Perez, Anthony D., Daniel J. Myers, and Kimberly M. Berg. Journal of Black Studies, (2003) 34(2): 153-182.

This paper investigates the role of policing in both the genesis and development of racial rioting. Focusing on riots in Boston and San Francisco in the late 1960s, the authors replicate the paradoxical pattern in which direct repression, particularly when characterized by excessive or selective use of force, often escalates conflict. They connect this pattern to three principle factors: police preparedness and training, racial polarization in attitudes toward the police, and police-community relations.

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