If I have time or I’m doing research, I explore neighborhoods of large urban environments, and if I feel safe the back streets and alleys located there.
For me the back alley, in particular, is place to escape, to experience distraction and possible danger, for reflection, and inspiration for creative activities; a place that might provide a shortcut, an opportunity.
Back alleys are also important to me because many of the individuals and the activities that they engage in that I study spend considerable time in these public spaces. In particular, important social actors transit through, work and occasionally live in the back alley including the homeless, dumpster divers, police officers, graffiti writers and street artists.
What do back alleys look like; how would I describe them?
There is a different sense of order in the back alley as compared to the front or façade of the buildings that line the alley.
In addition to the road which might be constructed out of asphalt, stone or brick, drainage is less important in back alleys as it is in the front of the buildings. Because of poor or nonexistent drainage, there are often puddles of water located there, alongside vehicles parked in the back alley, some of which are abandoned. We might also see rodent bait stations, that are used for rat abatement.
Back alleys typically have lots of doors leading to apartment buildings or businesses. The brick or concrete at the back of buildings is frequently a different color than at the front. Why? It’s cheaper to use these kinds of materials in these places. Often pieces of brick and concrete at the lower levels of the buildings are missing because over time, all types of vehicles have hit the structures. Sometimes the walls have graffiti or street art or both placed on them. We may see graffiti on the walls and on the garage doors on the loading docks. We may also see electrical poles that are hidden from the main streets.
Look further up the walls and depending on the city and the age of the building, you might also see metal fire escapes typically painted black. There are also signs with messages like no trespassing, no soliciting, no loitering, and violators will be prosecuted that are posted, and sometimes CCTV cameras strategically located on the buildings.
It’s typically dirtier in back alleys than in the front of the building. Garbage, waste and other sorts of debris in addition to metal dumpsters, of all different sizes, are frequently laden with graffiti, and sometimes with stickers at the back of buildings in the alley are visible. The smell of sewage and rotten trash is often noticeable.
People are often unhappy in the back alley. Sometimes homeless people sleep in the shelter of a door well at the back of buildings. If they’re not resting, they may have left their personal belongings there, hoping no one will steal them, while well they panhandle or forage for food on the street.
Not only is the back alley often a repository of human waste, the cast offs, and the wreckage, but a place of commerce and consumption (beyond informal, and illegal transactions, the sale of stolen goods, the practice of “forbidden” and illicit sex, and the use and sale of illegal drugs), and temporary residence (for the down and out).
Finally we may find animals that are rummaging for food or taking shelter. I’ve encountered stray cats and dogs. Dogs that homeless people may have as company might be hiding. Rats, raccoons, and mice too numerous to mention are located in these areas.
Not all cities have back streets and alleys, but most large urban centers do. The back alley is a subset of a larger whole (the city and neighborhood), and it is deserving of scholarly attention.
In urban planning, urban geography, and street crime, one of the frequently neglected aspects of the urban setting are the back alleys of our large urban environments, and what takes place there.
In many respects, the back alley conforms to what sociologist Erving Goffman in his book The Presentation of Everyday Life, said about the back stage; that physical area that is hidden to most people where a different language, behaviors and norms are engaged in and activities displayed.
The public frequently neglects the back streets alleys and tends to concentrate their activities on the façades of buildings. That’s understandable because important sources of commerce, are typically located on the main streets (or front stages). Rarely acknowledged, however, is that the front stage would not be able to properly function without the backstage (i.e., the back streets and alleys).
Some cities, due to urban development, have more back alleys than others, and over time back alleys change, sometimes transformed into livable or green spaces. We see this happening in locations where the property prices are very high, and property developers are willing to construct alternative housing arrangements. Occasionally back alleys are turned into cute enclaves where hipster businesses are located like technology or media companies, cafés, and music venues use them as entrances to clientele.
Part of the back alley phenomenon has to do with how the city grew and/or was originally laid out.
There is complexity and diversity in back alleys, to be explored, to be digested, to be categorized, and from which social scientists can draw connections to traditional scholarship.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9741-rotated.jpg640480Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-08-22 23:59:462023-02-01 11:05:29Back alleys as spaces of urban exploration
A common perception, often fueled by pop culture, is that street culture is only engaged in, observed, and experienced on the streets of our large cities, in particular places where low-income or working poor live. In principle this perception is justified. In reality, however, we can see, hear and/or watch (hereafter experience) street culture in a variety of settings.
To begin with, street culture can exist in nonurban locales, such as suburbs or near suburbs. Although these locations typically have lower population densities than inner cities, areas like the low-income banlieue of Paris and the Jane-Finch corridor of Toronto do not. These neighborhoods have a heavy concentration of low-income, unemployed, or working class people, including refugees, immigrants, and single family households, thus both population densities and opportunities for interpersonal conflict can be relatively high.
Additionally, street culture can be seen, watched, and represented in numerous physical environments located in various urban areas. These can include, but are not limited to bars, gyms, nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and transportation hubs, like bus, subway, and train stations. Street culture is also evident in our schools, especially the locker room or school yard where young men and women may engage in social comparison and neighborhood bullies may attempt to express their dominance. Street culture can also manifest inside our correctional facilities where in these typically hypermasculine environments, responses to norms about the street, especially who has power and who does not are played out on a daily basis.
Finally, we can experience street culture in numerous items made by our cultural industries, like books, movies, and television shows, episodes and series, that pervade our daily lives. In fact, so much that interests and engages the public are songs and fashions that have their origins on the street. A considerable amount of street wear and street style (e.g., brands like Supreme), for example, use the imagery and iconography of street culture in their messaging with the hopes that consumers will purchase their garments.
The more interesting question is not where and when does street culture exist, but how does street culture change when it enters different environments, and how do people adopt various aspects of street culture, and interact with others, inside these structures? For example, a homeless person who is trying to get out of the cold or rain may seek temporary shelter in a bus or a train station until a security guard or police officer instructs them to leave, or more typically chases them away. In the context of the transportation hubs, that homeless person may consciously or unconsciously subtly change their behavior in order to navigate the rough waters and give themselves a few moments of peace from the elements outside. Although this may be a result of socialization, or scripts, this behavioral accommodation is frequently referred to as “passing” or “code switching.”
Street culture is relatively pervasive, and here to stay. It’s not going away or being replaced by digital culture, and despite the COVID-19 global pandemic a stay at home culture. That’s why, at the very least, we need to understand its various types, locations, how it is presented to us, how it changes, and how it is used.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/30614306975_cbdb45939a_o-1-scaled.jpg17072560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-08-15 17:02:012021-08-29 11:10:03Street Culture isn’t only experienced in urban centers
One of the American Criminal Justice system’s most cherished legal norms is the assumption that serious crime, like murder, will be thoroughly investigated and, regardless of the victim or alleged suspect/s, judiciously prosecuted and punished. That is to say, in theory.
But when police are accused of the law breaking, how do we ensure impartiality and minimize conflict of interest in the investigation and charging process? To this end, there are a number of safeguards at our disposal. The case can be taken over by a neighboring jurisdiction, by a law enforcement agency in a different part of the state, or even by a different state entirely. The state attorney general’s office can also do its own investigation, as can the Federal Bureau of Investigation (upon request) and especially if there is a possibility that the crime was one that is federal in nature.
A lack of expediency in situations where law enforcement are themselves the perpetrator causes the public to lose confidence not only in the police department, but the criminal justice system and the state as a whole. This situation has unfortunately become all too common in recent times.
We have seen this process play out with increasing regularity through a litany of cases of police use of excessive force: Eric Garner in New York City, Michael Brown in Ferguson, George Floyd in Minneapolis, and most recently with Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
In brief, right after midnight on March 13, 2020 (almost six months ago), three plainclothes Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers executed a no knock warrant on Taylor’s apartment. The Louisville PD initially claimed that officers identified themselves as police before entry; Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend and neighbors dispute this. Suspecting a break-in, (a plausible scenario in that part of town) Walker, opened fired once on the officers. The officers returned fire with 20 shots shooting both Walker, and killing Taylor.
It’s important to note that the warrant was neither for Walker nor Taylor. It was for Jamarcus Glover who was incidentally in custody, but the police did not know this at the time.
Other unsettling things to note in the context of this tragic incident: Taylor was not initially killed by the gunfire, she bled out after approximately 20 minutes, and officers neither attempted to save her nor call paramedics. Taylor’s mother was given a bureaucratic run around by the LMPD and not informed that her daughter had been killed for hours after the LMPD knew.
And the initial incident report indicated that Taylor did not have any injuries.
On May 20, 2020 the report of an investigation by the Louisville Police Department was handed over to State Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Three months have passed, daily protests have occurred, multiple protesters have been arrested, and still no charges against the officers have been laid. In June the Steve Conrad, LMPD chief of police under intense criticism resigned.
By any standard, the optics for this case are not great. Neither the state nor local prosecutors have filed charges against any of the officers, and the judge who signed off on the warrant has not been sanctioned. Meanwhile we have had two bills in congress one titled the Justice in Policing Act sponsored by the Democrats that has included a provision that police cannot use no knock raids, and another sponsored by Kentucky senator Rand Paul titled Justice for Breonna Taylor Act. Both have stalled.
Still no charges have been laid. It’s possible that the gears will turn and Taylor’s murder will find justice.
At the very least this incident is sloppy police work and judicial malfeasance, at its worst a state crime, a crime of the powerful.
In the meantime, for Taylor’s mother and loved ones, and the people who have come out to protest her killing, justice continues to be delayed, and that means justice is denied.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/50028231651_55934997a2_o-1-scaled.jpg16962560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-08-09 04:45:382022-12-15 12:13:38Delaying Justice in the investigation and charges in connection with the murder of Breonna Taylor
Back alleys as spaces of urban exploration
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIf I have time or I’m doing research, I explore neighborhoods of large urban environments, and if I feel safe the back streets and alleys located there.
For me the back alley, in particular, is place to escape, to experience distraction and possible danger, for reflection, and inspiration for creative activities; a place that might provide a shortcut, an opportunity.
Back alleys are also important to me because many of the individuals and the activities that they engage in that I study spend considerable time in these public spaces. In particular, important social actors transit through, work and occasionally live in the back alley including the homeless, dumpster divers, police officers, graffiti writers and street artists.
What do back alleys look like; how would I describe them?
There is a different sense of order in the back alley as compared to the front or façade of the buildings that line the alley.
In addition to the road which might be constructed out of asphalt, stone or brick, drainage is less important in back alleys as it is in the front of the buildings. Because of poor or nonexistent drainage, there are often puddles of water located there, alongside vehicles parked in the back alley, some of which are abandoned. We might also see rodent bait stations, that are used for rat abatement.
Back alleys typically have lots of doors leading to apartment buildings or businesses. The brick or concrete at the back of buildings is frequently a different color than at the front. Why? It’s cheaper to use these kinds of materials in these places. Often pieces of brick and concrete at the lower levels of the buildings are missing because over time, all types of vehicles have hit the structures. Sometimes the walls have graffiti or street art or both placed on them. We may see graffiti on the walls and on the garage doors on the loading docks. We may also see electrical poles that are hidden from the main streets.
Look further up the walls and depending on the city and the age of the building, you might also see metal fire escapes typically painted black. There are also signs with messages like no trespassing, no soliciting, no loitering, and violators will be prosecuted that are posted, and sometimes CCTV cameras strategically located on the buildings.
It’s typically dirtier in back alleys than in the front of the building. Garbage, waste and other sorts of debris in addition to metal dumpsters, of all different sizes, are frequently laden with graffiti, and sometimes with stickers at the back of buildings in the alley are visible. The smell of sewage and rotten trash is often noticeable.
People are often unhappy in the back alley. Sometimes homeless people sleep in the shelter of a door well at the back of buildings. If they’re not resting, they may have left their personal belongings there, hoping no one will steal them, while well they panhandle or forage for food on the street.
Not only is the back alley often a repository of human waste, the cast offs, and the wreckage, but a place of commerce and consumption (beyond informal, and illegal transactions, the sale of stolen goods, the practice of “forbidden” and illicit sex, and the use and sale of illegal drugs), and temporary residence (for the down and out).
Finally we may find animals that are rummaging for food or taking shelter. I’ve encountered stray cats and dogs. Dogs that homeless people may have as company might be hiding. Rats, raccoons, and mice too numerous to mention are located in these areas.
Not all cities have back streets and alleys, but most large urban centers do. The back alley is a subset of a larger whole (the city and neighborhood), and it is deserving of scholarly attention.
In urban planning, urban geography, and street crime, one of the frequently neglected aspects of the urban setting are the back alleys of our large urban environments, and what takes place there.
In many respects, the back alley conforms to what sociologist Erving Goffman in his book The Presentation of Everyday Life, said about the back stage; that physical area that is hidden to most people where a different language, behaviors and norms are engaged in and activities displayed.
The public frequently neglects the back streets alleys and tends to concentrate their activities on the façades of buildings. That’s understandable because important sources of commerce, are typically located on the main streets (or front stages). Rarely acknowledged, however, is that the front stage would not be able to properly function without the backstage (i.e., the back streets and alleys).
Some cities, due to urban development, have more back alleys than others, and over time back alleys change, sometimes transformed into livable or green spaces. We see this happening in locations where the property prices are very high, and property developers are willing to construct alternative housing arrangements. Occasionally back alleys are turned into cute enclaves where hipster businesses are located like technology or media companies, cafés, and music venues use them as entrances to clientele.
Part of the back alley phenomenon has to do with how the city grew and/or was originally laid out.
There is complexity and diversity in back alleys, to be explored, to be digested, to be categorized, and from which social scientists can draw connections to traditional scholarship.
Street Culture isn’t only experienced in urban centers
/by Jeffrey Ian RossA common perception, often fueled by pop culture, is that street culture is only engaged in, observed, and experienced on the streets of our large cities, in particular places where low-income or working poor live. In principle this perception is justified. In reality, however, we can see, hear and/or watch (hereafter experience) street culture in a variety of settings.
To begin with, street culture can exist in nonurban locales, such as suburbs or near suburbs. Although these locations typically have lower population densities than inner cities, areas like the low-income banlieue of Paris and the Jane-Finch corridor of Toronto do not. These neighborhoods have a heavy concentration of low-income, unemployed, or working class people, including refugees, immigrants, and single family households, thus both population densities and opportunities for interpersonal conflict can be relatively high.
Additionally, street culture can be seen, watched, and represented in numerous physical environments located in various urban areas. These can include, but are not limited to bars, gyms, nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and transportation hubs, like bus, subway, and train stations. Street culture is also evident in our schools, especially the locker room or school yard where young men and women may engage in social comparison and neighborhood bullies may attempt to express their dominance. Street culture can also manifest inside our correctional facilities where in these typically hypermasculine environments, responses to norms about the street, especially who has power and who does not are played out on a daily basis.
Finally, we can experience street culture in numerous items made by our cultural industries, like books, movies, and television shows, episodes and series, that pervade our daily lives. In fact, so much that interests and engages the public are songs and fashions that have their origins on the street. A considerable amount of street wear and street style (e.g., brands like Supreme), for example, use the imagery and iconography of street culture in their messaging with the hopes that consumers will purchase their garments.
The more interesting question is not where and when does street culture exist, but how does street culture change when it enters different environments, and how do people adopt various aspects of street culture, and interact with others, inside these structures? For example, a homeless person who is trying to get out of the cold or rain may seek temporary shelter in a bus or a train station until a security guard or police officer instructs them to leave, or more typically chases them away. In the context of the transportation hubs, that homeless person may consciously or unconsciously subtly change their behavior in order to navigate the rough waters and give themselves a few moments of peace from the elements outside. Although this may be a result of socialization, or scripts, this behavioral accommodation is frequently referred to as “passing” or “code switching.”
Street culture is relatively pervasive, and here to stay. It’s not going away or being replaced by digital culture, and despite the COVID-19 global pandemic a stay at home culture. That’s why, at the very least, we need to understand its various types, locations, how it is presented to us, how it changes, and how it is used.
Photo credit
Photographer: nhatnguyen
Title: Chinatown Photo Essay
Delaying Justice in the investigation and charges in connection with the murder of Breonna Taylor
/by Jeffrey Ian RossOne of the American Criminal Justice system’s most cherished legal norms is the assumption that serious crime, like murder, will be thoroughly investigated and, regardless of the victim or alleged suspect/s, judiciously prosecuted and punished. That is to say, in theory.
But when police are accused of the law breaking, how do we ensure impartiality and minimize conflict of interest in the investigation and charging process? To this end, there are a number of safeguards at our disposal. The case can be taken over by a neighboring jurisdiction, by a law enforcement agency in a different part of the state, or even by a different state entirely. The state attorney general’s office can also do its own investigation, as can the Federal Bureau of Investigation (upon request) and especially if there is a possibility that the crime was one that is federal in nature.
A lack of expediency in situations where law enforcement are themselves the perpetrator causes the public to lose confidence not only in the police department, but the criminal justice system and the state as a whole. This situation has unfortunately become all too common in recent times.
We have seen this process play out with increasing regularity through a litany of cases of police use of excessive force: Eric Garner in New York City, Michael Brown in Ferguson, George Floyd in Minneapolis, and most recently with Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
In brief, right after midnight on March 13, 2020 (almost six months ago), three plainclothes Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers executed a no knock warrant on Taylor’s apartment. The Louisville PD initially claimed that officers identified themselves as police before entry; Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend and neighbors dispute this. Suspecting a break-in, (a plausible scenario in that part of town) Walker, opened fired once on the officers. The officers returned fire with 20 shots shooting both Walker, and killing Taylor.
It’s important to note that the warrant was neither for Walker nor Taylor. It was for Jamarcus Glover who was incidentally in custody, but the police did not know this at the time.
Other unsettling things to note in the context of this tragic incident: Taylor was not initially killed by the gunfire, she bled out after approximately 20 minutes, and officers neither attempted to save her nor call paramedics. Taylor’s mother was given a bureaucratic run around by the LMPD and not informed that her daughter had been killed for hours after the LMPD knew.
And the initial incident report indicated that Taylor did not have any injuries.
On May 20, 2020 the report of an investigation by the Louisville Police Department was handed over to State Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Three months have passed, daily protests have occurred, multiple protesters have been arrested, and still no charges against the officers have been laid. In June the Steve Conrad, LMPD chief of police under intense criticism resigned.
In June the Mayor of Louisville announced that Brett Hankison, one of the three officers involved in the case had been terminated, while the other two have been placed on “administrative reassignment.” (
By any standard, the optics for this case are not great. Neither the state nor local prosecutors have filed charges against any of the officers, and the judge who signed off on the warrant has not been sanctioned. Meanwhile we have had two bills in congress one titled the Justice in Policing Act sponsored by the Democrats that has included a provision that police cannot use no knock raids, and another sponsored by Kentucky senator Rand Paul titled Justice for Breonna Taylor Act. Both have stalled.
Still no charges have been laid. It’s possible that the gears will turn and Taylor’s murder will find justice.
At the very least this incident is sloppy police work and judicial malfeasance, at its worst a state crime, a crime of the powerful.
In the meantime, for Taylor’s mother and loved ones, and the people who have come out to protest her killing, justice continues to be delayed, and that means justice is denied.