Abstract
Alex S. Vitale’s book title alone—The End of Policing—has the oomph to raise either one’s hope or suspicion, depending upon one’s worldview. The author, professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College, writes extensively on policing for both scholarly journals and the general public and further serves on the New York State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Although Vitale’s knowledge of policing is wide-ranging, he writes on the topic through a politically charged lens. Yet there is something for nearly everyone to consider in this thought-provoking book. Given the book’s recurring theme of questioning the role of police as gatekeepers for nearly every societal ill that befalls us, there is much to unite progressive Democrats, strict-constructionist Republicans, and limited-government libertarians alike.
Laid out in 11 readable chapters bolstered by voluminous scholarly endnotes, Vitale first provides the reader with his interpretation on the limits of police reform followed by a broad history of policing and a brief overview of where we find ourselves in the world of policing today. Subsequent chapters address policing as it relates to, or interacts with, schools, the mentally ill, those who find themselves homeless, sex workers, the war on drugs, gangs, and border protection. In these chapters, Vitale lays out the substance of each issue trailed by attempted reforms and suggested alternatives to address each challenge in policing. Finally, the author’s work leads to a crescendo in his penultimate chapter on “political policing”—a somewhat lofty and unrealistic argument against, what he believes to be, the current “neoconservative framework” of justice and toward a “human rights and social justice framework that seeks to ensure universal health care, education, housing, and food as well as equal access to the political process” (p. 220). Right. Don’t hold your breath. Still, there might be grounds for compromise and even some progress.
In the body of his book, Vitale argues for armed school resource officers to be taken out of schools; for trained civilian professionals to respond to mental health crises as well as for a major overhaul of our mental health systems; for increased wages and the creation of more affordable housing for the homeless and others who need it; for a harm-reduction approach toward sex workers, along with decriminalization or legalization of such work; for legalization and regulation of drugs, along with a harm reduction approach toward drug users; for greater employment opportunities, better social services, and improved educational prospects for youth in an effort to curb youth violence; and, finally, for open and unpoliced borders in an attempt to cultivate a more internationalist ethos.
Vitale desires, essentially, a political solution to his concern of over-policing in America. His suggested alternatives to our police state go beyond any democratic socialist solution that might be found in the likes of, say, a Bernie Sanders presidency. Rather, the author points toward a more extreme neo-Marxist political solution to societal upheaval and ills that might better be identified in the politics of recently elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York or Rachael Rollins of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
Yet, as first noted in this review, there is, seemingly, something to think about and possibly even like for many readers. While the author’s approach is from the progressive left, his proposed reforms have relevance and applicability even for those on the political right or of libertarian persuasion. By way of example, in some instances of federal case law, former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia supported the curtailing of police authority over its citizenry. Substantive case law at the state and federal levels of government could further keep in check the authority of police in their request for, and use of, warrants, searches, detentions, asset forfeitures, and gathering of evidence. Additionally, limiting the use of military weaponry for state and local law enforcement via the federal government’s 1,033 program has the support of Sen. Rand Paul and other like-minded libertarians.
Policy reforms in policing could and should emulate broader reforms taking place at the federal level with sentencing law and within the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as recently demonstrated by the bipartisan First Step Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. A return to nongovernmental forms of institutions for greater social cohesion—such as reliance on family, religious organizations, and other formal and informal community-based institutions—would be a step in the right direction in bringing about Vitale’s utopian vision of a more socially just society outside the auspices of a “coercive government” and “aggressive and invasive policing.” Lofty goals, his, just don’t hold your breath. True policy reform via a political path in an entrenched system such as policing is incremental, at best, and takes place at a snail’s pace.
In all, Vitale’s The End of Policing is applicable for undergraduate and graduate students alike who are studying reform of the criminal justice system in general, but it is especially suited for students and scholars examining policy reform specific to the subsystem of policing. Whether through a political, public policy, or criminal justice lens, the author provides his reader with broad, provocative policy alternatives to significant challenges in today’s ever-changing world of policing.