Reframing the ‘Reasonable Officer’ and Victim/Suspect in the Trial of Philip Brailsford

Abstract Policing has long been theoretically linked to the power of the state, but the relationship between police and state has more often been assumed than explored. This article contributes to an emerging anthropology of police that gives insight into how state power is enacted through particula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Social analysis Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 22 - 42
Main Author:	Nave, Carmen
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Berghahn Books, Inc 01-12-2023
Subjects:	Accountability Acquittals & mistrials Anthropology Demonstrations & protests Legitimacy Murders & murder attempts Police Police brutality Power Shooting State power Trials Victims Violence
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Abstract Policing has long been theoretically linked to the power of the state, but the relationship between police and state has more often been assumed than explored. This article contributes to an emerging anthropology of police that gives insight into how state power is enacted through particular processes or events. It focuses on an event of police accountability: the trial of Philip Brailsford for the on-duty shooting of Daniel Shaver. Through an analysis of trial transcripts, I argue that Brailsford's defense reframed both victim and officer to suggest that Brailsford was a ‘reasonable officer’ who was subject to state power, and that Shaver was legitimately subject to police violence as a ‘suspect’.
ISSN:	0155-977X 1558-5727
DOI:	10.3167/sa.2023.670402