Anti-police sentiment is opposition to thepolice by groups or individuals. This sentiment can arise from perceptions of systemic issues within policing institutions, such asmisconduct, excessive use of force, racial profiling, andcorruption.
The anti-police sentiment has been reported to be on the rise in Indonesia in recent years due to the rise of police brutality in the country[when?]. In 2021, a police officer was recorded slamming student protesters inBanten.[1] In the same year, a woman named Novia Widyasari was found dead in front of her father's grave after she found out about her pregnancy in aftermath of the rape perpetrated by a police officer who was her boyfriend. The incident later raised the anti-police sentiment among the locals even further.[2]
On 2024, a primary school teacher fromKonawe Regency,Southeast Sulawesi was arrested for allegedly disciplining a student who happens to be a son of a local police officer and asked to pay 50 million Rupiah fines. The arrest prompted anger among Indonesian internet users, flaming another anti-police sentiment in Indonesia.
Anti-Garda Síochána (Republic of Ireland police) sentiment is common amongIrish Travellers, a social group with high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime.[3][4] Gardaí were also accused ofpolice brutality in theShell to Sea protests of 2006–2011, and anti-brutality protests took place in 2007.[5] Anti-Garda sentiment is also common inDublin's north inner city,[6] an area of high crime, deprivation and drug addiction. Local youths attacked Gardaí during the2006 Dublin riots, sparked by aLove Ulster protest.[7] TheKerry babies case of 1984 also sparked anti-Garda feeling in the area.[8] The acronym AGAB, a variation onACAB, is sometimes used.[9]
Aseries of riots took place inSweden in April 2022 after Danish-born, right-wing activistRasmus Paludan attempted to hold a series ofQuran burning demonstrations in the country. Counterprotesters responded by attacking participants and engaging inrioting, often getting into violent clashes with police.National Police CommissionerAnders Thornberg said that, in some cases, protesters "tried to kill police."[12] In an interview withAgence France-Presse, Kivanc Atak ofStockholm University interpreted the riots to be unusual as, unlike most incidents causing conflict between police and minorities, the unrest was not directed against a specific case ofpolice misconduct nor even the subject in general. Manne Gerell ofMalmö University further added that some of those involved in the unrest might have been seeking to vent general frustration against police, such as over the use ofstop and search powers.[12] Anders Thornberg said some rioters were suspected to have "[had] links to criminal gangs" and that the police would look into it.[13]
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A pin fromNorthern Ireland that reads "Help the Police, beat yourself up."
Contrary to its European neighbours,England did not have a tradition of professional police forces. Crime prevention was carried out by a combination of the town watch and the parish constabulary appointed by thejustices of the peace in each county. InGreat Britain during the late 1790s, anti-police views were based on the possible encroachment of absolutism through professionalised law enforcement, the obstruction of themagistrates' power and skepticism towards trusting an unfamiliar organisation.[14]
In the 1950s, William Westley suggested that anti-police sentiment may come from the social stigma of working in dangerous conditions, having to work with stigmatizedothers, and at times unethical practices.[15]
In the 1970s, police departments began to become concerned about litigation overpolice misconduct.[16]
In 1991,Rodney King, an African American man, was savagely beaten by four Los Angeles Police officers. The following year, the1992 Los Angeles riots broke out in response to the acquittal of the police officers involved in the beating. This event brought large amounts of media attention to police brutality towards minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics.
The 2014shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing outrage is considered a turning point in the U.S. dialogue of the "war on cops"[17] with theBlack Lives Matter movement challenging the legitimacy of the police.[17]
Minority groups in disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to distrust police more[18] and feel that the "law is not on their side".[19]
The role of police in the restriction of youth freedom has also perpetuated anti-police sentiments among young people.[20]
During theGeorge Floyd protests and thewave of racial unrest that followed, a surge in anti-police attacks was reported.[21] According to a 2021FBI statement, "103 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers [took place] this year, which was an increase of 115% from 2020, and resulted in 130 officers being shot. Thirty of those officers were killed."[22][23] In April 2021, Canadian scholarTemitope Oriola expressed concern tensions between police and African Americans could lead to an "anti-policeinsurgency", drawing parallels tothe armed conflict that took place between 1950 and 1994 inApartheid South Africa. Oriola noted that the vast majority of anti-police brutality protests have been peaceful, and an insurgency in the United States would be far less violent than one in other countries.[24]
The shooting of unarmed African AmericanMichael Brown by a police officer in 2014 caused public outrage in the U.S. and a condemnation of law enforcement'suse of force against the marginalised.[12] Culhane, Boman and Schweitzer have pointed out that in the post-Ferguson era, there is a greater preconceived assumption among the public that the police are the perpetrators of unjustified violence rather than the offender being at fault in incidents of police brutality.[12]
The July 2016shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota resulted in a large protest that included vandalism of police headquarters such as covering them with red paint.[28][29]
The2017 St Louis Protests were a response to the police shooting ofAnthony Lamar Smith in 2011.[31] Banners containing anti-police rhetoric were shown; police cars and other property were damaged.[32] Ten officers were injured during the violent protests.[31]
Smartphones, allowing people to capture real-time recordings of confrontations with police and spread them across the internet, have been mentioned in helping extend anti-police sentiment.[26][17] Anti-police sentiment also manifests in music.[35]
Public Enemy – The late 1980s was a significant time for the hip-hop industry with the release of music that was explicit in its social commentary on the corrupt morality of authorities.[36] As such, anti-police views began to be expressed by hip-hop groups such asPublic Enemy who released"Fight the Power" in 1989, holding a harsh mirror to the police force for them to recognise their racial prejudice. Thus, it became an "anthem for the kind of resistance that rap music had already begun to embrace".[36]
N.W.A – Another notable example of anti-police rhetoric existent in popular culture isN.W.A's song "Fuck tha Police" released in 1988 which was inspired by their personal encounters with law enforcement that involved discrimination. The reception of this song by authority figures was utter discontent, causing the proliferation of tensions between the rap group and the police.[37] On the other hand, its reception with the African American community was powerful as it "struck a nerve for many people, especially the marginalized communities. They wanted justice, too, but only in fictional songs like ‘Fuck tha police' could they seem to find it".[37] Its provocative lyrics have influenced other artists such as Mayhem Mal who utilised the same title and received backlash for its anti-police undertones.[37]
Uncle Marda & Maida – The statements in Uncle Marda & Maida's 2014 song "Hands Up" has been described as "a parable about what happens when a marginalised community simply can't take it anymore".[38] The lyrics were anti-police and the music video depicted power inversion.[38]
Rage Against the Machine – R.A.T.M's signature 1992 song,Killing in the Name, makes numerous references to police brutality, corruption, andinstitutional racism. The line “Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses" references phenomenon of some law enforcement officers also being members of theKu Klux Klan and otherwhite supremacist hate groups in the United States.
Police have expressed feeling threatened by violent protesters and attackers, and a dissatisfaction with a larger gap between police and the community.[19]
Some have blamed media for fueling anti-police sentiment. Chuck Cantury Howard Safir identified "a war on police" in his letter to PresidentBarack Obama.[17] FormerFBI directorJames Comey addressed in 2015 by positing that "a chill wind [is] blowing through American law enforcement over the last year… and that wind is surely changing behavior".[17] Academics have theorized that "de-policing" may be seen in America as a response to police dissatisfaction in some areas.
^Reynolds-Stenson, Heidi (2017-09-22). "Protesting the police: anti-police brutality claims as a predictor of police repression of protest".Social Movement Studies.17 (1):48–63.doi:10.1080/14742837.2017.1381592.ISSN1474-2837.S2CID149328638.
^abcdefMaguire, Edward R.; Nix, Justin; Campbell, Bradley A. (2016-09-29). "A War on Cops? The Effects of Ferguson on the Number of U.S. Police Officers Murdered in the Line of Duty".Justice Quarterly.34 (5):739–758.doi:10.1080/07418825.2016.1236205.ISSN0741-8825.S2CID151627812.
^abWahl, Rachel (2017). "No Justice, No Peace?: The Police, People of Color, and the Paradox of Protecting Human Rights".Human Rights Quarterly.39 (4):811–831.doi:10.1353/hrq.2017.0050.ISSN1085-794X.S2CID149148180.
^Lurigio, Arthur; Greenleaf, Richard; Flexon, Jamie (2009). "The Effects of Race on Relationships with the Police: A Survey of African American and Latino Youths in Chicago".Western Criminology Review.10 (1):29–41.
^Panico, Rebecca (December 12, 2019)."Jersey City shooters had 'tremendous amount of firepower.' Attack investigated as domestic terror, AG says". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. RetrievedDecember 13, 2019."We believe the suspects held views that reflected hatred of Jewish people as well as law enforcement," Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said at a press conference. "The evidence points toward acts of hate. We're investigating this as a potential act of terrorism fueled by anti-Semitic and anti-law enforcement beliefs."
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