To What Extent Did Richard Nixon's Law and Order Policies Create a Culture of Vigilantism in Law Enforcement and Corrections?

Logue, Daniel

To What Extent Did Richard Nixon's Law and Order Policies Create a Culture of Vigilantism in Law Enforcement and Corrections?

Persistent URL

https://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/56878

Author(s)

Logue, Daniel

Date Issued

April 17, 2023

Abstract

With this research I will be attempting to prove and understand why Richard Nixon’s “Law and Order” policies create a culture of vigilantism in law enforcement and corrections. The research question that I will attempt to answer is: How did President Richard Nixon’s ‘Law and Order’ support affect the behavior of corrections and law enforcement officers? I will investigate the intersection of Nixon’s Law and Order policies with the rise of vigilantism in the 1970’s. There is a plethora of literature on the subject in question. Policing and the “Police State” has become a hot topic in the past fifteen years. There are also reasons that vigilantism rates expanded rapidly. They will be outlined in the thesis for this composition. The reason for this was the rising of racial tensions post-Civil Rights Act. This then led to a rise of police unhappiness, and they felt that criminals got away with too much. This composition will strive to answer the research question of “To what extent did Richard Nixon’s Law and Order Policies lead to the rise of vigilantism in Law Enforcement and Corrections.” This senior composition will answer the question by creating three chapters. The chapters will be in the order of policing, police unions, and corrections. Police Unions will be a separate chapter because they work to protect the officers and local police department. They also work with the local government to approve new equipment and higher wages and better benefits for the department's officers. Police Unions work behind the scenes and this is separate from the actual work that police officers do.

Major

History

First Reader(s)

Ribeiro, Alyssa