The End of Policing

A very timely book due to current events. Vitale argues that police reform often applies band-aid solutions that fail to address the root of social inequities and the function of policing itself. Increasing the budget for body cameras and mandating implicit bias seminars, he argues, does not disrupt how police officers often exist primarily to intimidate and control (especially marginalized) communities, suppress political dissent, and uphold the status quo, no matter how unjust.

So what's to be done? He proposes a shift in priorities and funding. Challenge the idea that the more police there are and the more funding they receive, the safer everyone will be. Reallocate funds that militarize police and shield them from accountability.

Instead, like preventative medicine, alleviate root causes of unrest and disruption. Many such causes are linked to poverty and its dearth of resources and opportunities. Give people better access to and higher quality education, food, healthcare, and housing. Research has shown we cannot police or incarcerate our way out of drug use, homelessness, and sex work. It's not only harrowing, but also outrageously expensive and pitifully ineffective. Instead of spending billions on what doesn't work, why don't we spend millions on what does, while bettering millions of lives?

America is a country Americans are taught to think about in a certain way. It's a country that teaches its own history in a certain way. It's unpleasant to think about how central racism has been to this nation, and how racism has evolved to be as relevant today as it ever was. But books like this help us envision a world where different priorities and outcomes are possible.

FYI, you can download a free End of Policing ebook from the publisher here!