Stop Snitching Campaign

A highly controversial yet understudied area on the dynamics of the relationship between the police and minority communities is the Stop Snitching Campaign. The Stop Snitching Campaign stands for an informal approach primarily used to deter young African American men and others from becoming snitches. The Stop Snitching Campaign is an example of the divisiveness between policing practices and community relations in minority communities. This entry explores the polemics of the Stop Snitching Campaign and offers information on differing viewpoints of this social movement that was driven by the friction between race, crime, and justice in American minority communities.

A snitch is the colloquial term for police informants, usually known criminals who have access to criminal groups and are able to observe illegal activities. Snitches are viewed differently from other community residents who witness illegal activities and report them to the police. In most minority communities there is a distinct difference between offering crime information as a witness and offering it as a snitch. The Stop Snitching Campaign that became popular in many minority communities across the United States targeted those individuals, mainly offenders, who in exchange for their information are able to receive leniency for their crimes and in some cases financial rewards. The use of snitches or police informants is not new in American policing crime-control practices. However, the Stop Snitching [Page 773]Campaign painted a different picture of this practice. The social movement was a deliberate public attempt to persuade young Black men to stop the practice of snitching, believing it had created an indelible and noxious presence in Black and Latina/o communities.

The Stop Snitching Campaign involved multiple players and included Black celebrities and hip-hop artists, law enforcement officials, politicians, and social activists. The social demonstration against snitching acquired momentum in 2004 when a DVD prompting people not to snitch widely circulated the streets of minority neighborhoods. Following this, the campaign was marketed on the Internet, on DVDs, and on several garments such as caps and T-shirts. The DVD featured a rapper from Maryland, a National Basketball Association star, and others claiming to be drug dealers.

The Stop Snitching Campaign came under heavy scrutiny and scathing criticisms from law enforcement agents who construed it as an attack on witnesses and a serious threat to the information gathering needed to solve criminal and drug cases. The dependency on snitching is such a pervasive part of police work that without the assistance of known criminals, active drug dealers, gang members, and citizens, the arrest and prosecution of lawbreakers would be extremely difficult. As such, police agencies across the United States launched the Start Snitching/Keep Talking Campaign in response to the growing attention people were giving to the Stop Snitching Campaign. Equally, others in favor of snitching argue that it is an indispensable crime prevention strategy and that it encourages people to come forward and share information with the police. Still others claim that the Stop Snitching Campaign intimidates members of minority communities into not offering any information to the police, and this, in the end, will obstruct public safety efforts.

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