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"As we wrestle with the role and limits of policing, a political philosopher who spent over two decades as a New York City police officer and Vermont chief of police presents a normative account of what it means to police a pluralist democracy. Invoking his vast experience, Brandon del Pozo argues that we all have the prerogative to use force to protect others, but police embody the government's unique duty to do so effectively and with restraint. He recasts order maintenance as brokering and enforcing the fair terms of social cooperation in our public spaces, for the protection of minority interests, and for a society where diverse conceptions of the good can flourish. The reasons why we police, he says, must be ones that all citizens can evaluate as equals. His book explains the democratic commitments of policing, and lays the groundwork for meaningful police innovation and reform"--
List of contents
1. The role of the police; 2. The first power of the police: impartial protection and rescue; 3. The second power of the police: arrest for adjudication; 4. The third power of the police: brokering and enforcing social cooperation; 5. Democratic priorities, relationships, and tensions: seven cases of policing; 6. The bases of, and reasons for seeking, police legitimacy; 7. Procedural justice in policing revisited; 8. Policing with public reason; 9. Policing populism, protecting pluralism; 10. Primary goods, policing states in transition, and natural experiments.
About the author
Brandon del Pozo served for nearly two decades in the New York City Police Department, where he commanded two patrol precincts, and then as the chief of police of Burlington, Vermont. He researches policing, public health, and drug policy at Brown University.
Summary
As the United States faces a crisis in policing amidst rising levels of violence, a political philosopher with over two decades of experience working as a New York City police officer and Vermont chief of police sets out a much-needed account of what policing means for our turbulent democracy.
