The End of Policing: Dear Evanston's Racial Justice Book Group is back August 18 on Zoom!
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, August 18 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. when we will discuss the acclaimed 2017 book The End of Policing and hear directly from its author Professor Alex S. Vitale. We'll then break into small, facilitated groups (as we always do) to discuss the ideas Vitale raises in his book.
We’ll grapple with questions such as:
What societal needs are currently being given to police, and what other organizations and professions might be better equipped to address them?
Why have we turned over so many social problems to the police to manage?
What are our security and safety needs, and how are they best addressed?
Are there differences in how we deal with prevention as opposed to the aftermath of a crime? Between property crime and crimes of violence?
If we were to take serious steps toward moving in the direction of having police address fewer of our social problems and putting those problems in the hands of people who are more equipped to deal with them, what would be the next step?
As always, our discussion will center directly on the book with open conversations in small, facilitated groups. And, as in our usual, in-person gatherings, a representative from each group will report back to our full group about their discussion.
NOTE: You MUST live, work, or worship in Evanston to participate.
Click here to register.
About the author:
Alex S. Vitale is Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College and a Visiting Professor at London Southbank University. He has spent the last 30 years writing about policing and consults both police departments and human rights organizations internationally. Prof. Vitale is the author of City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics, and The End of Policing.
Vitale's academic writings on policing have appeared in Policing and Society, Police Practice and Research, Mobilization, and Contemporary Sociology. He is also a frequent essayist, whose writings have appeared in The NY Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Nation, Vice News, Fortune, and USA Today.
Read/listen to a recent NPR interview with Professor Vitale here.
To get a book:
The paperback is available at Bookends & Beginnings, for $17.95, with 10 percent off when you mention DE. You can also download a digital copy of it on Verso.com for just $3.
The Evanston Public Library also has the book in a variety of formats: eBook, eAudiobook, and standard paper book.
For the eBook or eAudio version, click here.
To request the physical paper copy of the book for curbside pick-up, click here.
If you need assistance getting a physical paper book, please email dearevanston@gmail.com
Since we usually feature a meal by a Black-owned restaurant or caterer when we meet in person, we suggest you treat yourself to dinner while you participate!
We'll provide suggested businesses to support along with meal choices and prices to registrants closer to the date.
Thanks to Shelley Barnow Sutherland for the suggestion and Lesley Williams for helping to frame the discussion and prepare the discussion guide.
