The End of Policing

Vitale addresses the myth that is policing. Public understanding of policing comes from what popular culture has presented in television and movies. Dirty Harry (1971), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Lethal Weapon (1986) are just a few examples of iconic and heroic police officers dishing out justice. TV shows like The Shield (2002-2008) and The Rookie (2018-present) continue this mythology. Vitale highlights how policing is in fact mundane and uneventful. The majority of police officers rarely ever see action, and when they do, it isn’t nearly as eventful as popular culture make them out to be. Drawing from veteran police officer David Bayley (32) and political scientist Naomi Murakawa (33), Vitale argues that police do not prevent crime and that liberal misconceptions of police activities overall have led to inadequate reforms. The issue lies at the very core of policing. To understand this, Vitale asserts, one must look at the history of policing.

Vitale turns to the London Metropolitan Police, created in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel (35). Designed as a tool to manage civil unrest and disorder, crime was an afterthought. By embedding undercover police officers into groups of interest or with a history of disturbing the status quo, police officers were able to gather intelligence on the movements, plans, and potential threats that these groups posed. These were often workers’ groups attempting to start unions, civil rights groups, and political groups whose ideologies differed from the prevailing class. This model of policing was adopted in Boston in 1838 and later in New York in 1844. Unlike the British, American police forces across the nation began adopting paramilitary approaches to policing. They were predominantly used to quell strikes, maintain civil order, and develop recording techniques that would help them keep track of targets. By the early 20th century, August Vollmer introduced police radios in cars and fingerprinting (42).

Vitale turns his historical analysis onto the Texas Rangers. Popularized once again by television shows like Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), the history of this police force is intricately linked to slavery and racial segregation that continued into the late 20th century. Often hired with little to no training, the original Texas Rangers were equated with vigilantism. As the Texas Rangers were tasked with maintaining the border, Mexicans, Native Americans, and African Americans were brutally attacked, murdered, or driven out of select territories. This intimidation program extended to preventing rallies and similar duties as those to their northern counterparts (45).

During slavery, in both Great Britain and the US, such officers of the law acted as gatekeepers. When stopped by police, slaves had to have passes (permission to move around on their own) on their person or face dire consequences. Today, Vitale argues that little has changed. The privatization of prisons has had a domino effect as incentives exist for them to have higher conviction rates. Police officers still practice racial profiling, they continue to conduct illegal searches, and they continue to survey and monitor the whereabouts of marginalized communities.

One of the most damaging events that has taken place in American schools toward the end of the 20th century has been the introduction of police officers in primary and secondary schools across the US. Over 40% of schools now have a school resource officer (SRO) (55). Drawing from criminologist John Dilulio and James Q. Wilson, Vitale states that once again sociobiological factors and a growing number of youths participating in the crack trade play a role in the decision to implement SROs (56). Vitale criticizes the evidence used to support these claims and highlights a rise in moral panics surrounding youth crime as the cause for this reform. The Columbine school massacre in 1999 only served to legitimize the confirmation bias being presented at that time. A zero-tolerance approach was taken, and overnight, schools were under siege by the government in an attempt to circumvent potential criminal activities, including drug dealing, school massacres, and gateway crimes.

Vitale sympathetically discusses how the victims were not only predominantly children of marginalized communities but also children with learning difficulties. He blames neoliberal school reorganization as the primary cause as to why policies like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2002-2015) failed. Budget cuts coupled with an authoritarian approach to behavior management has resulted in a system that seeks to expel children who do not perform adequately on test scores. These test scores are used to determine the success or failure of a given school, the teacher, and even the school principal. LGBTQ students are especially vulnerable in these environments, as predominant prejudices against this community are deeply rooted in both academic and law enforcement institutions.

The introduction of SRO’s in schools has only served to criminalize youth. Vitale criticizes the government for using much needed funds to implement police in schools, when said money could be given to schools directly to build a better academic program. Additionally, this money could be used to hire aids for children with learning disabilities, develop extracurricular activities and after school programs, or even have a lunch program in place for low-income districts.

Vitale criticizes the Clinton Administration’s “three strikes” law as it did not take into account that crime rates have steadily decreased over time. This trend continues today, yet punishments that people of color receive are still substantially higher than their white counterparts. Coupled with three strikes laws, Vitale argues that moral panics, systemic racism, and inefficient school systems have set children of color up for prison. Programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) (1986), Guiding Principles Report (2014), the Obama Task Force on 21st Century Policing (2014), and Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (2007) all fall short of success because of the lack of training involved, an authoritarian approach, or poor pedagogical approaches.

Vitale argues that police should be removed from schools and should be replaced with counselors, support staff, better training for teachers, and meaningful services for students and their respective families (70). Vitale suggests restorative justice programs as a suitable means for dealing with behavioral issues. Keeping youth in schools as opposed to expelling them is beneficial for the school community as a whole, as it teaches important skills including critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and problem solving.