A Brooklyn College sociology professor, recently appointed to the transition team of New York’s incoming mayor, carries a controversial vision for public safety – one that challenges the very foundation of traditional policing.
Alex Vitale, author of the 2017 book “The End of Policing,” announced his involvement with the transition team, focusing on community safety initiatives. His work proposes a radical shift away from conventional law enforcement strategies for a range of offenses.
Vitale’s book doesn’t portray police as protectors of citizens, but rather questions their fundamental purpose. It advocates for dismantling traditional policing approaches to issues like drug use, prostitution, border control, and even adolescent misbehavior.
A central argument within “The End of Policing” centers on the inherent biases within gang enforcement. Vitale contends that gang units often serve as tools for racialized social control, disproportionately targeting young Black and Latino individuals.
The book extends this critique to border policing, arguing that its expansion is fueled by fear and racism. This approach, Vitale asserts, fosters xenophobic narratives that demonize immigrants instead of recognizing them as members of the community.
Vitale doesn’t stop at identifying problems; he challenges common solutions. He dismisses implicit bias training for officers as ineffective, arguing that the issue isn’t individual prejudice, but a fundamentally racist system.
He likens training officers on bias without systemic change to sending a soldier to occupy a foreign land while simultaneously teaching them sensitivity – a contradiction that fails to address the core issue.
For three decades, Vitale has dedicated his career to studying policing, consulting with both law enforcement and international human rights organizations. He currently teaches courses focusing on the intersection of race and the criminal justice system.
Beyond his academic work, Vitale has consistently advocated for the abolition of various policing structures on social media, including bicycle patrols, aerial surveillance, school resource officers, and even federal agencies like the DEA and Border Patrol.
His calls for reform extend to the highest levels of government, with past statements advocating for the abolition of the presidency itself, alongside demands for the NYPD to dismantle its gang databases.
The appointment of Vitale is not an isolated incident. The incoming mayor has also brought on Elle Bisgaard-Church, a campaign advisor known for her work on proposals to replace police response for certain 911 calls with social worker intervention.
Bisgaard-Church, affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, was described as the “chief architect” of this alternative response system, signaling a potential reshaping of emergency services in the city.
These appointments suggest a deliberate effort to re-evaluate and potentially dismantle long-standing approaches to public safety, sparking debate about the future of policing in New York City.
