This thesis investigates a controversial police shooting case and aims to unfold its underlying complexity from a combination of cultural and legal perspectives. Drawing on six in-depth interviews with police officers in Hong Kong and conducting textual analysis of court case documents, printed media texts, and online forum discussion, this study explores the meaning-making processes surrounding a police "shoot to kill" incident. The controversial Limbu shooting is the focus of the study. The Limbu shooting took place on March 17, 2009 in Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong. A Nepalese man who was born and raised in Hong Kong, named Limbu Dil Bahadur, was shot dead by a police constable (court case files: CCDI 298/2009, HCAL 85/2010, DCPI 570/2012). Looking into the processes of mobilizing discursive resources to make sense of public opinion, racial difference, human rights, policing, and violence, this study explores the contestation of forces in the cultural, legal, and representational realms. Utilizing the framework of the model of policing as ideological construction, as drama, and as agency, the author argues that the contestation of the discursive blocs manifests a police hegemony that has been underway for a long time

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 116-120).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 116-120) Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [382]-301).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed September 11, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-150). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

published_or_final_version / Criminology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This work of creative nonfiction is a hybrid of memoir, essay, cultural critique, and, to a lesser extent, literary journalism. The central autobiographical thread is my brother's shocking and violent murder at the hands of law enforcement, its handling by the media and subsequent trip through the American criminal justice system, and the spiraling effect of such trauma on family and friends. However, the text goes beyond a personal account of loss to illuminate the intersection between the personal and the universal: the way that the individual political subject embodies our cultural and systemic atmosphere of grief, alienation, confusion, powerlessness, violence, and corruption. This examination also necessarily raises questions about the social and personal consequences of individual and systemic decisions, as well as the role of rhetoric in attempts to justify such decisions and discourage activism. / Department of English

Police use of deadly force is an understudied yet deeply important issue in our society. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in public concern over use of deadly force, particularly when that force is used against people of color. Due to the relative low frequency of deadly force incidents, little is known about when such force is used, or who it is used on. Recent studies have found a racial disparity between white and black subjects of deadly force, with black subjects significantly over represented as a proportion of the population. This study further expands our understanding of police use of deadly force, specifically the situational context of its use against white and black subjects. We use 100 random cases from the Washington Post Fatal Force data set and conduct a content analysis on this sample to identify data on multiple possible situational factors. This exploratory study found several important differences between situations involving a white or black subject of a deadly police shooting. Black subjects are on average seven years younger than white subjects. Black subjects are statistically more likely to be killed following contact initiated by an officer, such as a traffic or pedestrian stop. White subjects are more likely to be killed following contact initiated by dispatchers or courts, such as a call for service or when serving a warrant. Differences were also found related to the reasons for contact, the location of the incident, and the forms of resistance from the subject. This study provides validation to claims that police use deadly force differently between black and white subjects, and implicates police officer training and discretion in the racial disparity of use of deadly force.

The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to explore citizen perceptions of the phenomenon of law enforcement shootings involving an imitation firearm. A secondary purpose was to document knowledge of current imitation firearm policies and thoughts on the effectiveness of said policies. Kingdon's multiple streams approach was used as the theoretical framework. This theory addressed the sources of power that influence policy decisions, the stakeholders involved in agenda setting, and factors that shape policy debates. Data were collected using a combination of secondary data analysis, field observations and semi structured, face-to-face interviews with 23 citizens. Sampling strategies included a combination of snowball, purposeful, and variation sampling to identify interviewees from four specific subject groups: law enforcement, parents of children aged 10-17-years-old, citizens with no law enforcement experience and no children aged 10-17-years-old, and leaders in the community. Results from domain and taxonomic coding revealed the themes of safety, responsibility, and accountability. Specifically, subjects wanted to ensure both law enforcement and citizens were safe in the community, they wanted to see parents take responsibility for their children, and they wanted to see legislation that held people accountable for their actions when using imitation firearms during the commission of a crime. Findings may be used for positive social change by enhancing imitation firearm policies, recognizing ways to improve data tracking, and identifying educational opportunities for both citizens and law enforcement. Enhanced firearm policies can also help mitigate unnecessary shootings and reduce community conflicts between citizens and police.

Chapter one suggests thet trade and merchant capital, which were crucial to Port Elizabeth's economic development during the nineteenth century, was subsumed by the rise of manufactures and industrial capital after the First World War. Industrial expansion was cut short by the post-war recession, which caused un- and underemployment. The black worker, who experienced a severe loss in real earnings on account of the increased cost of living, became involved in a struggle with employers for wage increases. Chapter two shows how the policy of segregation was applied in Port Elizabeth, which meant that the workers were subjected to an increasing degree of control and regulation of their daily lives. The conditions of reproduction in the black townships fostered inter-racial and cross-class mobilisation which culminated in the formation of a general labour union, the Port Elizabeth Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (PEICWU). Chapter three will suggest links between the tradition in Port Elizabeth of worker resistance and the unionisation of black workers in the post-war period. Thus, the first three chapters attempt to provide a historical perspective for analysing the underlying causes of the 1920 Port Elizabeth disturbances. The immediate cause of the disturbances was the arrest of the Union leader, Masabalala, after he called for a general strike. Chapter four will show how the intervention of the local authorities provoked a spontaneous act of defiance on the part of Union members. A demonstration outside the Baakens Street Police Station to demand the release of Masabalala, precipitated the tragic shootings of 23 October 1920. The repressive violence which left 22 dead (with two further deaths resulting indirectly from the incident) was unprecedented in South African history. The resolution of the crisis brought the workers no nearer to obtaining a reasonable settlement of the wage issue. If anything, the resolve of employers to deny wage demands was hardened by the actions of the local authorities, who attributed the disturbances to ' agitation '. Such thinly-disguised justifications of the shootings by the dominant classes, however, provoked recriminations from other quarters. Chapter five examines the legal and political ramifications of the Port Elizabeth shootings. The circumstances of the shootings prompted the Smuts Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry in the face of public pressure. The Commission found that the Police and vigilantes were largely to blame for the high death toll. But the Government's 'whitewash' of the findings could not absolve the Police from culpability entirely, nor could it sidestep its own responsibility and liability to victims of the shootings. Finally, in Chapter six, an attempt will be made to assess the long term impact of the shootings on the PElCU and the black labour movement in Port Elizabeth generally. The outcome of the episode was a victory for employers, which dealt a body blow to worker organisation which only became resurgent in the 1950s.