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Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America

NCJ Number
135006
Author(s)
F Donner
Date Published
1990
Length
514 pages
Annotation
This book exposes repressive police operations in several major U.S. cities over the past century and offers a detailed account of police misconduct and violations of protected freedoms.
Abstract
The book specifically looks at undercover police operations in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia and in secondary cities like the District of Columbia, Detroit, and Baltimore. Repressive police tactics of the past 30 years are identified, particularly urban intelligence operations and abuses that burgeoned during the political unrest of the 1960's and 1970's. Open police violence and corruption in Chicago are discussed along with Frank Rizzo in Philadelphia, ties between the police department and right-wing movements in Los Angeles, and the lack of professionalism among some New York City police. The history of countersubversion and police misconduct is traced from the late 19th century through the 20th century, beginning with the Gilded Age repression of economic protest and anarchist activities. The author looks at efforts to curb organized labor, police behavior during World War I, the ideological response to the Great Depression, and police misconduct during the Cold War. The link between police behavior and patterns of city politics is explored, and the shift in police interest from crime to countersubversion is documented. References and notes

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