The situation that is playing out in Ferguson, Missouri, like so many others in recent years, has its roots in the aftermath of the 1960s and early 1970s. That turbulent period provoked changes ostensibly designed to standardize and improve the quality of law enforcement recruitment and training across America. A congressional review of the factors leading to both the riots and police reactions of inner city riots led to passage of the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (PL 90-351.) Part of this Act provided for universal police training standards. Unfortunately, the Omnibus law was strongly influenced by the works of criminologists like Marvin Wolfgang, whose biased secondary analysis on homicide rates provided the intellectual basis for the long-standing stereotype that young black males are associated with criminal violence such as murder and rape. This in turn licensed law enforcement to engage in racial profiling. Wolfgang continued to be a leading proponent of the idea that there is a black subculture of violence in America, for decades fueling a pervasive fear of blacks by whites, including white police officers. Wolfgang’s work was cited in all the major sociology, criminology, and criminal justice texts, including those used in law enforcement programs, and was a major factor contributing to the proliferation of the discriminatory drug laws that have resulted in the over-representation of race and ethnic minorities in U.S. prisons. The divided between minority communities and police has been further compromised by the increasing militarization of law enforcement. SWAT teams, armored vehicles and assault rifles do little to engender a sense of community policing. Rather, they provide a stimulus for impulsive behaviors by both the public and the police. Changing police perceptions and tactics is a needed step at defusing these situations.

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