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15 1 The Story of Policing Depends on Who Is Telling the Story “Since most of us lack direct experience with many social prob­lems, includ- ing violent crime, tele­vi­sion and newspapers serve as primary, albeit vicar- ious, sources of information about ­these issues” (­Free 2003, 65). In order to ensure we understand the story that is being told, we must understand the terminology being used within it. Therefore, we begin dig- ging deep into the story by uncovering the meanings ­ behind a few words and ideas that are used when we talk about law enforcement’s interactions with what has become known as black criminality. Fairness: ­ Whether the justice system’s interactions are believed to be just or equitably applied across all intersections of ­ people. “When the justice sys- tem is perceived as unfair, untrustworthy, or as failing to re­spect an indi- vidual’s group membership, therefore, it ­will be seen as inadequate and violative of the rights of the group to which an individual belongs” (Peffley and Hurwitz 2010, 30). Hero: A person who does what the general public is unable or unqualified to do. “To qualify as hero (a person must experience) a degree of personal risk. For example, an individual that returns to a ­ house fire in order to help ­ others get out would be coded as a heroic action. Throwing ­ oneself in the way of a gunman in order to ‘take the bullet’ would be another example of descriptive language fitting this category” (Frisby 2017, 170–171).