Content analyses of COPS consistently find the same results. Generally, violent crime is overrepresented and the myth that Black men commit the majority or at least an over proportionate amount of crime is maintained leading viewers to fear personal victimization by Blacks and that Black neighborhoods are dangerous (Oliver, 1994) (Monk-‐Turner, 2007) (Mastro et al, 2000).
I have chosen to use the content analysis of COPS conducted by Monk-‐ Turner, Martinez, Holbrook, and Harvey (hereafter Monk-‐Turner et al) because of its relative current nature. The majority of content analysis of COPS predominately took place in the mid, to late 1990’s and thus Monk–Turner et al (2007) provides the most current findings. Considering COPS timeless nature, this may not be overly significant however, it will provide insight as to whether or not COPS continues to over represent Blacks as criminal suspects as Oliver (1994) discovered. The Monk-‐ Turner et al analysis is based off random episodes that were shown in 2004 and would include both current and episodes from the earlier seasons.
In the Monk-‐Turner et al (2007) study, race played a significant role in regards to how characters were depicted. The majority of characters on the show were white (62%). The majority, 67%, of all White characters were portrayed as police officers. Overall, Whites almost exclusively portrayed all police officers (92%), and little over a third appeared as offenders (38%) (Monk-‐Turner et al,
2007. Pg. 8). For nonwhites, this ratio is dichotomously different. Overall, the most frequently portrayed criminal suspect was Black (45%). Almost all visible
minorities portrayed (90%) appeared as criminal suspects. For Blacks, 93% were portrayed as criminal suspects in comparison to only 4% as police officers. Almost all characters (both suspect and police officer) on COPS are male (94%)(Monk-‐ Turner et al, 2007. Pg. 8).
The majority (54%), of crimes shown is considered ‘Type I’ (violent crimes) offences by the US Uniform crime report (Monk-‐Turner et al, 2007. Pg. 9). These Type I offences are most commonly considered to be ‘Black crimes’ (burglary and grand theft) (Surette, 1998). Consistently, the majority of these crimes were committed by Black men (55%) and were seen committed by Blacks on 64% of all episodes. Blacks were only seen committing 36% of Type II offences (possession of drugs, domestic disturbances, varying involvement in prostitution). Whites were predominantly (61%) responsible for Type II offences. However, these offences were predominately related to cars and alcohol (drag racing, driving with a suspended license, DUI, drinking in public) (Monk-‐Turner et al, 2007. Pg. 9). Arguably, the portrayal of these offences is not nearly as disturbing or noteworthy to the public. While viewers may witness them, they are likely overshadowed by the more dramatic crimes of grand theft and burglary. Therefore even with an almost equal representation of White and Black offenders, viewers are unlikely to consider Whites a threat as they are committing less serious dramatic offences.
The lack of Black police officers almost exclusively paints Blacks as offenders on COPS. Studies suggest in victim related incidences, a little over half of victims
portrayed are White (Kooistra et al, 1998. Pg.148). In actuality, the most frequently victimized demographic is young Black males (Kooistra et al, 1998. Pg. 148). By underrepresenting young Black males as victims, it becomes possible to create a societal truth that Blacks are preying on innocent White victims. However, this is not the case, the majority (83%) of White casualties are victimized by White perpetrators (FBI, 2011). This allows for the justification of harsher punitive policies and justifies racial profiling, the fortification of white neighborhoods, and the need to protect Whites from the Black criminal other. Increased concern for crime is substantiated by the dramatic increase in the home security business. In 1988 approximately 10% of houses had a security system and has grown into an industry worth more then five billion dollars (Kooistra et al, 1998). These consequences will more thoroughly be discussed within the next chapter.
According to United States criminal statistics the frequency of Type I and Type II offences portrayed on COPS are not consistent with actuality. Type II
offences were portrayed 46% of the time in the Monk-‐Turner et al study. However, in actuality Type II offences make up approximately 87% of all reported criminal offences (Kooistra et al, 1998. Pg 148). Thus, although Type I offences occur far less frequently then portrayed in COPS, stereotypical Blacks offences are far more
predominantly disseminated. These suspects are also more aggressively handled by police. Officers were found to be far more likely to use direct physical aggression towards unarmed Blacks (33.3%) in comparison to 13.2% of Whites (Oliver, 1994. Pg. 187). This finding is particularly interesting and consistent with overaggressive police/neighborhood watch handlings of Blacks such as the cases of Trayvon Martin,
Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown etc. etc. has a number of potential effects and discussion points that will be more thoroughly explored in the following section. Crime reality programs also tend to feature a far higher arrest or ‘success’ rate. Oliver, (1994) found that police arrested a suspect in 69% of portrayed cases, in comparison to FBI data reporting an 18% arrest rate (Oliver, 1994. Pg. 185) (Oliver et al, 1998. Pg. 21).
To conclude, Blacks are most frequently portrayed as criminal suspects on COPS and are more then any other race. White suspects are portrayed almost as frequently as Blacks suspects however, the nature of Whites offences are likely to be less memorable in comparison to their Black counterparts. Whites all but
exclusively play the role of police officer, which potentially creates a heroic White police officer myth through the polices over proportionate arrest rate on COPS.