Skip to content Skip to footer

“Police Reform Is a Dead End”: Alex Vitale on “The End of Policing”

Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.

Do the police protect communities or suppress them? Alex S. Vitale argues that far too often, it is the latter, and that it is only through the radical rethinking of policing and the role of communities in building safe neighborhoods can effective change be achieved. Get The End of Policing with a donation to Truthout now!

Truthout Progressive Pick


The End of Policing

Incremental police reforms are not enough.

Click here now to get the book!


Alex Vitale is Professor of Sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. Vitale’s book The End of Policing, is an accessible study of police history as an imperial tool for social control that continues to exacerbate class and racial tensions. Vitale also goes deep into the shortcomings of reform and in contrast, deepens the conversations around meaningful alternatives to ultimately ask the people to consider the end of policing.

Special thanks to producers: Della Duncan, Robert Raymond; Upstream podcast.

Featuring:

• Alex Vitale, professor of sociology, coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College, and author of The End of Policing

Credits:

• Host: R.J. Lozada

• Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Della Duncan, Robert Raymond

• Executive Director: Lisa Rudman

• Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin

• Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker

Press freedom is under attack

As Trump cracks down on political speech, independent media is increasingly necessary.

Truthout produces reporting you won’t see in the mainstream: journalism from the frontlines of global conflict, interviews with grassroots movement leaders, high-quality legal analysis and more.

Our work is possible thanks to reader support. Help Truthout catalyze change and social justice — make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation today.