| This dissertation is an extended case study of how the very poorest of the poor are policed and otherwise regulated in and around the Journal Square train station and transportation center in Jersey City, New Jersey---a space that its most regular users and inhabitants refer to simply as "the square." The square is not situated in a ghetto; nor is it what some sociologists and urban geographers refer to as a "marginal space." Yet, contrary to what the contemporary academic literatures on the policing and regulation of America's urban poor would predict, homeless and other very poor people not only consistently used and inhabited the square; they also routinely engaged in disruptive and illicit behaviors in the space. This was not due to a lack of police presence. Rather, not only is there a very substantial police presence in the square, but in addition, almost the entire space is under constant video surveillance. Yet, rather than working to contain or criminalize the square's street population---an outcome predicted by contemporary theories on the regulation of the urban poor---the police and other agents of social control largely tolerated their presence as well their disorderly and illicit behaviors. Finally, contrary to the notion that disorder "left unchecked" leads to serious crime, the square proved to be a safe space. My dissertation addresses three questions: (1) why did very poor people choose to spend their time in a heavily surveilled and policed space?, (2) why did the police and other agents of social control countenance their presence and their disorderly and illicit behaviors?, and (3) how did the square manage to be a safe space? In answering these questions, I endeavor to advance upon contemporary theories on the regulation of the urban poor. |
