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The Limits of Police “Reform”

When elites get to define the problem, they get to decide what constitutes solving it.

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This week on CounterSpin: Corporate media often describe the country as being “roiled by” police brutality, or as “grappling with” racism in the criminal justice system. But when elites get to define the problem, they get to decide what constitutes solving it — and for many people, that makes for too shallow a conversation when it comes to policing. We’ll talk about the limits of police “reform” with Alex Vitale, associate professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, and author of City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics, and of the forthcoming The End of Policing.

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We also take a look back at recent press, focusing on the airstrikes against Syria.

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