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Editor's Note: This review was originally published in Portland Book Review
Researcher Didier Fassin has partnered with writer Frédéric Debormy and artist Jake Raynal to deliver an eye-opening graphic novel tackling the issue of police brutality and harassment of immigrants, Blacks, Arabs, and Roma. Policing the City: An Ethno-Graphic exposes the key findings of a fifteen-month sociological study conducted by Fassin as he shadowed and interviewed members of an anti-crime squad that patrol low-income neighborhoods outside Paris.
Fassin’s interest in understanding how policing upholds systemic racism and discrimination is spurred by the killings of young Black men in Clichy-sous-Bois and Villiers-Le-Bel: tragic deaths that sparked widespread protests in France. Fassin’s work with police shows that unnecessary identity checks and body searches are far too common among the working class, while abuses of power by the police often go unchallenged.
Police breach drug and immigration laws as they enact racist and anti-immigrant policies by racially profiling young Black and Arab French nationals who live in housing projects. Using the graphic format is powerful, making Fassin’s study more engaging and accessible to communities of color who are most affected by the overreach of police power.
The English-language release of Policing the City is a crucial bridge for American readers to understand the increasing harassment of Black and immigrant communities. It’s an important read for anyone interested in learning about the parallels between right-wing movements in Europe and the U.S., and how nationalist sentiments have only amplified structural racism in the Western world.