Read the full article from NPR, here.

For many Americans, it goes without saying that the police are critical in maintaining public safety. Have an emergency? Call the police. But many others — especially black people and poor people — have long countered that the police pose more of a threat to their safety than a boon. See a police officer? Walk in the other direction.

So it seems like a good moment to talk to Alex S. Vitale. He’s the author of the 2017 book The End of Policing. In it, he argues that rather than focus on police reform or officer retraining, the country needs to reconsider fundamentally what it is the police should be doing at all.

Author Profile

UB Center for Urban Studies

Latest entries

• Economic Development11/14/2025The Tuesday Night Election: A Road Bump for the Authoritarian Movement
• Democratic Socialism11/07/2025We Can’t Print What Charlamagne tha God Says About Van Jones Over His Criticism of Zohran Mamdani
• Democratic Socialism11/05/2025Zohran Got New Yorkers to Hope. What’s the Plan to Deliver?
• Gun Control10/16/2025What is Donald Trump’s End Game