Offences against individuals who are "depositories of the public authority" are definitely revealing of tensions between police officers and "youths known to the police". On the one hand, they are used by the police forces as indicators measuring urban violence. But also, because they are unique in that the people who record them are also those who claim to be the victims, they are viewed by the accused as embodying the discretionary element of police power. These offences therefore reveal a crucial part of what goes on with police interaction with the population.
