Welcome to Litsy!

A narrative-driven exploration of policing and the punishment of disadvantage in Chicago, and a new vision for repairing urban neighborhoods in our carceral state The Chicago Police Department is infamous for high-profile cases of overt corruption, violence and racism. For example, between March 2011 and September 2015, citizens across the city filed more than 28,000 allegations of police misconduct, with 2,000 charges coming from a single neighborhood. In The War on Neighborhoods, Ryan Lugalia-Hollon and Dan Cooper interview residents, police officers, community activists, judges, businesspeople, and those who have been in and out of the penal system in Austin, a majority black neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, where the incarceration rate is forty-two times higher than the highest-ranked white community. Through first-hand reporting and careful analysis, Lugalia-Hollon and Cooper show how punitive sanctions have systematically maintained a perpetual state of disorder and disenfranchisement in the community rather than a sense of public safety and security. This trend can be seen nationwide: in cities across the country, specific neighborhoods are punished and starved of investment in positive community structures that can allow residents to reach their full potential. Incisive and informative, The War on Neighborhoods makes the case for a revolutionary reformation of our policing model that shifts focus from punishment and police-mandated arrest quotas, and lifts up the power of residents, shores up neighborhood structures, and addresses the effects of trauma and poverty. What the authors call for ultimately is a profound shift in how we think about investing in urban communities--away from the perverse misinvestment of incarceration and toward a model that invests in people. (less)

A narrative-driven exploration of policing and the punishment of disadvantage in Chicago, and a new vision for repairing urban neighborhoods in our carceral state The Chicago Police Department is infamous for high-profile cases of overt (…more)