Molly Odintz on Policing in Crime Fiction @CrimeReads @mollsotov89

At CrimeReads, Molly Odintz discusses policing in crime fiction, and the ways in which it can reflect the realities that we see daily in our communities and our society.  She writes in part,

[T]he best crime novels acknowledge several truths. Many police officers are burnt out or blinded by their own prejudices. No one wants to put on riot gear and work a protest. Activism and community organizing are integral forces in securing action and justice on the part of authorities. And most importantly, the intentions of individuals do not matter if the system itself is stacked against communities of color or those whose poverty or lumpenproletariat existence excludes them from the full attention of the law (unless that attention is aimed at erasure and oppression).