The End of Policing Lib/E

Recent years have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression. Among activists, journalists, and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice--even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve. In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives--such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction--has led to a decrease in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.

About the Author :
Alex S. Vitale is professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. His writings about policing have appeared in the New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, The Nation, and Vice News. He has made appearances on National Public Radio and NY1. Michael Butler Murray is a professional actor, narrator, and musician who has voiced over fifty-five audiobooks. His recorded titles run the spectrum from dramatic to comedic fiction and nonfiction titles varying in topics from the Middle East to understanding your dog's olfactory senses. Born on Long Island, New York, he has been performing his entire life. Over the past few decades, he has performed in slews of musicals, dramas, and improv shows across the country, has appeared in several films, and performs regularly with his guitar comedy duo, Schoolcraft & Murray. He loves stretching his legs in the great outdoors, sailing, surfing and, naturally, sitting in a quiet box reading aloud.

Review :
"The End of Policing's great strength lies in demonstrating that...we could have made different choices regarding how we set about securing the public against the array of threats that confront it, and--refreshingly, at this moment of general despair--Vitale believes we still can." -- "Los Angeles Review of Books" "Offers a compelling digest of the dynamics of crime and law enforcement and a polemic against the militarization of everything. Vitale calls for a dismantling of our very notion of the police: a sprawling, untethered bureaucracy permitted to use lethal force and unaccountable to the people." -- "The Nation"