The Stop Snitching Phenomenon: Breaking the Code of Silence

[tequila]

This is just the latest pop-culture manifestation of a long-term problem, which is the enduring, historically quite justified mistrust of the African-American poor and working-class of the police.

People in the ghetto don't love criminals. Often there is quite a bit of fear involved. But they are from the neighborhood. Snitching means snitching on one's neighbor, or someone related to a neighbor or friend. It's not like you are giving up a "criminal" --- you're giving up someone you know. Especially for nonviolent crimes, or crimes related to the drug trade, there's not much of a personal incentive to give up anyone.

Of course there wouldn't be a "stop snitching" phenomenon if there weren't a lot of snitches out there, the vast majority of whom cannot be confused with your average citizen. The most common snitches are, of course, those swept up for relatively minor drug offenses who try to trade out of their sentences to go up the chain.

And there is of course the natural human response to defy authority and maintain group loyalty. Police officers are notably reticent to snitch on their corrupt and/or brutal colleagues, of course, and so are soldiers. The basic impulse shouldn't be alien to anyone here.

[jkm_101_fso]

Snitching means snitching on one's neighbor, or someone related to a neighbor or friend. It's not like you are giving up a "criminal" --- you're giving up someone you know. Especially for nonviolent crimes, or crimes related to the drug trade, there's not much of a personal incentive to give up anyone.

According to the report I watched, the "snitcher" wasn't a local, but a person from another part of town. He was set to testify in a murder trial as the key witness, but was murdered in front of his children.

And I disagree, I think there is major glorification of criminals in the inner-city culture. Listen to rap music sometime.

Of course there wouldn't be a "stop snitching" phenomenon if there weren't a lot of snitches out there, the vast majority of whom cannot be confused with your average citizen. The most common snitches are, of course, those swept up for relatively minor drug offenses who try to trade out of their sentences to go up the chain.

I happen to like snitches. I don't like criminals.

And there is of course the natural human response to defy authority and maintain group loyalty. Police officers are notably reticent to snitch on their corrupt and/or brutal colleagues, of course, and so are soldiers. The basic impulse shouldn't be alien to anyone here.

I fail to see the comparison. If I "snitched" on a fellow Soldier, it would be because he was doing something to jeapordize our mission or other Soldiers' lives. Not because I get satisfaction from "snitching".

[tequila]

According to the report I watched, the "snitcher" wasn't a local, but a person from another part of town. He was set to testify in a murder trial as the key witness, but was murdered in front of his children.

I was referring to the broader cultural trend, not just a single case. In most cases, snitching will happen between people who know each other.

And I disagree, I think there is major glorification of criminals in the inner-city culture. Listen to rap music sometime.

Glorification of criminality in music intended for the youth market does not equate broad-based community support for criminality. The vast majority of rap music is consumed outside of the ghettos.

The influence of rap music on criminality is radically overplayed anyway. I grew up listening to hiphop music. The time when hiphop was most positive and community-oriented was at the height of the violence of the crack epidemic during the late '80s. The rise of gangsta rap coincided with the rapid fall in crime rates in the mid to late 1990s.

I happen to like snitches. I don't like criminals.

The vast majority of snitches, as I said, are criminals looking to trade their associates to get out from under a charge. The stop snitching "movement", as it was, is not really aimed at the average everyday person who witnesses a crime, as these folks are rare.

I fail to see the comparison. If I "snitched" on a fellow Soldier, it would be because he was doing something to jeapordize our mission or other Soldiers' lives. Not because I get satisfaction from "snitching".

Exactly my point --- you wouldn't snitch for something trivial or for something that didn't affect you or your unit or your mission. The basic human impulse is to look the other way, especially if the authority figure is viewed as a member of a social out-group.

[jkm_101_fso]

I was referring to the broader cultural trend, not just a single case. In most cases, snitching will happen between people who know each other.

But what about when it doesn't? Is that still considered snitching. The report I watched talked about snitching evolving recently into non-related witnesses in court cases. Maybe not where the trend started, but now that's where it's at. Any person who testifies in any court against anyone is a snitch and apparently deserves death.

Glorification of criminality in music intended for the youth market does not equate broad-based community support for criminality.

That maybe true, but isn't it plausible to assume that many of the extended families have a truant or two in the familiy involved in illegal activity in the ghetto. Is that an assumption that can be made? Obviously families aren't going to rat out there own, so I believe that somewhat.

The vast majority of rap music is consumed outside of the ghettos.

What do they listen to in the ghetto? Frank Sinatra? I think youths look up to rappers. Maybe I'm wrong. They aren't helping.

The vast majority of snitches, as I said, are criminals looking to trade their associates to get out from under a charge. The stop snitching "movement", as it was, is not really aimed at the average everyday person who witnesses a crime, as these folks are rare.

Apparently it's evolving past the criminal element looking to get out of a charge or make a plea deal. It's evolved to anyone that witnessed a crime. Which I don't believe it's "rare". Most crimes have victims.

[reed11b]

despise the "stop Snitching" phenom with a passion!!! Grrrrrr
Understanding the history behind it does not justify it at all, period. The "stop Snitching" campaign does not just protect low level drug dealers, it protects murders, gang members and rapists. These are individuals and crimes that NEED to be caught if you want to live in a stable peaceful society.
Reed

[tequila]

Apparently it's evolving past the criminal element looking to get out of a charge or make a plea deal. It's evolved to anyone that witnessed a crime. Which I don't believe it's "rare". Most crimes have victims.

That's the thing. I don't think this has evolved at all. Just because an old creed has gotten a three-syllable slogan and a T-shirt doesn't make it any different than what went on in the past.

[Majormarginal]

The most common summary of an incident from a shooting victim that I deal with is "I heard a shot and felt pain." Most of the victims end their cooperation there. It is not uncommon for a person to be shot in the genitils, knees, buttocks,or legs. Shootings to settle scores and humiliate.
The supposed "code of silence" among soldiers or cops is not the same thing.
As far as lesser crimes although the law lists the actions as a felony the State will rarely charge accordingly. The charge will become an included misdemeanor or a non prosecution/release. The crime decrease of the late 90's was a pause in the disaster. It is dangerous and time consuming to be an independent witness. Most of the victims and offenders of shootings are already convicted felons who should still be serving sentences. Parole was done away with by changing the name to supervised release. I have been involved in cases that were in court for years. I am paid for my time. The independent witness is not.

[lamont]

despise the "stop Snitching" phenom with a passion!!! Grrrrrr
Understanding the history behind it does not justify it at all, period. The "stop Snitching" campaign does not just protect low level drug dealers, it protects murders, gang members and rapists. These are individuals and crimes that NEED to be caught if you want to live in a stable peaceful society.
Reed

However, you clearly need to split up your treatment of the irreconcilables (murders, gang members, rapists) from the reconcilables (low level drug dealers). Just despising "stop snitching" isn't a strategy.

[Kerguelen]

Seems like there are some strong parallels between connecting with communities in our own cities, breaking down the barriers to law enforcement, and effective counter-insurgency practice. Is the code of silence on the streets of America much different from trying to get Iraqis to point out the insurgents in their midst?

The discussion made me think of this profile of Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets.

"For months after last winter's PR storm, Anthony's handlers wouldn't grant interviews with him unless a reporter agreed not to ask about Stop Snitching. No more. Anthony never felt he'd done anything wrong, nothing big at least. Now, he wants to talk about where he comes from, the hand he was dealt.

In the Pepsi Center, he sets down a PDA he has been tapping away at and leans back in his chair. "Drug dealers funded our programs," he says. "Drug dealers bought our uniforms." They were just about the only guys in the hood with the cash to outfit a team. They did it for three years beginning in late elementary school, he says, and never asked Anthony for anything in return, like carrying product. "They just wanted to see you do good."

When the cops took over the nearby rec center and nailed a Police Athletic League sign on the front, Anthony and his friends boycotted. The goal may have been to clear out the dealers, but to him it felt like one more act of harassment, another form of bullying by some Charm City cop who doesn't especially trust loitering young black males. More than once, Anthony says, men in blue left him black-and-blue. "Nothing major," he says. "They'd just choke me, drag me around." It was enough to seal the kind of resentment that could one day lead to five minutes of face time on a fire-starter DVD."

Not condoning it. But there are similarities between the impact of guys kicking down the wrong Iraqi door in the middle of the night looking for a guy who builds IEDs probably and grabbing the wrong guys on the street of an American city.