More Deterrence

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I take exception to the article "When the Tough Get Going" in the October 5, 1983 edition of the Harvard Crimson. Although the issues are complex, I will try to be succinct.

The lecture which I delivered to the Command Staff of the New York City Police Department was based not only on the "Broken Windows" article written with Professor James Q. Wilson. [The Atlantic, 249, No.3 (March 1982) 29-33], but also on other articles I have published (especially about automobile and foot patrol), research I have conducted, my concern that those most vulnerable in our society--the urban poor, minorities, and the elderly--receive adequate police help and protection. Professor Wilson and other coauthors were in no way responsible for the content of that lecture.

Mr. Louis's assertion notwithstanding, I did not sum up my advice in one phrase ("kick ass") nor did the audience remain "stonily silent." In fact, the session was characterized by animated discussion and strong disagreement among some members of the police audience, the panel on which I served, members of the general audience, and myself. It is likely that many of us who were there did not then agree on the focus of the debate. It is even less likely that we would reach such a consensus now.

That aside, a few comments, Use of force is at the heart of policing. It is rarely used, however, and use of deadly force occurs even more rarely. However tragic the instances cited by Mr. Louis, the fact is that police exercise their legal right to use deadly force in only a minuscule percentage of cases in which its use would be justified--even when viewed in light of the most restrictive gun policy. Although it is rarely used, the capacity of police to legitimately use force shapes most, if not all, police contacts with citizens. Use of force, the threat of its usage, or its mere latent presence are important in enforcing the law, maintaining order, and settling disputes.

Police readily acknowledge that force is used to uphold the law: however, many are quite reticent to acknowledge its use in maintaining order or setting disputes. The reason is simple enough the authority force in law enforcement activities is conferred by legal sanctions. Yet no clearly articulated legal sanctions govern police maintenance of order and settlement of disputes Despite the absence of guidelines, force is occasionally used--at times wisely and appropriately, at other times unwisely and inappropriately. Clearly a goal of public policy should be to decrease its unwise or inappropriate use. The problem is that it is precisely this failure to acknowledge the use of force to maintain order and settle disputes that has caused many police executives to fail to manage the use of force effectively. What concerns me is management of the use of force in all aspects of police work--order maintenance and dispute settlement, as well as law enforcement. That was the theme of my lecture.

This message is vulnerable to distortion: Kelling wants police to manage torture and murder. That's absurd: what I want is for police departments to honestly appraise their use of force, apprise communities and neighborhoods of how it is used, formulate its future use in consultation with neighborhoods and communities and do this within the context of constitutional safeguards protecting personal liberty and with concern for communal peace and security.

The example of "ass-kicking" which I provided in the Wilson-Kelling paper originated with a Black police sergeant who is a hero among residents of public housing in Chicago. Residents know he cares and will work to protect them. He has a keen sense of injustice: he was reared in the terror of public housing preyed on by gangs. He is committed to assisting residents to control their own neighborhoods.

I share Mr. Louis's concern about police use of force. Certainly in the name of humanity, not to mention free inquiry, one should be able to ask questions and debate policies about how to protect vulnerable citizens without being held responsible for torture and murder. George L. Kelling   Research Fellow