Policing Space: Territoriality and the Los Angeles Police Department

by Steve Herbert

Policing Space is a fascinating firsthand account of how the Los Angeles Police Department attempts to control its vast, heterogeneous territory. As such, the book offers a rare, ground-level look at the relationship between the control of space and the exercise of power.
Author Steve Herbert spent eight months observing one patrol division of the LAPD on the job. A compelling story in itself, his fieldwork with the officers in the Wilshire Division affords readers a close view of the complex factors at play in how the police define and control territory, how they make and mark space. Unique in its application of fieldwork and theory to this complex subject, Policing Space should prove valuable to readers in urban and political geography, urban and political sociology, and criminology, as well as those who wonder about the workings of the LAPD.

Genres: Nonfiction, Academic

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herbert takes an interesting stance on race, neither race-blind nor race-conscious, expanding upon the ways common cultural values like machismo-ism, safety, and police competence shape how policing works as a whole. Exploring these so-called "normative orders", Herbert follows various LAPD officers through ride-alongs and interviews, getting what could possibly be an accurate view of the officers' worlds.
Policing and controlling space is essential to understanding how colonialism, white supremacy, and masculinity define and shape our world--from robbing of native lands to patrolling the block on Skid Row, police have existed throughout history to maintain "social order" (whatever that may look like culturally at the time). Herbert purports that these normative orders (cultural values) might not necessarily look like "white supremacy", but when applied by individuals with biases can take different forms. I'm still not certain if I agree with this sentiment entirely as I believe white supremacy is even more deeply rooted in the concept of policing as a whole, but Herbert performs an excellent analysis on how police demand "respect" from their territory, and this formed a solid foundation for me to more accurately understand policing as a whole.

[River · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for a Cultural Geography class, definitely interesting with the framework of the class.

[Chris Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. A little dramatic. Have to be honest though it's actually been a while since I read it.