Oregon Law Review : Vol. 89, No. 4, p.1257-1312 : Anti-Snitching Norms and Community Loyalty
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Date
2011
Authors
Asbury, Bret D.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
In recent years, a troubling trend has emerged within a number of
poor, black communities. Termed “Stop Snitching,” it has manifested
itself in the form of community members’ refusing to cooperate with
police investigations of community crimes. The result of this
widespread refusal to cooperate has been a reduced number of crimes
solved within these communities; without cooperating witnesses, it
has proven exceedingly difficult for police to make criminal cases. This Article suggests a different understanding of Stop Snitching,
arguing that poor, black community members’ refusal to cooperate
with police investigations should be viewed as neither ethically
condemnable nor inexplicable, but rather as a natural extension of the
innate human aspiration to be loyal. It does so by situating Stop
Snitching within the existing literature on loyalty and asserting that
the refusal to cooperate with police represents a privileging of
community loyalty over loyalty to the state. Throughout the various
strata of contemporary society, such privileging of the familiar over
the remote is common, and Stop Snitching is neither puzzling nor
reprehensible when viewed as a manifestation of this manner of
prioritization.
Once Stop Snitching is understood as a reflection of the weak
loyalty bonds that exist between police officers and the poor, black
communities they serve, it becomes clear that it can be curtailed and
ultimately eliminated only through police efforts aimed atstrengthening these bonds. This Article closes with a discussion of
the steps police should take in order to succeed in this regard.
Description
56 p.
Keywords
Citation
89 Or. L. Rev. 1257 (2011)