Militarization and Stop and Frisk

Abstract

The militarization of the police and the use of the stop-and-frisk practice have resulted in a major schism between the Black community and the police. Police officers are trained to view criminal behavior in terms of personal choice, individual fragilities, or cultural inferiority. Issues of structural inequality or systematic discrimination are not thoroughly discussed during police training. Critical Race Theory (CRT), a contemporary theory focused on examining social, economic, political, and legal structures in society that are built to sustain white supremacy in society, is specifically used to consider how law enforcement and public safety has been used to continually suppress rather than support Blacks. In essence, CRT provides a rich foundation for educating police officers around the complex ways in which race intersects with other forms of social oppression to structure Black communities’ experiences with the militarization of police and the stop-and-frisk practice. This chapter provides a succinct but thorough account of the history of the militarization of the police and the controversial stop-and-frisk policing tactic, while chronicling the negative impact of these practices on police departments, public safety, public opinion, and the Black communities.