Policing America

This is an anthology whose general viewpoint is that police act largely as a state arm for counterinsurgency, encouraged by a growing police-industrial complex. The readings in the book develop the thesis that during the last 100 years police have become an enforcement arm for economic and political interest associated with the capitalistic system both in America and third world countries where the U.S. has investments. The development of electronic criminal information systems and surveillance apparatus under law enforcement assistance administration grants is considered a dangerous trend toward a police-industrial complex. It is suggested that police forces should become increasingly decentralized under community and neighborhood control.