Making a Problem of Brutality

Abstract This chapter considers the idea that crime is a problem that preoccupies the news and the public. It discusses the media’s interest in “crime waves,” which can be the result of official efforts to create, sustain, or exploit public concern about crime. The privileged access to the media offers police and other officials abundant opportunities to shape public images of themselves, their work, and the nature of the crime problem. The chapter illustrates how police use of physical force is a particularly controversial issue in American crime-fighting. Whether police use of force is presented as police brutality and whether brutality is understood as a problem depend greatly upon which voices and views the media emphasize.