Gun violence has riddled our country more than nearly anything else in the last decade in a world that, for the most part, seems to know how to control it. But, not surprisingly, America can’t control it, and actively decides not to. Also not surprising is the fact that gun violence openly manifests itself in the United States’ failed policing system. Numerous variables contribute to the horrific instances of murder on behalf of cops. While militarization may not be the most pressing one, it is certainly one that affects all the other failing policing methods and institutions in this country.
Alex S. Vitale, a sociologist from Brooklyn College, delineates in his 2017 book The End of Policing exactly how the country’s policing system has consistently failed to ensure the safety of the American people and has instead focused its efforts on deterring dissenting political movements, criminalizing “those it leaves behind” (227), and protecting the interests of the wealthy. Vitale’s work is poignant and articulate; he has both a strong knowledge of the system’s failures and substantial ideas for the future. The book walks through multiple sectors of policing, such as the criminalization of sex work, homelessness, drugs, and immigration. In each section, Vitale includes numerous examples of systemic failures and reform attempts, mainly in the United States, but with notable comparisons to other states. Each chapter comes to a similar conclusion: “the police exist primarily as a system for managing and even producing inequality by suppressing social movements and tightly managing the behaviors of poor and nonwhite people” (Vitale 34). As long as police exist, the interests of the elite and oppressive economic and social hierarchies will be systematically perpetuated.
How exactly does this happen? First, and arguably foremost, police around the country have been exponentially militarized since 1997, when the Pentagon’s $4 billion 1033 Program institutionalized “surplus armaments at no cost” for local police forces with “no questions asked” (Vitale 25). Also contributing to this is the post-9/11 War on Terror, which has secured over $34 billion in “terrorism grants” for police. Presumably, this money goes straight to weapons and intelligence-gathering supplies.
Massive funding translates to mass armament, which, as we see, translates to violence at the hands of cops. Coupled with this is the enormous expansion of the police into civil society and social services, which has only turned out to be disastrous. Sex work and human trafficking, homelessness, unemployment, drug usage, mental health issues, and educational disparities have all been subject to an increased police presence, with the hope that they would “manage disorder” and mend wounded communities. However, all we see in effect is “increasingly aggressive, invasive, and restrictive forms of policing,” a nationwide “increase in the scope of police power and authority at the expense of human and civil rights” (Vitale 7).
It is demonstrated throughout the book how much money has been spent on policing in the last twenty years alone, in the wake of 9/11 and the ensuing War on Terror. But when taking into account the historic War on Drugs, designed to attack, villainize and incarcerate the poor and nonwhite population of America, and the Cold War-era crackdowns on political dissidents, it is almost unfathomable how expansive policing in this country has become. And let’s not forget how pervasively the United States and its allies have emulated this same system throughout the world. At its core, then, the answer could be quite simple: the money which has been invested into arming and expanding the police can be transferred to social services, such as housing, jobs, education, and healthcare.
Vitale shows that, in reality, it is not that simple. The police are deeply entrenched in most social service programs and institutions that this country offers, whether at the federal, state, or local level. It is a complicated issue for sure, and while I agree with everything Vitale presents, I struggle to have complete faith that we would be able to achieve such things in the United States. To untangle the mess of policing that exists calls for something that I think most people in the United States are hesitant to try: committing to a completely community-based living system, with no assistance or “overwatch” from police. But, I do not want to be negative. There are a lot of things that we can do at the local level to help and lessons that we can apply to our own situation here in Saratoga Springs, which is a separate conversation that has to be had.
In The End of Policing, Vitale summarizes the state of policing succinctly: “Poor communities need better housing, jobs, and access to social, health, recreational, and educational services… [yet] local politicians continue to hold out more police and new jails as the solution to community problems” (224). Most everything that our neoliberal and neoconservative American governments deem a “societal ill” can be treated with the billions of dollars currently being funneled into police militarization and the prison industrial complex. It is a difficult feat and will take the attention, resources, and support of all of us. But, as Vitale maintains, “we must take care of each other in a climate of mutual respect if we hope to build a better world” (226), and his book’s proposals certainly set forth these motives.
I recommend Vitale’s work if you are questioning what alternatives to policing could be, how past reforms have failed, and how deeply intertwined the police are in the framework of our nation. Of course, there are topics and examples Vitale did not mention, especially considering much has changed in the last four years. Still, The End of Policing provides a perfect starting point for the heavy exploration into the future of community management.
Editor’s note: With the jury coming to a conclusion on the trial of Derek Chauvin Tuesday, April 20, it is easy to fall into the trap of complacency. Yes, Chauvin was found guilty on three counts of murder, and he will serve at least a decade in prison. But, what is that going to do for our fight to end U.S. policing as we know it? All it proves is that the system is willing to satisfy our demands for a moment. Just as Chauvin’s verdict was given, police murdered a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio. Chauvin’s verdict, as much as it may bring temporary joy, is not an indicator of the system moving towards justice. We will not know justice until this system is dismantled and the structures that authorize and forgive this behavior are no longer perpetuated.