Observing the Police: Chicano Scholars as Insiders and Outsiders

• In Event: Ethnographic engagements: Insiders and outsiders in diverse criminological sites

Abstract

In the study of police and community relations there is a large body of literature that utilizes a qualitative methodology to study police and community relations. However, there is very little literature that explores how the race/ethnicity of the researcher shapes the conducting of participant observations with the police. In particular, this paper will explore how Chicano academics conducted over 200 hours of ride-alongs with police officers in Chicago, IL and Phoenix, AZ. Theoretically, we draw from feminist standpoint theory to argue the ways in which the researchers were both insiders and outsiders during the data collection process. In this paper we contend we were outsiders because we are academics trying to do research with people who are part of a secretive work culture and because of our Chicano heritage. We were insiders due to our gender and our interests in the criminal justice system. We contend that as Chicano academics we have to continuously balance an insider vs. outsider status beginning with gaining access to the police and throughout our participant observations.

Authors

• Edwardo L. Portillos, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

• Claudio Gabriel Vera Sanchez, San Jose State University