The End of Policing

When people have already written questions with replies inciting that this is a USA centric proposition it really makes you wonder how informed that writer is...

I'd love to see his white guilt ridden ass visit any grocery list of African Sub-Sharan Nations and just walk into a police station with the notion that “hey maybe you guys need to tone it down with all the APCs , Riot Equipment , Rubber bullets , non lethal rounds in general , tear gas rounds , paper spray laced riot water guns , riot guns , Live ammunition , Multiple Tiers of Special Police and counter terror units with no checks and balances that can make people disappear in the night for a random anti government twitter post , sniper rifles , type III bullet proof vests , LMGs , HMGs , grenades , knight-sticks and basically the say and given ability the waste entire anti regime crowds in seconds with well coordinated and trained sniper and assault rifle fire” yeah...

I'm sure he would 100% wouldn't just vanish off the face of the earth as have many journalists , gays and democratic activists and basically anyone the government kinda just wants to vanish without it being a problem

Acab

 “When people complain about these realities, they are told it's their own fault, that they didn't try hard enough to be part of the glorious “1 percent,” that they don't have what it takes and thus deserve to be degraded. This justifies defining all problems in terms of individual inadequacy, calling those left behind the architects of their own misery. Rather than using government resources to reduce inequality, this economic system both subsidizes inequality and criminalizes those it leaves behind—especially when they demand something better. The massive increases in policing and incarceration over the last forty years rest on an ideological argument that crime and disorder are the results of personal moral failing and can only be reduced by harsh punitive sanctions. This neoconservative approach protects and reinforces the political, social, and economic disenfranchisement of millions who are tightly controlled by aggressive and invasive policing or warehoused in jails and prisons.” 

This book is a fantastic and thorough explanation to what we mean when we say “defund the police.” The duties of the modern police have expanded well beyond what can be reasonably handled. Dumping all this government funding into them is demonstrably counter-productive and makes us less safe, not more.
His suggestions are, unsurprisingly, similar to the things I've been harping on and on about for years:
• More funding for affordable housing, drug treatment, community development, not cops
• End the failed “War on Drugs”: Legalize marijuana, decriminalize drug use and possession. Treat drug addiction as a health problem, not a crime or moral failure.
• Decriminalize, Legalize & Unionize sex work.
• Get cops out of schools, get psychologists and counselors in instead.
• Abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture
• End the militarization of police
• “Broken Windows” policing does not work
• We must abolish ICE and slowly move toward a European-style border policy for North America, investing in the countries victimized by US Imperialism and Globalist Neoliberal economic policies that resulted in mass emigration.
• Joe Biden & Bill Clinton's Crime Bill was one of the absolute worst things this country has ever done, and that's saying a lot.
No amount of propagandistic clips of cops playing basketball with black children or anecdotes of cops being lenient to speeders or singular examples of cops not being completely horrible will change the fact that the institute of the police, in its current form, is inherently unjust, unaccountable, outright criminal, and an upholder of the largest societal failings facing us today.
Historically, the police upheld white supremacy, corporate interests, and imperialist interests. They infiltrate, subvert, and (in some cases) murdered left-wing political organizations ranging from unionization efforts to the black panthers to gay rights activists to Occupy Wall Street. Their purpose is to uphold entrenched power structures, not justice. No amount of training or body cameras or calls for “community policing” will fix these problems.
We must fight for a more fair and just society. To do that, we must defund the police and invest their bloated budgets into restorative institutions that actually help people. We must limit their scope and shift their burdens to institutions more capable to handle such issues. We must prioritize human rights, accountability, and community.
The author's proposed reforms are smarter, more sustainable, and (coincidentally) save taxpayer money compared to the status quo.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.

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.

3.5 A good introduction to defunding (and perhaps ultimately abolishing) police, with lots of data and research that backs up each of the 10 topics. It's not a personal or narrative read, but how Vitale simply breaks down each topic (policing in education, sex work, drug trade, borders, mental health, etc) by the history, the hard harmful data, the reforms enacted, why those reforms aren't working, and possible solutions helps to give a full view of why a total system change is needed.

It's not like we didn't see his coming.

This book makes some great points about the problem with police officers and the concept of policing overall, but I do think that the arguments are all over the place. That's why it's hard for me to support its conclusion.

Honestly surprised at how moderate it felt. With such a bold title I expected more extreme stances. But it seemed pretty levelheaded and a lot of its points were not specifically related to abolition, but more to the problems faced and the things needed to fix the problem even partially. One could easily read this book and come away with a strong advocacy for reform, rather than abolition. But all the points combined certainly paint a picture of a situation that is very hard to fully address with reform (and in fact it points out a lot of the ways attempts at reform fail). Quick read, full of good (if depressing) examples of the problem we face. Recommended most for people who are new to these issues.

Full of sensical ideas and does a good job of arguing against the “reform” ideology. That said, I would like to see some more data/quantitative analysis behind the arguments. I could see rebuttals being made easily given there's not necessarily hard proof of these concepts given here. Still, a vital and necessary book, especially in these times.

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!

Well-researched, compelling, concise. Elegantly answers the why — somewhat less so the how.

PSA: The ebook version of this is currently FREE on the publisher's website and can be delivered in multiple formats!

A kinder, gentler, and more diverse war on the poor is still a war on the poor.