Neighborhood Watch: Policing White Spaces in America

by Shawn E. Fields

Overview

Although racism has plagued the American justice system since the nation's colonial beginnings, private White Americans are taking matters into their own hands. From racist 911 calls and hoaxes to grassroots voter suppression and vigilante 'self-defense,' concerted efforts are made every day by private citizens to exclude Black Americans from schools, neighborhoods, and positions of power. Neighborhood Watch examines the specific ways people police America's color line to protect 'White spaces.' The book charts how these actions too often result in harassment, arrest, injury, or death, yet typically go unchecked. Instead, these actions are promoted and encouraged by legislatures looking to expand racially discriminatory laws, a police system designed to respond with force to any frivolous report of Black 'mischief,' and a Supreme Court that has abdicated its role in rejecting police abuse. To combat these realities, Neighborhood Watch offers preliminary recommendations for reform, including changes to the 'maximum policing' state, increased accountability for civilians who abuse emergency response systems, and proposals to demilitarize the color line.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108793506
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/09/2022
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.43(d)

About the Author

Shawn Fields is a legal scholar, civil rights attorney, and criminal justice reform advocate. He has represented dozens of clients challenging unconstitutional criminal detentions, and currently teaches Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law at Campbell University School of Law. He previously opened the first refugee rights law office in East Africa, representing over 500 refugees in status determination hearings. Shawn lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife and their two children.

Table of Contents

Introduction: a personal protection agency; 1. Cycles of racial fear; 2. White caller crime; 3. Just a hunch; 4. Defending white space; 5. Unqualified immunity; 6. Permanent fear; 7. Rethinking maximum policing; 8. Resisting a 'shoot first, think later' culture; Epilogue: 'send her back'.

Editorial Reviews

‘This is an important and timely book. Professor Fields skillfully connects the current climate of 911 abuse and vigilante justice to America’s long history of racial fear and offers a compelling indictment of a criminal justice system that promotes such conduct. Required reading for racial justice and criminal justice reform advocates.’ Tracey Maclin, Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law

‘Neighborhood Watch is an important investigation into the fact that we continue to have white-dominated spaces in the post-civil rights United States of America. Fields' analyses of different aspects of this problem are persuasive. This book is a strong contribution to the scholarly literature, but so lucidly written that it will grab the attention of a general audience.’ Frank Rudy Cooper, Director, Program on Race, Gender & Policing, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Co-editor of Fight the Power!: Law and Policy Through Hip-hop Songs

‘Neighborhood Watch is a must-read for all who want to understand how space is racialized in the United States and how everyday white residents have repeatedly utilized their racialized understandings of these spaces - through 911, neighborhood watch programs, social media platforms, and more - to police the racial boundaries and hierarchies that a system of Jim Crow once explicitly regulated. Professor Shawn Fields deftly illustrates the interconnected ways in which governments promote and encourage racial violence and brilliantly exposes readers to the public-private partnership in enforcing the ‘color line’ in our nation.’ Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean, Boston University School of Law

From the Publisher