The End of Policing

I think this book is great for those wondering about statistics related to challenges and failings within the concept of policing, as well as a brief history of the concept. For me it missed the mark a bit because I had some idea of statistics regarding what Vitale covers in his book, so a lot of it felt like a review and reinforcement of things I've seen floating around on social media. This is not a condemnation or really intense criticism of Vitale's book, but a clarification for readers hoping for a more in-depth analysis of information they may have gotten through social media posts and discussions already.

I would love to see Vitale write a follow-up book examining case studies of other countries and communities that have reconsidered carceral punishment, policing, and mental health access and services (Cherán comes to mind, as does many pre-colonial indigenous approaches to community justice). The only other issue I have with Vitale's approach is in some of the concepts raised about funding social workers as an alternative to policing. Although this argument is made in good faith, social work and the mental health field as a whole has a long, storied history of carceralism, neurotypicalism/overclinicalization, stigmatization, stripping of patient's rights for the “greater good”, not to mention the racist and sexist historical factors that are often glossed over or discounted outright. I get that this isn't THAT book, but even a brief mention of criticism of alternative approaches would have been a good call-out.

That all being said, if you're new to the concept, bristle at the idea of police abolition or even restructuring I'd recommend this as a primer for some of the deeper larger discussion around policing and militarization of police.