ABSTRACT

Certain types of police actions are beginning to represent ‘the ordinary’ – many of which seem to be simply too commonplace to capture the attention of researchers. Based on an ethnographic experiment conducted over the course of 10 months in Nigeria, this article contributes to existing literature by redirecting attention to what is termed here as ‘the ordinary’ aspects of law enforcement. These ordinaries include verbal exchanges, the use of police slang and typification, and how police officers develop shorthand characterisations when they encounter the ‘bastards’ and the ‘witches’. Further included are other micro-elements such as spitting patterns and mockeries, which seem to be central to the negative interactions and confrontations that dominate everyday policing in Nigeria, and the role played by boredom, humour, and humiliation. Previous studies have rarely examined these aspects and perceive them as insignificant. However, this article demonstrates the significance of these critical ordinaries and elucidates how they damage the legitimacy of the police organisation in Nigeria. As a contribution, this article argues that without sufficient attention to ‘the ordinary’ aspects of law enforcement, the crises of police brutality and negative interactions may not be amended.

摘要

某些类型的警察行动开始代表“普通”——其中许多似乎太普通而无法引起研究人员的注意。基于在尼日利亚进行的为期 10 个月的民族志实验，本文将注意力重新引导到此处称为执法“普通”方面的内容，从而为现有文献做出了贡献。这些普通话包括口头交流、警察俚语和典型化的使用，以及警察在遇到“混蛋”和“女巫”时如何发展速记特征。进一步包括其他微观元素，如随地吐痰和嘲弄，它们似乎是主导尼日利亚日常警务的负面互动和对抗的核心，以及无聊、幽默和羞辱所扮演的角色。以前的研究很少检查这些方面，并认为它们无关紧要。然而，这篇文章展示了这些重要的平凡事物的重要性，并阐明了它们如何损害尼日利亚警察组织的合法性。作为贡献，本文认为，如果不充分关注执法的“普通”方面，警察暴行和消极互动的危机可能无法修正。