Securing Failed Inner-City Communities: The Military's Role.
Abstract
This study examines the threat to internal security posed by violent gangs. This threat was found to be particularly acute in inner-city communities that have over time devolved to a status that the author classified as failed communities. Armed gangs had a very negative impact on the communities which housed them, resulting in a subculture regulated by gang rule. Civil authorities were found to be in breach of the social contract which required that, in return for the loyalty of citizens, they would provide that important social good--security--in accordance with the general will of the citizens. A literature survey identified indications of the failure of law enforcement agencies in the inner city. The security needs of inner-city residents were not accorded significant priority under the strategy of containment which was practiced. This made the police highly irrelevant for the security needs of residents caught up in the midst of the crisis. Analyzing the causes for the failures revealed weaknesses with the traditional assumptions behind national and internal security policy formulation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA331821
Entities
People
- Oral B. Khan
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College