Street crime Books

Book SynopsisPlace, Race and Politics presents an integrated analysis of the social and political processes that combined to construct a media-driven ‘crisis’ concerning African youth crime in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Combining original research and analysis alongside published sources, the authors carefully dissect the anatomy of a racialized and politicized public discourse and delve into the profound impact of this on African-Australian communities in Melbourne. Drawing on political and media analysis and community-based research, the authors investigate how South Sudanese Australians in Melbourne came to be identified, supposedly, as a unique threat to community safety, the role played by the media, state and federal politics, the policing and perceptions of race in this process, and the physical and emotional impacts on affected communities of the law and order crisis concerning ‘African crime’. While deeply rooted in local conditions, the book resonates with similar examples of the criminalization and othering of racialized communities, the surveillance and exclusion of ‘crimmigrants’, and with popular punitivism and the rise of far-right politics globally in response to deeply felt anxieties about rapid social, economic and cultural change.Trade ReviewHow is it that South Sudanese migrants, an overwhelming law-abiding group, have come to be criminalised in Australia? Using the 2016 Moomba ‘riot’, Place, Race and Politics charts the creation of a racialised law and order crisis in Melbourne. This terrific new book provides a detailed analysis of how social and political processes came to associate South Sudanese blackness with violent crime and what the consequences of this criminalisation were on the community. I strongly recommend it. -- Karen Farquharson, Professor of Sociology and Vice President of the Academic Board at the University of MelbourneFollowing in the tradition of Hall et al’s classic Policing the Crisis Place, Race and Politics: The Anatomy of a Law and Order Crisis analyses the racialisation and politicisation of crime during the 2018 Victorian election in Australia. Drawn from a number of discrete research projects undertaken by each of the authors, the book is broken down in chapters that largely reflect these different projects. As a result, the authors are able to focus on different elements of the ‘law and order crisis’ from the demonisation and dangerisation of asylum seekers and immigrant groups, to the media’s reportage and amplification of events, the populist political discourse, and indeed interviews with those at the coalface of events. It makes for a sobering read as it teases out the long-standing Australian twin political strategies of vilification and law and order auctioneering. As the book shows there are no real winners to come out of such strategies and, ultimately, they serve to undermine the legitimacy even of the political winners – in this case the Victorian Labor party beholden to a tough on crime approach for the foreseeable future. The authors wisely eschew a straight ‘moral panic’ approach to the topic (while not rejecting it all-together) and offer something more sophisticated. Race and Politics: The Anatomy of a Law and Order Crisis makes a significant contribution to critical scholarship on law and order in Australia, but in doing so also explores the tentacles of racism, xenophobia, and insecurity that constantly threaten to erode the successful foundations of multi-cultural Australia. -- Murray Lee, Professor in Criminology and Associate Dean Research at the University of Sydney Law SchoolTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The Foundations of a Law and Order Crisis Chapter 2. From ‘Apex’ to ‘#Africangangs’ Chapter 3. The Racialisation of Crime: ‘African gangs’ and the Media with Chloe Keel, Greg Koumouris and Claire Moran Chapter 4. ‘No-one Thinks You are Innocent’: Policing the ‘Crimmigrant other’ Chapter 5. Impact on the South Sudanese and Wider Australian Communities Conclusion: The Anatomy of a Law and Order Crisis

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Book SynopsisSandtown is one of the deadliest neighbourhoods in the world; it earned Baltimore its nickname Bodymore, Murderland, and was made notorious by 'The Wire.' Drug deals dominate street corners and ruthless, casual violence abounds.Montana Barronette grew up in the centre of it all. The leader of the gang 'Trained to Go,' or TTG, when he was finally arrested, he had been nicknamed 'Baltimore's Number One Trigger Puller.' Under Tana's reign, TTG dominated Sandtown. When a string of murders were linked to TTG, each with dozens of witnesses too intimidated to testify, three detectives set out to put Tana in prison for life. For them, this was never about drugs: It was about serial murder.Acclaimed journalist Mark Bowden, who spent his youth in the white suburbs of Baltimore, returns to the city with exclusive access to the FBI files and unprecedented insight into one of the city's deadliest gangs and its notorious leader. As he traces the rise and fall of TTG, Bowden uses wiretaps, police interviews, trial transcripts and his own ongoing conversations with Tana's family and community to create the most in-depth account of an inner-city gang ever written.With his signature precision and propulsive narrative, Mark Bowden positions Tana - as a boy, a gang leader, a killer, and now a prisoner - in the context of Baltimore and America, illuminating his path for what it really was: a life sentence.Trade ReviewGripping and revealing...A powerful, nuanced depiction of gang violence in America that makes a strong case for meaningful reform * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *A scorching true-crime narrative. . . Bowden pulls no punches in his indictment of the ways in which the richest country in the world has allowed Black children for decades to be born into blighted urban neighborhoods, and saddled them with burdens that they must struggle to surmount to lead meaningful lives. This account of 'young men growing up in a place where murderous violence has become a way of life' will haunt readers long after they finish it * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A masterpiece, right up there with Black Hawk Down and Guests of the Ayatollah. It's gripping, it's fast, it's deeply insightful and empathetic, and it's brilliantly and exhaustively reported. People should read it. -- Matt Bai, author of ALL THE TRUTH IS OUT[Bowden is] a Woodward that outdoes even Woodward. -- Malcolm Gladwell * New Yorker *Bowden turns his masterful storytelling talent to chronicling the gang's reign of terror and law enforcement's Herculean efforts to end it * Booklist *Table of Contents1: The Game (or, The Greased Path) 2: Shabangbang Shaboing 3: The Fulton Avenue Wall 4: Either You Got to Be That, or You Ain't 5: Shit Be Catching Up with Them 6: Here Come Landsman 7: The Ballad of Ronnie Jackass 8: We Hunting 9: Number One Trigger Puller 10: Gotta Take It on the Chin 11: Drinking from a Fire Hose 12: What Are We Supposed to Do Now, Clap? 13: Crabs in a Bucket

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Book SynopsisAfter being turned away by An Garda Síochána at 17 for being too young, Pat Marry joined the force eight years later. He went on to investigate some of Ireland's most high profile cases, including the killings of Rachel O'Reilly and Garda Adrian Donohue. He retired in 2018 at the rank of Detective Inspector. In 2019 he published a memoir, The Making of a Detective.Robin Schiller is a journalist for Mediahuis Ireland covering Independent.ie, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent.

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Book SynopsisAfter being turned away by An Garda Síochána at 17 for being too young, Pat Marry joined the force eight years later. He went on to investigate some of Ireland's most high profile cases, including the killings of Rachel O'Reilly and Garda Adrian Donohue. He retired in 2018 at the rank of Detective Inspector. In 2019 he published a memoir, The Making of a Detective.Robin Schiller is a journalist for Mediahuis Ireland covering Independent.ie, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent.

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Book SynopsisJoint Winner of the 2023 ASSAf Humanities Book Award in the Emerging Researcher Category Gang violence is a concern being debated by academics, politicians, and communities around the world. Yet effective solutions are still in short supply, partly because too little research concentrates on understanding how people can escape the trap of violent street culture. Responding to that need, this book provides a detailed qualitative account of what it is like to join and then disengage from gangs in Africa’s deadliest city. Through the life histories of twenty-four former Capetonian gang members, alongside hundreds of hours of additional interviews and observation from five years of ethnographic research, Dariusz Dziewanski reimagines gangsterism in a way that pays heed to the overwhelming force of street culture, but also confirms the possibility of overcoming crime and violence amid disenfranchisement and disadvantage. Rather than simply reproducing the poverty-crime-violence narrative, this book demonstrates how gang members can – and have – transformed their lives, challenging the pessimistic conclusions commonly associated with gang entry; even gang scholars studying street culture usually portray the end point to gang life as either prison or a body bag. By presenting evidence about successful gang exit, Dziewanski showcases a practical starting point for changing how criminologists think about gangs and street culture – offering hope to those trying exit gang life, as well as those trying to help them do so.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Blood In, Blood Out? Chapter 2. The Landscape of African Gangs Chapter 3. A City Still Segregated Chapter 4. Leaving the Streets Chapter 5. Walking the Righteous Path Chapter 6. Gavin Chapter 7. Beyond the Street

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Book SynopsisJoint Winner of the 2023 ASSAf Humanities Book Award in the Emerging Researcher CategoryGang violence is a concern being debated by academics, politicians, and communities around the world. Yet effective solutions are still in short supply, partly because too little research concentrates on understanding how people can escape the trap of violent street culture. Responding to that need, this book provides a detailed qualitative account of what it is like to join and then disengage from gangs in Africa's deadliest city.Through the life histories of twenty-four former Capetonian gang members, alongside hundreds of hours of additional interviews and observation from five years of ethnographic research, Dariusz Dziewanski reimagines gangsterism in a way that pays heed to the overwhelming force of street culture, but also confirms the possibility of overcoming crime and violence amid disenfranchisement and disadvantage.Rather than simply reproducing t

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Book SynopsisAs featured on BBC Radio, and in national and local newspapers. In this remarkable book, Matt Seiber examines the phenomenon of hidden gun crime in the UK. Emphasising the perils of unchecked gun use in public places, he also demonstrates how the police, authorities and media have sought to minimise or ignore the issue. Gunfire-graffiti is the author's term for wanton gunfire damage to roadside structures - traffic signs, notices, warning signs and similar targets. His investigations reveal that such shootings are not juvenile pranks, but a regular activity thought to be mainly the work of determined individuals unlawfully using firearms, shotguns, handguns and rifles, including lethal, high-velocity weapons. Stressing the threat to public safety and the dangers involved, Matt Seiber sets out to enquire 'Where, Who, When and Why?' - and given the criminality involved in such events and the malevolent nature of covert gun use asks 'How is it that gunfire damage is being deliberately overlooked by the authorities?' The author's concerns are backed by academic research and the views of a leading criminal psychologist. Indeed, Gunfire-Graffiti raises fundamental questions concerning the extent to which unlawful acquisition and use of firearms exist in the UK, the assumption being that the greater part of roadside gunfire damage is unlikely to be the work of unlicensed or other irresponsible gun users.Trade Review'Excellent, Seiber presents an interesting exploration of a much overlooked topic, exploring an avenue of gun crime that is presently lacking in research': Sarah Watson, Coventry University. 'This book is an eye-opener': Nick Ross, TV Presenter. 'Seiber illuminates an area which has received surprisingly limited attention': British Journal of Community Justice. As featured on BBC News, The Daily Mail Online, Metro online, The Telegraph and Wales Online.

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Book SynopsisOn March 2nd, 2019, Yousef Makki, a scholarship pupil at Manchester Grammar school, was stabbed in the heart by one of his friends on a quiet, leafy street in the wealthy Manchester suburb of Hale Barns. The two boys who were with him as the 17-year-old lay dying from a 12cm deep knife wound were brought up in the affluent surrounding areas and like Yousef had attended expensive public schools. But unlike them, Yousef was not from a wealthy family. He grew up seven miles and a world away on a council estate in Burnage and won a life changing bursary to a prestigious grammar school. Just four months after Yousef was killed, a jury found his friend not guilty of murder or manslaughter. The outcome has been widely questioned, raising issues of class, wealth, and privilege in the justice system. Yousef died from a single stab wound to the chest. When his sister, Jade, collected his blood-stained clothes and personal possessions, he had a single pound coin in his pocket. This is Jade's personal story of her brother and how the fight for justice has transformed her life.

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Book SynopsisThe Stolen Necklace might seem to about a small crime in a small town, but with its incredible twists and turns, it is ultimately the story of a common man who fought the system and pulled off a miraculous victory.

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