The End of Policing

Stream via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdu2oqD0rGtFJsYh0uUBqHimeLUJ_GrVd

Locally, In Boston, the vast majority of the highest paid public employees are part of law enforcement, with 530 officers having higher salaries than Mayor Walsh. At the state level, the comprehensive Reform- Shift- Build Act is being pushed through the state legislature to take on the power of the police. But with budgets so large, will these reforms help?

The problem is not overpolicing, it is policing itself. Why we need to defund the police and how we get there.

Recent weeks have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression towards black and brown Americans. Among activists, journalists and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve racist 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.

Alex S. Vitale is an author and professor of sociology at Brooklyn College. He is also the coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, The Appeal, USA Today, Vice News, and other media outlets. His critically acclaimed 2017 book The End of Policing argues for the eventual abolition of the police, to be replaced variously by decriminalization or with non-law enforcement approaches, depending on the crime.

Third in a series on Antiracism and Peace. Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action's Racial Justice/Decolonization Working Group

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