The thesis that the norms of police brutality are at the root of our culture,
that is, that a subculture has split off from the main culture, and is
terrorizing the rest of the culture follows directly from both Habermas' and
Foucault's theories of social power. Axel Honneth in Critique of Power, 1988,
outlines these theories but focuses nicely on Habermas' contention that we
endure a crisis of norms, those held by the ruling power and those held by
its victims.  I daresay that police influence by both commission and omission
is not merely in response to threats to its own members.
It seems to me that it actively stands for racial separation, gender
differences, and
class antagonisms.  Any effort to ameliorate the problem of social conflict
or to improve the conditions of social integration seems to be directly
undermined by the
police subculture.  Insofar as police are a necessary part of the social
order, the critique that leads to a clarification of their responsibilities
is sorely needed.

V.