The End of Policing Study Notes

Question posed: Can police be trained to perform tasks effectively and uncoercively?
- The author asserts that the answer is no and proposes an alternative
Essential agenda for police reform involves:
- Replacing police with empowered communities addressing their own issues.
- Acknowledgment of the struggles of poor communities of color against high crime and invasive policing.
Key points:
- Policing cannot serve as an effective tool for community empowerment or racial justice.
- Importance of confronting political, economic, and social inequalities producing disparities between races.
- Calls for genuine democracy that enables citizens to demand real solutions from their government.

Common public perception: Police exist to keep citizens safe.
- Influenced by mainstream media and TV shows, creating exaggerated crime narratives.
Actual duties of most patrol officers:
- Majority of their time involves taking reports, random patrols, and addressing minor offenses.
- Felony arrests are rare; most officers average one felony arrest annually.
Patrol officers’ perspectives:
- Shadowed officers describe their work as "99 percent boredom and 1 percent sheer terror."
- Detectives, making up about 15% of police force, often document crimes they never solve.

Policing's portrayal in media as dispassionate law enforcers.
- Influenced by shows like Adam-12, aiming to create a favorable police image post-Watts riots.
Overview of liberal perception:
- Police seen as legitimate force acting in society's interest, maintaining public order through democracy.
- Police reform seen as needing improvements to restore legitimacy, focusing on poor individual behaviors rather than institutional failures.
Scholar David Bayley’s argument:
- Police do not prevent crime; the public remains largely unaware of this reality.
- The myth that increased resources and personnel lead to more safety persists.

Policing linked to historical social inequalities: slavery, colonialism, and managing industrial work class.
- Allan Silver argues for the existence of a "policed society" accelerated by social upheavals.
- Police act as intermediaries enforcing order favoring elites and suppressing dissent.

Reference to London Metropolitan Police formed in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel.
- Although effective, the purpose was to manage disorder and protect the interests of property owners, not necessarily to combat crime.
Peel’s background in managing British colonial rule influenced the development of a controllable police force.

US policing developed to manage immigrant crises and social unrest in cities such as Boston and New York.
- Establishment of Boston's police to manage riots related to class struggles in the 1830s.
- New York followed with its own police in 1844, driven by the need to maintain order amid increasing social turmoil.
Racism and corruption perception:
- Early police forces supported nativist agendas and ensured control over newly arriving immigrant populations.
- Urban police became tools to suppress unions and political organization among workers.

Early police characterized by:
- Political patronage, lack of formal training, and corruption.
- Use of informants and political suppression of dissent.
Efforts to professionalize policing in late 19th century: civil service exams, technology adaptations.

Impact of the US occupation in the Philippines on policing techniques in Pennsylvania.
- Creation of Pennsylvania State Police to replace earlier ineffective local forces.
Influences from military practices in quelling dissent preserved into domestic policing.

Early police structures linked to slave patrols, particularly in Southern cities.
- Urban police forces emerged from the need to control and surveil enslaved populations.
Post-Civil War policing focused on maintaining narrow economic roles for freed individuals, often employing vagrancy laws for suppression.

The police’s role escalated during the civil rights movement, often violently suppressing protests.
- Tactics included targeted arrests, mobilizing military strategies, and working with federal agencies against civil rights activists.
Notable examples:
- Fred Hampton's assassination during a raid, illustrating extreme repression against political dissidence.

Increased scope of police enforcement reflects broader issues:
- Connection to mass incarceration, racial inequality, and punitive societal measures.
Growth in police budgets and militarization has not improved the public safety narrative.
Political strategies have reinforced systemic racism and economic disparities.
Discussion of broken windows theory and the impact of anti-crime policies on marginalized communities.
- Labeling communities as criminalized subjects points towards persistent social control.

Example provided:
- Incident of police forcibly arresting a five-year-old girl, emblematic of the criminalization of youth.
Growth in the role of police within educational settings:
- Introduction of School Resource Officers (SROs) and their controversial engagement in routine school discipline.
Statistical context:
- Over 43,000 school-based police officers present across the U.S.
- Majority engage in enforcing discipline rather than security duties.

Advocacy for rethinking the reliance on police as a response to community issues.
- Emphasis on developing societal systems that meet human needs rather than defaulting to punitive measures.
Overall, the text criticizes the existing framework and calls for organized movements toward genuine justice and community empowerment, rather than perpetuating systems of oppression through police tactics.