ve been anyone. But yeah, I think it’s a bad idea for people to look at that and think it happens all the time every day. It’s still pretty rare.

7. How have these perceptions of Police officers changed in the past twenty years?

SA: I think one thing is the camera. Like, it was really confronting to see all this brutality originally because before we could deny it, but suddenly you couldn’t. I think we have better public relations now, like we go into schools and give talks and go on the news and give out stickers and everything. I think it was really cool to hate cops for a while there and that’s gotten better too.

8. How do you think left wing protestors and specifically the occupy movement have perceived police officers during protest events and how has this affected their protest movements, your job and society as a whole?

SA: Uhh, is this the occupy sydney thing people in the city?

Me: Yeah.

SA: Don’t remember much of that. I wasn’t there, only heard about it.

Me: What did you hear?

SA: pretty weird bunch. Most of them, like protesters in general, are fine. It’s just the people that don’t regard us as authority. For example, if I’m not your authority, than me telling you to obey the law, like me telling you to not block traffic or not block people from getting to their workplace makes me seem like I’m the bad guy. I guess some of the lefties or whatever have problems with that. Sometimes they’re trying to provoke you so they can take a video and put it on their Facebook blog and show everyone how persecuted they are. Obviously it’s the police’s duty and responsibility to be just, but it doesn’t make them any better people. It’s sad for them too because what starts with a protest about, I don’t know, the Afghanistan becomes about the police there just trying to keep everything under control, and so their cause just gets forgotten.

9. Speaking of Facebook, how do you think perceptions of police officers have been affected by phenomena such as the new media on the internet and social media?

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SA: I think people in general see what they want to see, but it’s definitely more so with all this Facebook twitter stuff. It’s one thing to deal with journalists, and another to deal with people who get everything they think about us from some little niche.

Me: Could you expand on that?

SA: Yeah, well, if you’re a journalist you can decide for yourself whether someone who claims they’ve been beat up is telling the truth, right? But if you’re just on Facebook then there’s no way to tell and suddenly the whole world knows.

10.Do you think it’s okay for the public to film you on the job in short intervals, granted it’s in a public area and not in a police station? SA: Well it’s impolite, I think. It’s disrespectful but it’s well within your rights, in my book. Especially if you’re doing something wrong and especially in public. Some officers think differently, which I get, but I still disagree.

11.How do you think the perceptions we’re been talking about have affected how you do your job, and how you live your life?

SA: I mean, in an ideal world everyone would love everyone but that’s not exactly how it works out, does it? I guess it’s unpleasant when you’re trying to do your job and you’re talking to someone that thinks you’re a pig and you beat up gays and indigenous Australians all day or something, and sometimes that can lead to some unfortunate complications, and it doesn’t exactly make me a hot act at dinner parties. But with rich white people here on the beaches, not really much of an issue, it’s really out west in poorer areas, it makes it harder to investigate crimes because people don’t want to talk to you, it makes it harder to report crimes that happen to you because people don’t want to be associated with you, and they don’t think that we can help because we’re the bad guys and we’re racist or whatever. It’s difficult.

LAInterviewee: Subject B, Anonymous, LAPD Officer 15 yearsPreface: First of all, I’d like to just remind you that in this interview, you will remain completely anonymous, sop you’re free to say whatever you without consequence, but do only say what you are confortable saying.

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1. From your personal experience as a police officer in LA what can you see as the leading areas of police misconduct? (Follow up, if the answer is outside of the public perception of police misconduct (brutality, corruption, discrimination), ask if he thinks traditional conceptions of misconduct are issues on the scale of other issues in LA.)

SB: Uh, it varies, I guess. It’s not as normal as people think, it’s not like we’re some kind of gang or something. But there are issues. Bribery. Abuses of power. Excessive force.

Me: But is there a divide between the public perception of misconduct and the reality of it?

SA: Depends on what perception. I guess you would hear about all the stuff going on in Compton, and that’s not everywhere. Those people down there are very afraid of the cops and maybe if all you hear is about cop beatings then hey, maybe you should be. Some people yes, some people no.

2. if you had to put the problem of misconduct on a scale of 1-10, with one being not a problem at all and ten being the biggest problem we face, how much would you say police misconduct is a problem in NSW? (Follow up: about 62% of youth I surveyed put it from 7-10, what do you think about that)

SA: I’d say maybe a 5? 6?

Me: 62% of youth I surveyed put it at 7-10? Do you take issue to that?

SA: You’re saying I’m going to take issue to it like there’s some kind of feud or something. Maybe its worrying that I see the LAPD differently then they do, but I’m not mad or anything. There are bad eggs in this department.

3. What areas of media coverage of police do you think are any of these things: exaggerated, distorted, unfair, unsympathetic, or inflammatory?

SA: I take issue with some of the really really liberal attacks on us, like, but I mean at least I can understand why they’d think that way. It’s this gang stuff that gets me. Some of these guys just see us as another gang to fight, and it makes it really difficult to be a police and not just a combatant. I guess I seem like some cold blooded conservative but all these fox news people that are all “go the cops” all the time are the same people that want us to earn scraps and bust the unions. Everyone’s trying to please their own camp.

4. Are there any positive depictions you see in the media?

SA: I listen to NPR sometimes. And PBS. Real news is generally fine.

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5. Do you think anything else impacts on how people view police, like the impact from social and familial influences?

SA: Yeah, for sure. I’d say on par with the media. Especially when they’re all together and they’re trying to impress each other.

6. Has the LAPD changed since 20 years ago?

SA: Since the early 90s? Yeah. I reckon we feel more… vulnerable. One mistake and you’re done. After Rodney King we got much more careful. We’ve gotten better, no doubt, but you really have to watch your back. I mean, 20 years ago we were fighting a drug war and we still are. All this Rodney King, Rampart stuff is what happens when you fight a war against the people. I joined the force to not be that, but it’s hard when people think you’re the enemy.

7. How have these perceptions of Police officers changed in the past twenty years?

SA: Uh, hard to say. Rodney King and Rampart have changed things big time. People no longer see us as your friendly neighbourhood law enforcement. Things have cooled down since Rodney King and Rampart and everything, but I guess that whole gangster thing is as bad as ever. There’s still a lot of people that hate us.

8. How do you think left wing protestors and specifically the occupy movement have perceived police officers during protest events and how has this affected their protest movements, your job and society as a whole?

SA: I was actually there for a bit of the whole Occupy LA thing. I thought it was great that young people today are getting out there and getting mad at the people in power in Washington and everything. I thought it was really sad, actually, they were trying really hard to provoke a reaction, because, you know, they can just put it online and it makes them seem like they’re so.. oppressed. We became the bad guy, not the government or the banks or anything.

9. How do you think perceptions of police officers have been affected by phenomena such as the new media on the internet and social media?

SA: Yeah, I dunno. Sometimes its good, like it gets a new idea out there or sometimes it’s used for bad.

Me: Bad? Like what?

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SA: Not telling the full story. Showing things in a way that makes you seem like the rightful and us seem like we’re here to attack you. If folks think we’re only here to attack them the only response is for them to attack us. In some way. It makes it hard to do our jobs.

10.Do you think it’s okay for the public to film you on the job in short intervals, granted it’s in a public area and not in a police station? SA: I don’t mind it. If you’re working minimum wage at Subway you’re getting filmed, why shouldn’t I? The only reason I have to stop it is if I don’t want to get in trouble for doing something wrong. There’s no privacy on the job. AND, It’s your right to. Folks in their car, in their homes, getting frisked, if you have to renounce your privacy, and so do I.

11.How do you think the perceptions we’re been talking about have affected how you do your job, and how you live your life?

SA: Yeah. It makes it hard. When someone thinks you’re just gonna arrest them for nothing, or that you’re racist, or that you’ll beat them up, get really defensive, so they’re not co-operating, they’re behaving rudely, and you’re thinking: what’s this guy gonna do? Am I in trouble here? I’d better calm him down. And things can get ugly from there. It also makes crime harder to deal with because people don’t want to call the police or talk to them. You know, sometimes you’ll have a murder right next to an apartment building at night and not a single person will call the police, because they think they’ll be blamed or something. It shouldn’t be like that.

Part 3: Questionnaires

LA: 56 responsesQ1

1 02 13 14 45 96 37 168 89 610 5don't know 3

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7-10=35,

Q2

Corrupt (taking bribes, lawless, abusive of power, covering up of misconduct and self-protecting i.e. Not firing misconducting officers)

34

Fair (constantly trying their hardest to reach justice) 22

lazy (not willing to deal with “real crime”, only obsessed with low level crime, insincere to victims of “real crime”, inept/incompetent to deal with “real crime”)

17

Dutiful (of a morally good background, only do bad things because the law is unjust) 11

biased (will pull over blacks/hispanics/non-whites more regularly than whites, more willing to shut down protests from the greens, unions and climate change activists more frequently than those from the liberals, etc.)

53

justified (only use force because it is being used against them in greater amounts, their actions exist because they are protecting society from dangerous criminals that should be dealt with violently)

11

brutal/inhumane (senselessly violent, desensitised to violence when it is unnecessary, using of technologies like tazers and pepper spray unnecessarily)

45

Underpowered (have insufficient legal/physical/technological power to deal with the problems they face, are constantly in danger because they are not allowed to use certain weapons/policing methods)

24

militaristic/becoming more militarized (frequently relying on unethical surveillance technology, frequently resembling a military force when dealing with protests, unions, frequently beginning to morph into a “police state”)

51

Q

yes 34no 15don't know 9

Q4

it would be silly to say nothing has changed since then. in general i read somewhere blacks and hispanics are getting better treatment, and misconduct is going down. things are still bad though, crime is rampant in many areas 5/12/2013 3:57 PMView respondent's answersobviously there are still major issues in the department, but i think many of them are fear based and overblown. obviously we should remain in scruitiny of police officers but i just think people are too fearful to have a genuine response to the things that happen 5/1/2013 3:40 PMView respondent's answersi admire the administration's efforts to make the situation better and i know for a fact there are so many cops trying to do the right thing in this city but the fact is that things are really bad and there are huge divisions racially, unfairness for gays etc, and community policing is being disregarded in favor of more technologized, surveillance based militaristic methods seen in a police state. 5/1/2013 3:34 PMView respondent's answersi think yes in some areas like their ability to deal with some crime have improved and the racial issues definitely have improved, however crime is still a huge issue in LA and their relations with the community have largely stagnated, while they have improved in others 5/1/2013 12:32 PMView respondent's answersbrutality happens all the time, officers just snatch away the cameras so we don't see it 5/1/2013 12:18 PMView respondent's answerscertainly the crack cocaine epidemic has died down so those incidents are less frequent. also i think there has been somewhat of an effort to reduce those incidents and the infastructure that creates and protects them 4/30/2013 1:18 PMView respondent's answersit's the same officers, the same leadership, the only thing that's changed is the pressure from higher up to not create scandals 4/30/2013 12:37 PMView respondent's answers

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you don't really see that amount of racism anymore 4/30/2013 12:30 PMView respondent's answersit has has eliminated darker parts of it's organisation and in some ways become less brutal 4/30/2013 12:22 PMView respondent's answersAnecdotal evidence indicates they possess the same bias against blacks (my young nephew was beaten up in custody for "talking back" but committed no crime), Not just racial issues; I've been stopped twice (I'm white adult male) and both times cops were needlessly rude.3/12/2013 9:06 AMView respondent's answers

Q5

Source Number % of Totalpersonal experience 30 54stories from friends 32 57heard stories from tv shows 24 43heard stories from tumblr 19 34heard stories from reddit 26 46heard stories from the newspaper 28 50heard stories from blogs 27 48read statistics/analysis on tv, news, internet, etc. 28 50heard stories from music (e.g. punk, folk, hip hop) 30 54

Q6

not really. 5/12/2013 3:57 PMView respondent's answersbeing at protests 4/30/2013 2:02 PMView respondent's answersmy uncle's a cop and i hear about the good and the bad 4/30/2013 12:30 PMView respondent's answers

Q7

with respect and obedience 36With no respect but obedience 12the smallest amount of obedience possible, constant questions about what’s happening 7disrespect, lack of co-operation 1i have never interacted with a single police officer ever

Q8

one time my friend 's house got robbed and there wasn't much they could do and it made me think that maybe if the officers were paid more and the departments better funded maybe things would be different 5/12/2013 3:57 PMView respondent's answersI've always had interesting conversations with LAPD at community events like county fairs, festivals etc and protests, and i've concluded that there's a huge variance between guys that just want to get a pension and cash out and officers that really do want to make the public feel safer and more comfortable. That's why i think it's our responsibility as consumers of media, voters, and citizens to promote good policing and resent corruption and the protection and promotion of corrupt officers. 5/1/2013 12:32 PMView respondent's answersall my black friends get pulled over all the time, much more than i do or my white friends do. 5/1/2013 12:09 PMView respondent's answersi've generally found that police face the same problems as the rest of us and they don't give me any problems if i just treat them with respect and don't break the law. 4/30/2013 1:18 PMView respondent's answersthe LAPD definitely has no love for progressives and i definitely saw this at occupy LA. 4/30/2013 12:37 PMView respondent's answers

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i've been pulled over a few times and everything went okay 4/30/2013 12:30 PMView respondent's answersa police officer once roughed me up on the hood of my car because he thought he saw a gun in the backseat, but it was actually a toy and i was forced to do community service. it sucked. 4/30/2013 12:22 PMView respondent's answersTraffic stop needlessly obnoxious. 20 something nephew (black) was pulled over for what turned out to be no crime. Asked one (female) cop for cold medicine. She refused. He said "you can't or won't" (bring him cold medicine). Before being released, he was taken to a room and beaten for having "talked back" to the female cop.

NSW – 62 ResponsesQ1

Responses1 102 234 15 16 47 148 139 510 8don't know 2

Q2

Corrupt (taking bribes, lawless, abusive of power, covering up of misconduct and self-protecting i.e. Not firing misconducting officers)

34

Fair (constantly trying their hardest to reach justice) 16

lazy (not willing to deal with “real crime”, only obsessed with low level crime, insincere to victims of “real crime”, inept/incompetent to deal with “real crime”)

24

Dutiful (of a morally good background, only do bad things because the law is unjust) 7biased (will pull over blacks/indigenous australians/non-whites more regularly than whites, more willing to shut down protests from the greens, unions and climate change activists more frequently than those from the liberals, etc.)

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justified (only use force because it is being used against them in greater amounts, their actions exist because they are protecting society from dangerous criminals that should be dealt with violently)

7

brutal/inhumane (senselessly violent, desensitised to violence when it is unnecessary, using of technologies like tazers and pepper spray unnecessarily)

35

Underpowered (have insufficient legal/physical/technological power to deal with the problems they face, are constantly in danger because they are not allowed to use certain weapons/policing methods)

8

militaristic/becoming more militarized (frequently relying on unethical surveillance technology, frequently resembling a military force when dealing with protests, unions, frequently beginning to morph into a “police state”)

36

Q3

yes 40no 22

Q4

personal experience 50

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stories from friends 42heard stories from tv shows 16heard stories from tumblr 2heard stories from reddit 8heard stories from the newspaper 38heard stories from blogs 16read statistics/analysis on tv, news, internet, etc. 36heard stories from music (e.g. hip hop) 10

Q5

No! This survey is so loaded - if you don't break the law you won't have a problem with the police - it's not rocket science! 3/27/2013 6:44 PMView respondent's answersDo a though job, in difficult situations. 3/17/2013 5:41 PMView respondent's answersPolice will lie they will fabricate any story to bend the truth in their favour. 3/14/2013 3:57 PMView respondent's answersI have never seen a positive experience with the police. I have seen police take bribes, engage in casual racism, abuse their authority, behave pervertedly to young women, erupt into violence with little provocation, harass people for petty and vindictive reasons, and generally act like a brigade of swaggering, shrimp-dicked ass-clowns who didn't get enough love as children [save by their pederast uncles] and so have to get their jollies by coercing obedience out of others to distract themselves from the vacuous emptiness of their own souls. 3/11/2013 7:47 AMView respondent's answersOver 1,400 hundred people have been killed by the police in the UK in the last 20 years, and no officers have ever been charged. Also, it's the police's Job to protect the state and maintain class privilege. 3/11/2013 5:35 AMView respondent's answersPrison complex scholarly papers. Angela Davis. Witnessing unnecessary police violence on civilians. Disliking to be patrolled by fascists. Statistics of who the cops pull over and harass more (People of Color) more than whites. 3/11/2013 5:00 AMView respondent's answersUniversity study 3/10/2013 10:50 PMView respondent's answerssimple observation of the real world 3/10/2013 6:39 PMView respondent's answersMy personal experience with police has been positive and I support them wholeheartedly but my son's experience is the opposite unfortunately 3/10/2013 5:38 PMView respondent's answers

Q6

with respect and obedience 30With no respect but obedience 6the smallest amount of obedience possible, constant questions about what’s happening 19disrespect, lack of co-operation 5i have never interacted with a single police officer ever 0

Q7

It may be ok to be gay in the force , however they still make fun about other gay police in the force, attitudes haven't changed at all 3/14/2013 3:57 PMView respondent's answersA police officer basically harassed a few of my friends over a harmless fake instigram account, threatening to arrest them and sending three officers to my friends house and calling him a liar. In the end they gave up and stopped bothering with the pointless case. Meanwhile i went to the

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police a few years ago when i was stalked and harrased online however they failed to investigate. Police seem to focus on petty crime these days! 3/13/2013 8:54 PMView respondent's answersA police officer comforted me after a personal loss. 3/11/2013 1:08 PMView respondent's answersWas tackled to the ground for filming an arrest at the demonstration and then pinned against a fence with a baton to my neck. Was pretty pretty pissed off and began yelling at the officer. 3/11/2013 10:18 AMView respondent's answersI decline to answer out of fear that my stories will provoke retaliation and my identity will not be adequately protected. 3/11/2013 7:47 AMView respondent's answersWas pulled over speeding very soon after I got my license. As a new driver and having never been pulled over, I was incredibly polite and compliant. Was immediately asked 'what I had thrown in the back seat' and 'why was I evading the police' Since I had done neither of those things, I answered and asked 'what are you talking about?' To which the officer responded by calling another officer on the radio to help him question me. Perhaps this is protocol as we were alone and I am female, I am not sure. The two officers asked me repeatedly what was in my car and kept screaming at me to keep my hands on the wheel even after asking for license and registration which I had to get out of the glove compartment and reached for it when asked and was screamed at again to keep hands on the wheel. It would almost be funny if it wasn't terrifying. I told the officers I was going to work and the only thing in my very new car was an apron and a serving training manual for work. They then made me get out of the car and searched it an found exactly what I said. This process took at least an hour in the sun. I asked if I could remove my sweatshirt and was denied. After being questioned and lectured for 2 hours, one officer asked if I was going to cry. I asked if he was kidding. He asked again. I had never been more uncomfortable with two adult men in my life. I ended up paying an astronomical ticket for speeding and 'evading' which I knew I could fight in court but just wanted the whole thing over as I knew my guardian would be really upset at the speeding ticket so soon after getting my license and didn't want to drag it out further. 3/11/2013 5:18 AMView respondent's answersFlirting cop at DUI checkpoint. I answered few questions. Was stale. Left as soon as possible. 3/11/2013 5:00 AMView respondent's answersWas at the Occupy Melbourne eviction and as the protesters were moved up the street, lines of police blocked off the surrounding feeder streets so we couldnt see/film what was happening - saw from footage captured later that once the riot police believed the pesky witness were gone, they got significantly rougher. I was not at all surprised. 3/11/2013 4:33 AMView respondent's answerspersonal experiences are all good 3/10/2013 5:38 PMView respondent's answers

Part 4 – Personal ReflectionThe following was done in a socratic method: instead of one long stream of consciousness I decided to split up the areas of which my knowledge could be useful to my research and set out my expression in a question and answer form. Those areas were my experience as a youth, as an activist and as a witness. I later decided to begin with a section about my context to dispel bias and factors which would decrease the reliability of my information.

Section 1: ContextQ: During your life, have you ever personally felt percecuted or otherwise targeted by the police or other authorities?

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A: To be honest, not entirely. There have been times where I have felt enormous amounts of mistrust, towards police officers which led to self-victimisation and fear, but I’ve never been in trouble or pulled over or in direct contact in any way. Really, most of this reflection explores things I saw and would evaluate personally, and the experiences of those I identified as being in the same “clique” with.

Q: Describe your experience as a youth and your interaction with authority

A: In adolescence I began to identify myself with an artistic counterculture of skateboarding, digital delinquency (piracy, “hacktivism”, “trolling”, etc.) which mainly positioned me against social control structures such as politicians, my teachers and popular culture figures (pop stars, Hollywood actors and other media personalities), but also police officers who I saw as being “against me” as a skateboarder, as a “punk” and someone who rejected the “status quo” of society. It was also at this time that I became influenced by the transmission of LA hip hop culture and I think that this sentiment appealed to me not just from a political perspective (as explained later) but also a deep-seated emotional one.

Q: Describe your experiences as an activist and your interactions with authority during this time

A: My experience as an activist was one almost entirely based in cultural transmission: my initial involvement was when I began to listen to a left-wing podcast about American politics, and continued when I consumed American punk music, Hip-Hop, TV shows, blogs and websites. It was this that led me to going to protests in Australia and involving myself with Australian activists, not the other way around. The main podcast I listened to in this period was one that dealt heavily in the police misconduct issue, more so than I cared for, which led to some initial scepticism about the prevalence of these attitudes.

Q: What has your experience with police been like since?

A: My period as an activist ended when I applied the same criticisms I had of zealous, structured right-wing ideologies to the left wing ones I had been interacting with. However, I still mainly consume left-wing media from sources like Al-Jazeera, Reddit, Crikey.com.au, etc. which leads me to see many police misconduct stories a year, which are essentially processed through an ideological lens. Rather than following this ideological trail, I have been a witness and an evaluator of this development in the old and new media, which eventually led me to choose this as a topic for my PIP.

Q: Does this recount lead you to admit any biases?

A: Yes, firstly, a Marxist analysis of my experience may argue that my privilege as a middle class, straight, white, male may have meant that I have been sheltered from the true oppression of the police force that non-whites, gays, lower classes and transsexuals face every day and hence my perspective towards authority has been

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tainted by this. Moreover, many developmental psychologists may argue that because my experience as an activist occurred so early in my socialisation ideas and constructs that were fundamental to the left-wing ideology I had will always remain ingrained in my mind and rationality.

Section 2: YouthQ: What was your interaction with authority during your early adolescence (from an apolitical perspective)?

A: As a skateboarder and a self-identified member of the “disenfranchised”, I had several negative interactions with security guards and “mall-cops” who threatened me with low-level punishments, nevertheless making me feel like an “enemy” of the establishment. This enhanced my tendency towards deviance, and increased my negative attitudes towards all authority figures, including police officers.

Q: Did this alienating treatment of your deviance foster in any way your later political reactions against authority?

A: Certainly. It made me feel like I too was one of the “disenfranchised” victims of capitalism and conservatism and made fears generated by police misconduct much more real to me because of this early treatment. (i.e. “if gays and blacks can be oppressed by the police maybe I can too”).

Q: Other than for political reasons, why did you rebel against these authority figures in this period?

A: One reason is that my consumption of counter-cultural media like skateboarding videos, hip-hop music, and punk music made anti- authoritarianism “cool” and acceptable. Another would be the social aspect: much of the time I was surrounded by people who were more deviant than I and subsequently had more negative interaction with police, so this behaviour became socially mandated through peer pressure and ideas of conformity.

Q: Was this sort of behaviour the kind that could impact society in any way?

A: Maybe not directly, but it could have spiralled out into more deeply entrenched values in the future, had I stayed the course. And the social impact could have impacted my peers or others.

Section 3 - ActivismQ: what kind of anti-authoritarian sentiment did you personally witness as an activist?

A: In much of the niche left-wing media I consumed, much of the content was ational, detailed stories on misconduct, however the deeper I went the more generalising the

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content became i.e. “the problem with cops is that they…” or “police just exist to defend the capitalist elite”, etc. in an attempt to de-legitimise the authority itself. Some of the people I interacted with had their own stories about misconduct, however I often saw their version of the events as slightly distorted but their own victimisation.

Q: Did any of the anti-authoritarian sentiment you saw at a greater level, to you, seem to be having a negative impact on society?

A: Yes. The search for attention from the mainstream media (who were generally seen to ignore the left) brought people I identified with into legal grey areas, attempting to prompt a “Gandhi-like” arrest. I saw people in the occupy movement walk onto roads and bridges to march, blocking traffic, camping in public areas like parks, streets and roads, and pressing against police barriers in formation to provoke aggressive retribution.

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