Is it the Shoes?: Policing Fashion in the South Bronx

• In Event: Voices of Criminalized Young People of Color: Intersections of Race, Sexuality, Gender, Immigration, and Silence

Abstract

In the mid-2000’s New York City began to increasingly rely on aggressive policing tactics as a method of keeping the city safe. The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) “Stop, Question, and Frisk” regime has worked to effectively alienate residents, particularly young black and Latino men, from their own communities.

This paper draws from approximately 3 years of intensive ethnographic fieldwork in and around the 40th, 42nd, and 44th precincts of the South Bronx, during the period directly before and after the landmark Floyd v. City of New York decision. Relying primarily on participant observation, informal interviews, focus groups and life-history interviews, this presentation explores young adult perceptions of how clothing impacts how they are policed. More specifically, how certain choices in dress are more likely to be criminalized and draw unwanted attention from police. As my findings illustrate, black and Latino young adults in the South Bronx are often forced to regulate and monitor their choice of clothing in ways other Americans simply aren’t.

Author

• Jan Haldipur, California State University, Long Beach