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- Verified Buyer
In light of recent protests across the United States, the question of policing has come to the fray. One of the primary questions being, what is the role of policing? The answer may lie in its class character. In Kristian Williams’ excellent sourcebook, the police have never served the interests of the poor (and lately the middle-class), but only to protect the interests of the US ruling-class until the police created their own class character in the 1960s, becoming an uneasy ally of the ruling class they were designed to protect. The concept of a police force was rather recent, originating from medieval-era night patrol, which was less state-involved and more voluntary, leaving much to be desired. It was in the 18th century, the era of colonization, that Britain established the “first” modern police force, the London Metropolitan Police. Williams would spend more time tracing the patterns and history of the US police force, which first originated through southern US slave patrols. Eventually borrowing aspects from the London Metropolitan Police, the US police force became more uniform and organized as time went by, evolving from a heavily-politicized law enforcement department to labor unionizing (in complete alienation from other labor unions) to what it has become today. Along the way, paramilitary branches emerged from the police; the union-busting Pinkertons and the heavily-militarized SWAT brigades (whose first operation was to rat out the Black Panther Marxist groups in the late 1960s). These paramilitary brigades helped contribute to the increased militarization of the US police force that became the center of attention in the 21st century. The goal of police, despite its many reforms and restructuring, has not changed: to suppress the most marginalized groups in the US, which is the working-class and minorities. This suppression, according to Williams, ranges from COINTELPRO infiltration and sabotage of labor unions, collaboration with racist and white supremacist groups, policy dictation in city, state, and federal governments, and the good old-fashioned riot suppression. With such scathing accusations towards the US police force, one must assume that Williams must have evidence, which the author furiously provides. The bibliography provides primary sources (statistics from human rights organizations, police accountability groups, accounts from the officers and their victims) and secondary sources (studies from researchers, etc.). Are these sources legitimate? Williams interlocks the sources with each other, revealing a concurrent event that was occurring. When the evidence matches with each other, then there will be the truth that emerges from the book. As this is a fantastic book in learning about the US police force and what it does, Our Enemies in Blue is not without its flaws. Most of the criticisms come from the afterword, where Williams attempts to show alternatives towards US policing. There, Williams’ anarchist biases are more obvious than before. Not that there is anything wrong with Williams’ selected alternatives (learning about the Black Panther’s community policing and gang peace was very interesting), it would have been equally interesting to know about other forms of policing across the world, namely from socialist countries (such as the USSR, China, or Cuba). It would seem appropriate to compare policing in a socialist country to that of the US, though it would probably go against the anarchist lessons cooked up in the book. Our Enemies in Blue also mentions that US policing tactics were then used through out the world, yet does not mention which countries adopted those tactics (though Williams does mention Apartheid South Africa and North Ireland in the context of police alternatives). Although the critique of the US police force is the center of the book, it would have been at least useful, continuity-wise, to at least mention the US police’s influence outside of the US, such as the use of tear gas in suppressing protests. Large, packed with information, and certainly not boring, Our Enemies in Blue serves as an excellent tome in learning about the negative aspects of US policing. Williams has created a book that will no doubt help future activists in regards to changing policing in the US.
