Police Perception of Riot Activity

Abstract

Police departments are usually viewed as monolithic institutions, and the attitude of policemen toward the function of the police depart ment in society is often described as authoritarian. The latter descrip tion is challenged in this report, which reveals extensive division of opinion among policemen about major policy issues and about the nature of their own department. During the riots which followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Thursday, April 4, 1968, the Chicago Police Department attempted to mobilize sufficient manpower to quell disturbances in the city's Black communities. The partial success of this attempt is described in detail in order to establish a background for the discussion of police attitudes toward police and riot activity during the period which followed Dr. King's death. The pressure of service during the riot caused many policemen to form definite opinions. The divergence of these opinions does much to dis pel the myth of a police monolith.