# Stop Snitchin' - Is this as bad as it appears to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 25, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587 "2007-04-25T14:39:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/41 "2007-04-26T19:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Is this really new? Didn’t minority populations throughout history who were policed by what was perceived as an outside influence generally frown upon cooperation with the external faction? [/QUOTE] Well, I think most of that was when it was detrimental to cooperate with the police, who were not looking out for their best interest (which is basically what Canada said). In the present, the community is protecting those who do the community the most harm. I can see the difference; I’m just hearing different stories on how prevalent it is. Most people here seem to be saying that it’s mostly the gangster inner circle hangers-on that surround the rap stars. However, that was not the impression I got when I saw Anderson Cooper’s piece. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/42 "2007-04-26T22:26:57Z")
> [@](#): > > However, that was not the impression I got when I saw Anderson Cooper’s piece. I have learned to be leery of the media. Oh, so leery. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/43 "2007-04-26T22:40:46Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Well, I think most of that was when it was detrimental to cooperate with the police, who were not looking out for their best interest (which is basically what Canada said). In the present, the community is protecting those who do the community the most harm. I can see the difference; I’m just hearing different stories on how prevalent it is. Most people here seem to be saying that it’s mostly the gangster inner circle hangers-on that surround the rap stars. However, that was not the impression I got when I saw Anderson Cooper’s piece. [/QUOTE] I think the correct answer is that it exists in different variations in different communities. It’s important to understand that snitching on an established gangster is socially disruptive. It upsets the status quo. Like it or not criminal organizations provide some sort of semblance of social cohesion and community infrastructure. One one level it is ridiculous and on another it’s not. I would be hard pressed to be convinced that in a neighborhood where this is a social norm that the police really do have the best interests of the inhabitants in mind. Remember that in the hood the police are just a very powerful gang, and they often do behave like gangsters. People gain power in many different ways, and if they can do it through intimidation, then they will. In my experience it is somewhat prevalent. Every time you take an action against an enemy you have to do a cost-benefit analysis. If you do not believe that notifying the police will improve your situation, then not acting is of greater benefit. The police can’t always protect you. That’s simply a reality. In a culture where much of your economy is based off of black market activity it makes a lot of sense that the community would not want police nosing around. Even if you are not engaged in illicit dealings, if a large percentage of your community is, then you are messing with your customer base by inviting outside investigation. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/44 "2007-04-26T23:33:00Z")
[QUOTE=Blalron] If I believe the government mandated penalty is grossly excessive and cruel in proportion to the offense, I would not snitch. For example, if a house of prostitution and/or marijuana were right next to me, I’d never snitch on them for that. [/QUOTE] But some comps would probably be in order, no? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/45 "2007-04-27T00:27:33Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] I think the correct answer is that it exists in different variations in different communities. It’s important to understand that snitching on an established gangster is socially disruptive. It upsets the status quo. Like it or not criminal organizations provide some sort of semblance of social cohesion and community infrastructure. One one level it is ridiculous and on another it’s not. I would be hard pressed to be convinced that in a neighborhood where this is a social norm that the police really do have the best interests of the inhabitants in mind. Remember that in the hood the police are just a very powerful gang, and they often do behave like gangsters. People gain power in many different ways, and if they can do it through intimidation, then they will. In my experience it is somewhat prevalent. Every time you take an action against an enemy you have to do a cost-benefit analysis. If you do not believe that notifying the police will improve your situation, then not acting is of greater benefit. The police can’t always protect you. That’s simply a reality. In a culture where much of your economy is based off of black market activity it makes a lot of sense that the community would not want police nosing around. Even if you are not engaged in illicit dealings, if a large percentage of your community is, then you are messing with your customer base by inviting outside investigation. [/QUOTE] Well stated. Community policing in most urban communities is a joke. The cops aren’t from the community and they don’t respect the people who live in those communities. The same cops who will beat your ass for no reason, or shoot innocent people 50 times want your help? Really? I know it’s fiction, but the HBO show _The Wire_ had a great example of this. A small-time corner dealer knew who was responsible for a series of murders, and a cop gained his confidence (who is portrayed as a sympathetic character). Of course, word got out, and he was killed - and the murder was never prosecuted. I think I’ve got it right. So this guy basically put his life on the line, because the bad guy was killing people indiscriminately and he found that offensive. The police bungled the arrest, or couldn’t prove what went down. The small-time dealer lost his life for nothing. If municipalities truly invested in community policing and found ways to make law enforcement part of the community rather than an separate entity, you’d have more cooperation. When communities are neglected by governmental entities, criminal structures take their place. That should solve the problem, but it will take time. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/46 "2007-04-27T13:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Cooper should have asked if this code of silence should be extended to cases like the killing of James Byrd. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] Ha! I’m sure that would be an exception. But seriously, I respect this to a degree with the very very minor stuff like pot sales- which is why the few times long ago I’ve wanted pot in a strange city, I’ve approached a black guy- not the stereotype that all blacks sell pot, but that they wont run find a cop and tell. A different stereotype, true, but one which the above shows to be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/47 "2007-04-27T14:02:58Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] But seriously, I respect this to a degree with the very very minor stuff like pot sales- which is why the few times long ago I’ve wanted pot in a strange city, I’ve approached a black guy- not the stereotype that all blacks sell pot, but that they wont run find a cop and tell. [/QUOTE] Oh really? Thanks, now I know what to do to teach jerks like you a lesson. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/48 "2007-04-27T14:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] the few times long ago I’ve wanted pot in a strange city, I’ve approached a black guy [/QUOTE] Ummm. . .if you were cool at all, the seller (of whatever race) woulda approached _you_. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/49 "2007-04-27T14:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Ummm. . .if you were cool at all, the seller (of whatever race) woulda approached _you_. [/QUOTE] I agree. I am cool…I just don’t look cool 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/50 "2007-04-27T14:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Oh really? Thanks, now I know what to do to teach jerks like you a lesson. [/QUOTE] I’m a jerk for wanting pot and not wanting to get snitched on when inquiring about it? No one I’ve ever asked took offence-they were either usually helpful or apologetic about not being able to help :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/51 "2007-04-27T14:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I’m a jerk for wanting pot and not wanting to get snitched on when inquiring about it? No one I’ve ever asked took offence-they were either usually helpful or apologetic about not being able to help :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] I think **pizzabrat** is a sober guy. Militantly so. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/52 "2007-04-27T14:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I’m a jerk for wanting pot and not wanting to get snitched on when inquiring about it? No one I’ve ever asked took offence-they were either usually helpful or apologetic about not being able to help :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] I always approach hippies, I hope I didn’t offend them by stereotyping them like that. I usually assume the hippies will have the good west coast homegrown, and that the black guys will more than likely have the hydro. I don’t like the hydro, so I guess I am stereotyping black people in a different way too. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/53 "2007-04-27T14:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I’m a jerk for wanting pot and not wanting to get snitched on when inquiring about it? No one I’ve ever asked took offence-they were either usually helpful or apologetic about not being able to help :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] You’re a jerk for randomly targeting strange black men when trolling for illegal drugs. Your assumption that we’re all “so cool about that” is insulting. It explains the time when I was in Florence, walking at night, and two pieces of shit approached me for drugs. Of course I was friendly about letting them know I couldn’t help them, but later regretted not letting them know what I thought of them, just so they wouldn’t be so comfortable bothering someone like me again. Those idiots dragged their racial BS all the way from North America (judging from their accents) to disrupt my three month vacation from it. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/54 "2007-04-27T15:12:10Z")
I should disclose, though, that I was circling the same block for a while until they approached me. I was doing so because I was waiting for a street to clear so that I could, in secrecy, enter a gay bar for the first time ever. That they approached me for that while I was already on edge added to my disgust and irritation. And to counter anyone’s claim that my “suspicious behavior” justified their entitled solicitation (as if I could only be out there for their benefit), there’s a million plausible reasons why I could have been there besides the real reason and the reason they thought (i.e., looking for a friend who only gave me a vague meeting point in an unfamiliar, foreign town, pacing in thought while enjoying being in a foreign town, waiting for a friend to leave whatever engagement he was in (work or something), looking for a hard-to-find address (Florence has a weird system in which the color of the address (red or black) is important. 140 =!140R, and the “R” wouldn’t be there, it’d just be painted red)). ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/55 "2007-04-27T15:20:27Z")
**pizzabrat** Expecting cultural sensitivity at that level of cosmopolitanism is approaching the naive. So stereotypes are applied to you. So what? I know there is a history behind it, but if you are going to gay bars in Florence you’ve come a long way from being part of the underclass. How do you know they didn’t spot you as an American? Maybe they approached you because they felt more comfortable approaching an American. I’ve been approached so many times asking if I want drugs or if I have them. At different times in my life I have had connections and at other times I haven’t. We live in a cosmopolitan world with many different cultures. To me there is a level of unrealistic expectation of cultural sensitivity. Most people have been thrust into this dynamic new world and are trying to crudely navigate their way through it. Don’t take it so seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/56 "2007-04-27T15:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] You’re a jerk for randomly targeting strange black men when trolling for illegal drugs. Your assumption that we’re all “so cool about that” is insulting. It explains the time when I was in Florence, walking at night, and two pieces of shit approached me for drugs. Of course I was friendly about letting them know I couldn’t help them, but later regretted not letting them know what I thought of them, just so they wouldn’t be so comfortable bothering someone like me again. Those idiots dragged their racial BS all the way from North America (judging from their accents) to disrupt my three month vacation from it. [/QUOTE] This minor request “disrupted” your vacation? :dubious: As **mswas** said, hippies are a good choice as well, but at the time there were no hippies around. At the beach in SFO, or Berkeley, or Asheville, hippies are a good choice, but I haven’t been there in ages and where I am now, black people out number hippies 1000 to 1. Your entitled to your opinion, but if I were asked I wouldn’t mind a bit- I would take it as a backhand compliment. This thread is based on this accepted fact, corroborated by the black people queried in the piece. Obviously you have a hang up about drugs- most others don’t. Just becasue you would mind something, doesn’t mean the rest of the world would. And to some of us, inquiring about pot is like asking if you have a cigarette- would you be offended if someone asked you for a cigarette? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/57 "2007-04-27T15:23:00Z")
And I realize taking umbrage at something like that would be hard for drug abusers to understand, so just imagine instead what’d be like for a normal guy to be approached for procuring one of his whores just because he happened to be some black guy out on a city block. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/58 "2007-04-27T15:24:23Z")
Crap, now I won’t get credit for my foresight. But I really did post that before I saw Wee Barin’s post before it. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/59 "2007-04-27T15:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] This minor request “disrupted” your vacation? :dubious: [/QUOTE] For that tiny moment - I didn’t say completely. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587/60 "2007-04-27T15:25:58Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Oh really? Thanks, now I know what to do to teach jerks like you a lesson. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=pizzabrat] You’re a jerk for randomly targeting strange black men when trolling for illegal drugs. [/QUOTE] If you can’t find a way to express your disagreement without name-calling, then simply refrain from posting. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-snitchin-is-this-as-bad-as-it-appears-to-be/401587.md?page=4)