Race, Place, and Suburban Policing - by Andrea S Boyles (Paperback)

About the Book

"Relying on compelling interviews from the Meacham Park neighborhood--a marginalized Black enclave located in a predominately white affluent St. Louis suburb, this book brings to life the everyday interactions of disadvantaged suburban Blacks as they faced annexation, aggressive policing, two nationally profiled shootings, and intervention from the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ)"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

While considerable attention has been given to encounters between black citizens and police in urban communities, there have been limited analyses of such encounters in suburban settings. Race, Place, and Suburban Policing tells the full story of social injustice, racialized policing, nationally profiled shootings, and the ambiguousness of black life in a suburban context. Through compelling interviews, participant observation, and field notes from a marginalized black enclave located in a predominately white suburb, Andrea S. Boyles examines a fraught police-citizen interface, where blacks are segregated and yet forced to negotiate overlapping spaces with their more affluent white counterparts.

From the Back Cover

"Contributes to the dialogue surrounding race, place, and policing as it challenges status quo assumptions by giving voice to black citizens and putting their experiences with police at the forefront of the narrative."--Amy Lubitow and Emma Deppa, Teaching Sociology

"The contribution this text makes lies in its devotion to capturing the stories of the people involved. Although the narratives are principally those of Meacham Park's residents, the author does include pertinent stories from former Kirkwood leaders. This research required 2 years to complete. Few researchers would devote this much time to a study, preferring instead to merely collect quantitative data and produce statistical reports. Boyles' attention to detail is impressive. Moreover, it is clear from her writing that she values the contributions made by each of the people she interviews."--Brian Withrow, Criminal Justice Review

"Race, Place, and Suburban Policing is a timely and important book. Set in a suburb not far from Ferguson, MO, it is a must-read for those who seek a deeper understanding of the social and historical forces that led to the killing of Michael Brown and the protests that took hold of Ferguson in the months following his death."--Nikki Jones, author of Between Good and Ghetto: African American Girls and Inner-City Violence

"This book is a powerful and prescient investigation of police-African American community relations in suburban St. Louis. What makes Boyles' work so compelling is her insistence that contemporary racialized policing be understood through a socio-historical lens. She balances a broad view, including the roots of American policing in slave codes and sundown towns, with the rich and careful analysis of the history of place to offer a groundbreaking contribution."--Jody Miller, author of Getting Played: African American Girls, Urban Inequality, and Gendered Violence and One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender

Review Quotes

"It is not serendipity that an academic engages a topic that suddenly enters the national conversation; rather, it is a reflection of Dr. Boyles' attentiveness as a scholar and an author that she chose to write about one of the key civil rights issue of the twenty-first century, just as it was boiling under the national surface."-- "City & Society"

"Sounding the call for more research into suburbs is Andrea Boyles's very timely Race, Place, and Suburban Policing."-- "Sociological Forum"

"Boyles brings two fresh perspectives to the table of policing literature. First, her focus is on suburbia rather than the more traditional policing milieu of cities. Second, she expands the conversation from the police to the body politic as a whole. This latter novelty is arguably the most important addition Boyles makes to the policing literature."-- "Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books"

"Boyles presents a unique and innovative understanding of the relationship between race, place, and policing."-- "Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology" (11/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Rarely do we scrutinize the persistent inequalities between white and black America at the root of these social problems. It is in this context that Andrea Boyles' book Race, Place, and Suburban Policing is so timely... informative."-- "Contemporary Sociology"

About the Author

Andrea S. Boyles is Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at Tulane University. She is a feminist, race scholar, and author of You Can't Stop the Revolution: Community Disorder and Social Ties in Post-Ferguson America.