Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - The End of Policing

A very good introduction to police abolition. Each chapter focuses on a specific issue and analyses why our current approach is bad, positives and shortcomings of proposed reforms and police-free alternatives to deal with the issue.

The book is very American-centered, although it references other countries every now and then, but a lot of stuff still applies elsewhere.

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bry97's review against another edition

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dark informative tense slow-paced

4.5

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cianarae's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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skudiklier's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

4.75

I've been reading this book for almost an entire year at this point; this is for several reasons, and shouldn't just be taken as "wow this book is slow/dense." It is a very comprehensive look at the areas in which policing fails, the reasons for these failures, the way these failures are systemic, and ways we can help replace policing with other solutions. It is also very dense in the sense that it's a lot of facts, statistics, and figures, with very little to break it up. For me that's harder to get through, so I read it very slowly over the course of a year. But I would highly recommend this book, especially to those who think the police should not be abolished. I have a hard time imagining how someone could read this book and come away still thinking the police are a force for good.

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novemberscorpio's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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readalongwithnat's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

This is a really eye-opening book that discusses a ton of different topics related to policing, including some I didn’t anticipate, but appreciated learning more about.

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perusing_panels's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is a great introduction to the rationale behind defunding and dismantling the police, with concise well organised chapters focusing on different areas of policing and the ways in which they fail to keep everyone (particularly poor and marginalised people) safe.

The book discusses issues with systemic racism, classism, ableism, and other biases rooted in the misguided ideologies behind current policing systems and methods. It also explains why reforms aren’t enough, the system needs to be dismantled and redefined focusing on community lead alternatives that ensure equal protection and aid for everyone, not just the privileged and wealthy.

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