Ghettoside

Leovy argues that a main factor in black on black violence in the United States, and the overwhelming number of black male victims, is a lack of policing, investigations, and convictions in the state justice systems in response to the extreme ratio of murders. She points out that areas that cannot rely on state justice often turn to retributive justice in the form of vigilante and gang action, becoming a vicious cycle. Ghettoside focuses on a few cases that were pursued with appropriate viger: the death of a LAPD detective's son mainly and a few other deaths, tracking a couple of south central homicide detectives through the investigations and court cases. Leovy, an investigative journalist, spent years imbedded in group, and is able to bring each personality to life in her descriptions.