Digital Commons Network^™

Interview With Dr. Peter Kraska [Video], Peter Kraska

Peter Kraska

Dr. Peter Kraska, Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Police Studies, also coordinates the graduate program in that department. He has published numerous books and journal articles since coming to EKU in 1994. His scholarship has most recently focused on developing criminal justice theory and examining trends in crime control. He continues to pursue his interest in the blurring of U.S. military and police forces, particularly in light of recent terrorist activities. This work has been featured heavily in the media, including news pieces featuring his research in The Economist, Washington Post, New York Times, National Public Radio, …

Law Enforcement, Community, And Military Tactics: What’S The Conflict?, Stacey Cotton, Peter Kraska, James Pikl

Peter Kraska

Local law enforcement is a critical community service, and the expense of maintaining a modern and effective police force can be substantial in relation to local resources. At the same time, military equipment, SWAT teams, and aggressive search and seizure tactics have been called into question by the recurring loss of innocent life and Fourth Amendment concerns attendant to the use of overwhelming force. This panel will consider the funding mechanisms available to police and sheriff departments for equipment and capital investments, the incentives these revenues create, and the conflicts between community trust and the atmosphere of counter-insurgency which military …

Policing Kentucky's School Children: Issues And Trends, Peter Kraska, Matthew Dimichele

Peter Kraska

The purpose of this research bulletin is to document the scope and nature of an important dimension of the school safety movement--the degree to which schools in Kentucky are being "policed" by public police agencies. A shift toward having an active police presence in our public schools, an unprecedented and significiant development, should be examined carefully.

Normalising Police Militarisation, Living In Denial, Victor Kappeler, Peter Kraska

Peter Kraska

The militarisation of policing in the USA continues to be a critical area of enquiry for both the police and the society. Recent events in Boston speak to the centrality of this area of research for understanding state responses to an array of social problems, including violence, terrorism and civil unrest. The police capacity to organise and distribute state-sponsored violence as well as the ability to shape institutional appearances while doing so, impacts issues of civil rights, domestic order and the quality of political life in a democracy. The importance of the topic, coupled with the fact that we have …

Felon Disenfranchisement The Judiciary’S Role In Renegotiating Racial Divisions, Brian Schaefer, Peter Kraska

Peter Kraska

Felon disenfranchisement is deeply rooted in U.S. history as a form of punishment and as a tool to inhibit African Americans from voting. Today, there are 5.3 million U.S.

residents politically disenfranchised due to a felony conviction—about 2 million of whom are African Americans. The overrepresentation of African Americans disenfranchised, and the U.S. history of racism, brings forth the question of how these laws continue to exist. The objective of this study is to demonstrate, through a socio–legal approach, the federal court system’s role in perpetuating and maintaining the ethnoracial divisions in society through the validation and rationalization of felon …

Militarization And Policing—Its Relevance To 21st Century Police, Peter Kraska

Peter Kraska

This work examines the blurring distinctions between the police and military institutions and between war and law enforcement. In this article, the author asserts that understanding this blur, and the associated organizing concepts militarization and militarism, are essential for accurately analyzing the changing nature of security, and the activity of policing, in the late-modern era of the 21st century.

doi: 10.1093/police/pam065