{"product_id":"our-enemies-in-blue-police-and-power-in-america-9781849352154","title":"Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLet's begin with the basics: violence is an inherent part of policing. The police represent the most direct means by which the state imposes its will on the citizenry. They are armed, trained, and authorized to use force. Like the possibility of arrest, the threat of violence is implicit in every police encounter. Violence, as well as the law, is what they represent.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing media reports alone, the Cato Institute's last annual study listed nearly seven thousand victims of police \"misconduct\" in the United States. But such stories of police brutality only scratch the surface of a national epidemic. Every year, tens of thousands are framed, blackmailed, beaten, sexually assaulted, or killed by cops. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on civil judgments and settlements annually. Individual lives, families, and communities are destroyed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this extensively revised and updated edition of his seminal study of policing in the United States, Kristian Williams shows that police brutality isn't an anomaly, but is built into the very meaning of law enforcement in the United States. From antebellum slave patrols to today's unarmed youth being gunned down in the streets, \"peace keepers\" have always used force to shape behavior, repress dissent, and defend the powerful. \u003ci\u003eOur Enemies in Blue\u003c\/i\u003e is a well-researched page-turner that both makes historical sense of this legalized social pathology and maps out possible alternatives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKristian Williams\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of several books, including \u003ci\u003eAmerican Methods: Torture and the Logic of Domination\u003c\/i\u003e. He co-edited \u003ci\u003eLife During Wartime: Resisting Counterinsurgency\u003c\/i\u003e, and lives in Portland, Oregon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKristian Williams is the author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Methods: Torture and the Logic of Domination\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHurt: Notes on Torture in a Modern Democracy\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eFire the Cops!\u003c\/i\u003e He was one of the editors of the collection \u003ci\u003eLife During Wartime: Resisting Counterinsurgency\u003c\/i\u003e, and is a contributing editor at the movement security web journal, DCSC.ws. He has written about policing and state violence for \u003ci\u003eClamor\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCounterpunch\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew Politics\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIn These Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eToward Freedom\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Portland, Oregon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AK Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50647675633938,"sku":"9781849352154","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_98ee9041-bfa6-4a13-a687-2c9c03cbf104.jpg?v=1734803958","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/our-enemies-in-blue-police-and-power-in-america-9781849352154","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}