The Real Meaning of 'Snitching'

So often, even law-abiding residents try to close ranks and deal with our problems on our own instead of working with law enforcement, which many of us consider the enemy. It's a code, just like the one some think Scooter Libby upheld at the White House, or the one police adhere to when they cover up for crooked cops.

As someone who was once part of the problem, I have some insight into this issue. I grew up in the Petworth neighborhood in the 1970s and '80s. Before I turned my life around, I was incarcerated several times for selling drugs. I believe that jail saved me.

Once, during those days, I was accused of being a snitch. In 1990, I found myself at the apartment of an older associate who'd been set up by some Colombians. The police raided the place, found drugs and locked us both up. I posted bail and was released on bond. The old head wasn't. When I got out on the street, rumors flew that I had told on him and that's why I'd been freed. It wasn't until the guy was released and set the record straight that my name was cleared. I did not and would not snitch -- not then, not now.

This is the true definition of a snitch: someone who commits a crime but then blames an accomplice so that he can negotiate a lighter sentence or even go free. Often he tells lies and incriminates the innocent. People like that are the real snitches and they are cowardly. Snitching is a way for criminals to game the system.

But not everyone who talks to police is a snitch. If you're a victim of a crime and you or someone you trust cooperates with them, you are not a snitch. If you try to get rid of negativity in your community, you are not "hot" or a snitch.

I blame the hip-hop industry for spreading confusion about the definition of snitching. I also understand that the artists are just trying to sell records by glorifying a criminal and prison culture they often know nothing about.

At the O Street forum, I broke it down for the young people: Say that a group of dudes are serving time peacefully, with workout and other privileges. If some knucklehead comes into the unit to mess up their peace by violating prison rules, what do they do?

"Kill them," the audience replied.

No, I told them. They drop a note -- some might say snitch -- to get that person out of their unit. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but most people who have never been locked up don't understand this. You do what you have to do to keep your own peace.

Understanding snitching is not just a theoretical exercise. It is critical to the survival of our communities. As I was writing this, I received a call from a woman who lives in a District housing project. She was active with youth and outspoken about crime in her neighborhood. Thugs broke into her apartment and shot her son, a college student, in the legs. Where is the discussion about this in the community? Why is this behavior allowed to continue?

Just as we have a right to be safe from drive-by shootings, murder, intimidation and disrespect, we have an obligation to uphold the laws that ensure public safety. When a citizen witnesses crime and decides to be civically responsible, this doesn't constitute snitching; it's doing the right thing.

Police also need to be more sensitive to the culture of the streets. Showing up in uniform and knocking on someone's door could get an innocent person killed. If police are clumsy in their investigations and let word out about who is cooperating, that can also lead to more bloodshed, something Eric Holland learned the hard way.

The Peaceoholics plan to conduct many more forums, not only on snitching, but also on what it means to be a responsible citizen. In previous forums we asked participants to answer several questions in an anonymous survey. "If someone killed my brother or sister I would [fill in the blank]."

Among the responses: "Kill them." "Cooperate." "Retaliate." "Go tell the police." And something that I have seen all too often: "Already happened. I would go look for them and talk to them face to face and ask them why."

People in the community want peace, and they want justice. They just don't want to be anybody's snitch.

rmoten@peaceoholics.org

Ronald Moten is co-founder of Peaceoholics, an anti-violence organization in Southeast Washington.