"I Can't Breathe": Hyper-Surveillance and Policing of Black Communities

Recent national events have exposed the longstanding tensions between communities of color and local law enforcement agencies. Decades of structural inequality has led to generations of impoverished low-income families in many cities as demonstrated in Ferguson, MO, Baltimore, MD, and Staten Island, NY. Blacks, regardless of income, are disproportionately under surveillance, followed, unjustly detained, and injured or killed by law enforcement when compared to other ethnic groups. Disciplines differ in their approach to the issue of stemming tension between Blacks and police; among social science scholars there is little consensus about the key factors contributing to these problems, their order of importance, and strategies for change.

In response to the social work grand challenge to end racial injustice, this roundtable aims to facilitate critical discourse about the over-policing and surveillance of Blacks. Specifically, the roundtable will explore ways social work research can uniquely contribute to addressing one of the nation’s most pressing problems. We will present an integrated theoretical framework based on a synthesis of the literature that supports studies of this issue. Informed by existing research that addresses the relationship between legal systems and the Black community, the theoretical framework draws from stress and socialization theories to understand bi-directional influences between individuals and their environments. The presenters posit that the short-term and long-term effects of the surveillance practices are prevalent and pervasive at the individual, family, community, and policy level, particularly for low-income urban Black communities. Social work research has an integral role in informing policies and intervention strategies to address these issues.

The moderated roundtable will begin the dialogue about the history of mistrust between Blacks and police and present examples of the "over policing" of these communities. Presenters will focus particular attention on the historical, cultural, and situational contexts of over-surveillance and unjust killings of unarmed Blacks. A presenter will discuss how implicit and explicit biases lead certain members of law enforcement to assume Blacks are usually "guilty" of an offense. A second presenter will discuss divergent perspectives of Black pathology (e.g., inherent criminality) and systemic racism. Two presenters will offer recommendations for macro policy changes and for working within communities to improve trust between police and the people they serve. A fifth presenter will discuss the psychosocial effects of racial discrimination by highlighting culturally relevant theories in the areas of anxiety, stress, and emotion regulation. Overall, the goals of this roundtable are to promote better understanding of these issues and to elucidate the role social work researchers can play to address the negative consequences of over-policing of Black communities.