Police Reform: An Obituary

The fight against police brutality and impunity is a global struggle. This book argues that police reform efforts around the world should be extirpated and replaced with locally developed and led non-carceral alternatives that can produce community safety, social justice, and quality of life over the long-term from a decolonial, feminist, anti-capitalist, and abolitionist perspective.

The book introduces the concept of artificial insecurity, defined as a condition in societies under racial capitalism whereby the social structures that promote safe, secure communities are weakened or removed, and the survival strategies of individuals are criminalized, coercing people to seek protection from policing and other carceral institutions that are undemocratic, violent, and fail to provide security, thus maintaining coloniality and inequality. Academics and other reformers should refuse to engage further in police reform efforts, and should instead seek ruptural social changes democratically based on an uncompromising abolitionist politics that produces genuine community safety and decolonizes economies in the face of hostility from politicians, police, and academic allies and collaborators with police. The book provides alternative policies and practices to reduce crime and promote community safety that do not rely on criminal justice systems.

Since the book concerns current, important debates regarding police defunding and abolition, it will be a useful resource for students and scholars of criminology, policymakers, local stakeholders, nongovernmental organizations, and activists involved in various social justice movements around the world.

Author Biography

Nathan W. Pino is Professor of Sociology and Honorary Professor of International Studies at Texas State University. Dr. Pino’s research interests focus primarily on the relationships between globalization, development, crime, and crime governance/control, with a focus on policing and police reform in developing countries. He has published over 20 book chapters and 45 articles in reputed academic journals. He has also coauthored six books: Democratic Policing in Transitional and Developing Countries (2006), Globalization, Police Reform, and Development: Doing it the Western Way? (2012), The Death and Resurrection of Deviance: Current Ideas and Research (2014), Rethinking Serial Murder, Spree Killing, and Atrocities: Beyond the Usual Distinctions (Routledge, 2015), The Emerald Handbook of Crime, Justice, and Sustainable Development (2021), and Unravelling the Crime Development Nexus (2022).