"Start Snitching"

Hakim Hazim, who's often written on GroupIntel about gang violence, has an interesting new piece at MSNBC's The Grio on crime and popular attitudes:

"There is a code and practice that has to be addressed in the black community. It's a code of silence that is deafening. It is a code that refuses to hear the blood of our brothers crying out. The "stop snitching" movement is a social construct enforced through various fears including fear of retribution and ostracism. But it's time to move beyond this dishonorable system, once put in place because of racist and hostile law enforcement agencies eager to round up any young black male that they could find."

The "stop snitching" movement is an interesting case for applying counterinsurgency theory to a domestic issue. In many parts of the inner city the police are seen as a kind of occupying army that only enters for raids (Iraq pre-surge?). Functional areas are controlled by gangs running sophisticated operations. "Stop snitching" manifests itself in three levels: a basic blood code enforced with violence by gangs in order to keep the population from offering the police support., a societal attitude (somewhat less significant), and an IO operation produced by those sympathetic to gangs (popular entertainers).
Hazim is right to point to its negative consequences and urge a rejection of the "stop snitching" ethos on a societal level. Yet one of the more basic elements of "stop snitching" is the lack of protection for those who "snitch" in even the smallest fashion. The most basic thing that must be done is to ensure that witnesses who see crimes feel like they can report them without fear of violent retaliation.

Comments

[Adrian]

"The most basic thing that must be done is to ensure that witnesses who see crimes feel like they can report them without fear of violent retaliation."

I'm pretty sure every major city has an anonymous tip line. At least, Rochester NY does. Ultimately though this issue runs straight into the right of an accused to confront their accusers.

[A.E.]

It's not necessarily the making of the tip itself but the follow-up protection during and after the trial.

[Pplus]

If there are anonymous tiplines everywhere they aren't publicized enough. Areas of high violence (Newark and Camden NJ to name a few local areas) should apply however much of their budget is needed to community awareness programs that would let people know about ways to be able to share information without fear of retribution. Ideally, every citizen should know by heart, a number which can be called to anonymously share information with authorites. It should be just as second nature as 911 is. I think the biggest obstacle is to gain the public's trust. People have to be confident that numbers won't be traced an people won't be tracked down, no matter what information is shared. The only way to acheive this is through time and repetition.