DSA and Public Safety

Unfortunately, we have seen a number of elected officials on the Left pulling back from their pledges to shift resources from policing and invest instead in evidence-based non-punitive strategies. There are many reasons for this shift including short-term electoralism that undermines long-term organizing, the growth of carceral socialism rooted in non-Marxist understanding of the role of police and prisons in society, such as “carceral minimalism,” and a reactionary politics around race and diversity that attempts to wish away the diversity of ways people experience the harms of capitalism in the interests of a fantasy of working class unity that “doesn’t see race.”

The good news is that in NYC, there is renewed organizing underway within DSA. The newly reconstituted Racial Justice Working Group is developing campaigns to support the Mayor’s pledge to create a full Department of Community Safety as well as supporting a number of existing campaigns to dial back some of the most abusive forms of policing. Details will be publicly available soon.

As part of this effort, we partnered with the DSA Academy and the Racial Justice Working Group to host a 2 hour workshop on how to understand and operationalize abolition in both issue and electoral campaigns. More political education events are in the works.

Media Coverage

Prof. Vitale contributed to this in-depth look at Flock cameras for Current Affairs.

Perry Bacon from The New Republic interviews Prof. Vitale about the state of the movement to defund policing:

Recent Events

Coverage of Prof. Vitale’s event at the University of Fulda in Germany this summer.

Prof. Vitale attended a fundraiser for the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, which also served as the launch for their new report on how Flock Cameras have become a major tool in the deportation machine.

Upcoming Events

September 15, Police Writers Group, 7 PM

September 16, Prof. Vitale will be in conversation with Matt Wolf about his new book, Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, The FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage at NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge. 5:30 PM.

Book Corner

Check out our updated open-source Police Bibliography Be sure to let us know about any new books that should be included.

Received

Beggs, Mike, Ben Burgis, and Bhaskar Sunkara. 2026. The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World. Verso Books.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last few years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Read more

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities, based at Brooklyn College.

Mamdani and the NYPD

It is clear that Mayor Mamdani has made a political calculation to give the NYPD and Commissioner Jessica Tisch broad latitude in how they police the city. For now, little has been done to reign in the Strategic Response Group, Gang Suppression Policing, anti-sex work stings, or the ongoing heavy reliance on Broken Windows and Stop Question and Frisk tactics that lead to widespread harassment and criminalization of young people of color despite pledging during the campaign to address these issues. Low level arrests are way up as are arraignments which now run overnight in some courts undermining efforts to close Rikers Island.

The good news is that after concerted pressure the Mayor did pull the Police Commissioner’s proposal for 580 more police from the city budget. Prof. Vitale spoke out against this in the New York Times and Gothamist and worked with DSA and other groups to issue a strongly worded statement on the issue.

Research

Our team has completed its research on Crisis Stabilization Procedures at NYC CVI sites and will begin presenting the results this month. Stand by for a full written report. As a preview, homelessness was the top crisis condition reported by CVI sites and the one they have the most difficulty addressing. Other issues include unemployment, mental health and substance use issues, and education.

Prof. Vitale is also part of a new research team that is hoping to work with the NYC Mayor’s office on additional community safety oriented projects called the Collaborative for Safer Communities made up of five faculty in the CUNY system.

Recent Events

Prof. Vitale was in Athens to launch the Greek edition of The End of Policing.

Prof Vitale was on a panel at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to discuss the film series Black Cops, Spies and Overseers curated and hosted by Steven Thrasher

In July Prof. Vitale was on a panel at the Michigan Justice Fund’s Annual Summit in Detroit to talk about the growth of community based public safety strategies nationally. While there, he got to meet with folks from Force Detroit, who are doing amazing CVI work using a credible messenger approach.

Film

Film Rental and Purchase

Schools and Organizations can license the film for individual screenings or for their permanent collections at Good Docs.

Recent Screenings

We had a great screening with make The Road in Queens on June 15th. They were a huge help in making the film.

Prof. Vitale showed the film on Athens in June to a large audience at the Greek Film Archives.

Upcoming Screenings

Oct 2 Women’s Institute For Psychotherapy, NYC 6:45PM - 9PM

Oct 14 Roosevelt House, Hunter College 6:00PM

Media

Prof. Vitale did an interview with Life After the Impact to discuss Josh Davis’s new book Police Against the Movement: Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back.

Prof Vitale was part of this in depth look at gun violence prevention work in the Amsterdam News.

Upcoming Events

August 24, Prof. Vitale will be holding a political education event for members of DSA NYC on developments in abolitionist thought.

September 16, Prof. Vitale will be in conversation with Matt Wolf about his new book, Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, The FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage at NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge. 5:30 PM.

Book Corner

Check out our updated open-source Police Bibliography

Endorsements

Koram, Kojo. 2026. The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs. New York: Penguin Books.

“Koram tells the stories of those whose lives have been destroyed by the drug war and the heroic efforts to replace it with a system of care and economic transformation. It is both a prescription for a better future and a cautionary tale of the power of capital to up end that vision.”

-Alex S Vitale, author of The End of Policing

Received

Lennard, Natasha. 2026. On Uncertainty: The Uses of Doubt in Dangerous Times. New York: Verso Books.

Thrasher, Steven W. 2026. The Overseer Class: A Manifesto. New York: Amistad.

Wolf, Matthew. 2026. Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, The FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage. New York: Viking.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Policing and Social Justice Project

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities, based at Brooklyn College.

CVI Research in NYC

We are in the final stages of data gathering for our project on crisis stabilization procedures at CVI sites in NYC. We have been meeting with community and hospital-based violence interruption programs throughout the 5 boroughs of NYC and plan to deliver a preliminary report on our findings along with recommendations to the NYC Mayor’s Office in July.

New CVI Grant

We received a PSC-CUNY grant to look at violence reduction strategies at a number of CVI organizations nationally starting in the Fall.

Policy Briefings

We held our latest NYC policy briefing in May on School Safety and Pol/ICE Free Schools in conjunction with the Dignity in Schools Campaign. You can watch the 90 minute briefing here:

Here are the links to our previous briefings:

Gang Suppression Policing

Sentinel Event Reviews

Sex Work Policy

Film

Vilnius

We had 2 great screenings in Vilnius, Lithuania last month in conjunction with SWRL, the sex workers’ rights organization there. They will be holding an additional screening on June 1st to support their local organizing there against a bill to increase criminal penalties against sex workers.

Film Rental and Purchase

Schools and Organizations can license the film for individual screenings or for their permanent collections at Good Docs.

Queens

We will be having a bi-lingual English-Spanish screening of the film at Make The Road in Queens, NY on June 15th. Make the Road is a major part of the Decrim NY effort and is featured in the film.

Athens

Prof. Vitale will be screening the film in Athens, Greece on June 27th at 8:30 PM at Tainiothiki - Greek Film Archive Foundation in conjunction with the European political foundation Transform! europe and the Greek left-wing weekly newspaper Epochi.

Press coverage

Prof. Vitale did an extended interview on One to One with Sheryl McCarthy on CUNY-TV last month:

https://tv.cuny.edu/show/onetoone/PR2013867

Upcoming Events

Prof. Vitale will be on a panel at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on June 11th following a screening of the film “Cruising.” This is part of the series “Black Cops, Spies and Overseers” organized by Steven Thrasher, journalist and author of The Overseer Class.

June 9 DSA Peninsula, Virtual discussion of The End of Policing

June 11 Brooklyn Academy of Music Panel

June 15 Film Screening, Make The Road NY, Queens

June 23 University of Fulda, Germany, lecture on Reimagining Public Safety in NYC

June 25 Book Event for the Greek Edition of The End of Policing, Athens

June 27 Film Screening, Athens

Book Corner

Check out our updated open-source Police Bibliography

Endorsements

Foley, Connor, 2026. The Bible and Police Violence in the United States. New York: Routledge.

“Foley provides us with a deep exegesis of how scripture is mobilized by the authoritarian right to advance police power and in the process exposes the deep injustices of both Christian nationalists and the institution of policing.”

Dr. Alex S. Vitale, Author of The End of Policing

Received

Davis, Joshua Clark. 2025. Police Against the Movement: Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Staff Notes

Congratulations to Project Intern Magali Ramos for graduating from Brooklyn College and to Organizing Fellow Kate Dempsy, who will be starting in the MS Program in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Register to Attend: https://linktr.ee/SER.psjp

Policing and Social Justice Project

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities, based at Brooklyn College.

CVI Research

We have received funding to undertake research on crisis stabilization practices at community-based violence intervention (CVI) sites in New York City. We are looking at the kinds of crisis situations young people at risk of involvement in gun violence are facing such as homelessness, mental health issues, food insecurity, and substance use problems and the strategies CVI groups use to address them as well as the impediments they face in doing so. The team includes Prof. Vitale, CUNY Sociology doctoral student Matthew Thompson, Paublo Cuentes of We Build the Block, and Brooklyn College student Sergio Leon Hidalgo. We are meeting with CVI organizations in all 5 boroughs and will present the initial results to the new Mayor’s Office of Community Safety this summer and fuller reports publicly in the fall.

Policy Briefings

Our next policy briefing will be on Tuesday May 26th at 2:30 to 4 PM Eastern on School Safety and POL/ICE Free Schools. This briefing is co-sponsored by the NYC Dignity in Schools Campaign. Speakers include Andrea Ortiz from Dignity in Schools, Charlotte Pope of the NYCLU, high school student Dream Cacho, Raul Soto, Ya-Ya Network, and Prof. Seth Prins, SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Prof. Vitale will moderate the conversation. Register to Attend: https://linktr.ee/SER.psjp

Here are the links to our previous briefings.

Gang Suppression Policing

Sentinel Event Reviews

Sex Work Policy

Film

We had a great screening of Sex Work: It’s Just a Job at Adelphi University in April. Schools and Organizations can license the film for individual screenings or for their permanent collections at Good Docs.

Upcoming Screenings

May 8 University of Vilnius

May 9 Vilnius, Lithuania

June 15 Make The Road NY, Queens

June 23 University of Fulda, Germany

June 27 Athens, Greece

July 3 Ghent, Belgium

For updates you can follow us on social media:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/itsjustajobmovie/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sexworkfilm.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sexworkfilm

X: https://x.com/Sexworkfilm

Safer Cities

For years, many of us have been reading the amazing newsletter Safer Cities from Matt Ferner. They have just launched an amazing new website that utilizes years of data on specific non-carceral public safety initiatives across the country, such as mental health crisis response, community gun violence programs, transit ambassadors, and much more. It includes overviews of issues, evaluation research, and hundreds of case studies. It’s an essential tool for anyone doing research or advocacy on alternatives to policing. Check it out here:

https://safercitiesresearch.com/

And be sure to sign up for their weekly email updates.

Press Coverage

Prof. Vitale will appear on CUNY TV on May 19. You will be able to view it online at One To One – CUNY TV.

Prof. Vitale appeared on The Empire City Podcast Club last month.

Upcoming Events

May 5-8 Common Sessions Conference, University of Vilnius

May 9 Film Screening, Vilnius, Lithuania

May 20 Brownbag lunch, Galaxy Gives, 1PM

May 20 Police Writers Group

May 26 School Safety Policy Briefing, 2:30 PM

Book Corner

Check out our open source Police Bibliography

Endorsed

Thai, Mai. 2026. Kid Cops: What Communities Gain and Lose from Junior Police in Schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

“Thai shows the power of high-quality ethnography to explore the contradictions at the heart of junior police academies and the larger endeavor of community policing. Throughout, she centers the struggles, compromises, and uncertainties of young people trying to make their way through life in a challenging social environment.” -- Alex S. Vitale, Brooklyn College

Received

Cooper, Wilbert L. 2026 THE BLACK SHIELD: An American Memoir of Family and Power. New York: Macmillan.

Rose, Adrie ed. 2026. I Hate My Job: Thots on Sex Work, Labor, and Capitalism. New York: Working Girls Press.

Schrader, Stuart. 2026. Blue Power. How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves. New York: Basic Books.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Policing and Social Justice Project

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities, based at Brooklyn College.

Policy Briefing

Our next policy briefing will be on the harms of gang suppression policing, co-sponsored by the NYC GANGS Coalition. April 7, 3-4:30 PM on Zoom. Register here: https://linktr.ee/SER.psjp

Video of March Briefing on Sentinel Event Reviews.

Video of February briefing on Sex Work Policy.

NYC’s Office of Community Safety

Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order creating the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety on March 19th. He also appointed Renita Francois as Deputy Mayor of Community Safety. Prof. Vitale commented on the new office in news articles for the NY Times and Gothamist and appeared on two TV programs, “Inside City Hall” on NY 1 and “Politics Unusual” on Fox 5.

He also co-authored 2 op eds on the new office with Dana Rachlin of We Build the Block.

Opinion: Why NYC needs a Department of Community Safety

Op-Ed | Mamdani’s moonshot: A Department of Community Safety | amNewYork

A long time friend of the Project and member of the Police Writers Group, Hassan Naveed, has been appointed Chief of Staff to the new Deputy Mayor. Congratulations Hassan.

Film

In March we had screenings of the film in NYC, Oaxaca, Cambridge, MA and Beacon, NY. Director and Producer Tami Gold also showed clips of the film as part of a presentation she gave at the United Nations.

Organizations can license the film for individual screenings or for their permanent collections at

Good Docs.

Upcoming Screening

April 22, 6PM, Adelphi University

Police Writers Group

We had a great turnout for our March gathering with special guest Brad Lander, candidate for Congress in NY-10 and former NYC Comptroller. Our next meeting will be April 27th with Lydia Green, District Leader for AD 52 and candidate for NY Assembly in Brooklyn.

Immigration

Prof. Vitale was invited to speak at a Rally for immigrant rights by NYC DSA’s Immigrant Justice Coalition on March 22nd outside the office of Gov. Hochul. Video clip below:

Alex Vitale speaks at Immigrants Rights Rally March 22, 2026

Upcoming Events

April 7, Policy Briefing, Gang Suppression Policing, 3 PM

April 9, Class Visit, CUNY Law School, 10:30 AM

April 11, Princeton, SPEAR Conference, 2:30 PM

April 15, Galaxy Gives, 1 PM

April 22, Film Screening, Adelphi University 6 PM

April 27, Police Writers Group, 7 PM

Book Corner

Police Bibliography

Endorsements

“Pino has assembled a broad international compendium of cutting-edge research to lay out the power of an abolitionist analysis and the pitfalls of academic complicity with the project of police reform.”

-Alex Vitale, Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center

Pino, Nathan. 2026. Police Reform: An Obituary. New York: Routledge.

Received

Escobar, Edward J. 1999. Race, Police, and the Making of a Political Identity: Mexican Americans and the Los Angeles Police Department, 1900-1945. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Redmond, Helen. 2026. Liquid Handcuffs: Policing and Punishment in Methadone Clinics and the Future of Opioid Addiction Treatment. North Atlantic Books.

Reports

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. 2026. “NYC Against Hate Violence: Evidence-Based Prevention and Infrastructure for Intergroup Community Building.” Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.

UCLA Luskin School. 2026. “Newark Community Street Team Evaluation.” Community Based Public Safety Collective.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Our next policy briefing will be on the problems with and alternatives to

Gang Suppression Policing

April 7th at 3 PM Eastern.

You can register here: https://linktr.ee/SER.psjp

Here are the recordings of our prior briefings:

Sex Work Policy

Sentinel Event Reviews

We invite you to a policy Briefing on how to use Sentinel Event Reviews to respond to police shootings. Tuesday, March 11, Noon Eastern Time.

Details and Registration: https://linktr.ee/SER.psjp

Policing and Social Justice Project

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities, based at Brooklyn College.

Policy Briefings

We hosted our second NYC policy briefing last month on sex work issues with speakers from the Ali Forney Center, Decrim NY, Red Canary Song, City Councilmember Tiffany Caban, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The 90-minute event is available here:

Our next briefing will be on the use of Sentinel Event Reviews to respond to police killings on April 10th. Register here. Prof. Vitale along with Dr. Eric Reinhart laid out why such an approach is essential for changing deadly police policies in this new article for Current Affairs:

What Hospitals Do After Tragedy—And Police Should Too

More on Sentinel Event Reviews from our partners at the Quattrone Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Film

SEX WORK: It’s Just a Job

SEE PURCHASE & STREAMING OPTIONS

KEY THEMES

• Sex Work as Labor

• Sex Workers’ Rights

• Policing in America

• Gender, Sexuality, and Power

LEARN MORE

“Sex Work: It’s Just a Job is a film that brings needed perspective to the topic of sex workers’ rights, with a focus on decriminalization, legislative activism, and other efforts in support of sex workers’ rights. What sets this film apart is its centering of the voices of diverse sex workers themselves -- we hear from a diverse group of New York City workers and learn about their challenges, successes, and the solidarity they bring to their activism.”

Rachel Schreiber

Professor & Director

Gender and Sexualities Studies Institute, The New School

PLAY TRAILER

Upcoming Screenings:

March 3, 6:15 PM, Critical Criminology Workshop, CUNY Graduate Center

March 9, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociológicas Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca

March 12, 5:50 PM, Central Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ndCr2ez73we5HdZFdad1Mc9AjSSyTINht8totDehkzM/edit (flyer below)

March 29, 3-4:30PM & 5-6:30PM, Beacon, NY

Upcoming Events

March 3, 6:15 PM, Critical Criminology Workshop, CUNY Graduate Center

March 5, 6 PM, Keynote Address, Washington and Lee University, School of Law

March 10, noon-1:30, Sentinel Event Review Policy Briefing.

March 18, 1:30 PM, Launch of the Greek Edition of The End of Policing.

March 23, 7 PM, NYC Police Writers Group, with Guest Brad Lander.

Flyer from last month’s event with S. Idaho DSA:

Media Coverage

Will Mamdani Abolish Police, Or Simply Make Them Obsolete? – OpEd – Eurasia Review

Book Corner

Check out our open-source bibliography of critical police studies:

Police Bibliography

Prof. Vitale has a review of David Garland’s Law and Order Leviathan in Critical Criminology.

The Greek edition of The End of Policing is now available from Salto Books. Prof. Vitale will be doing an in-person book event in Athens on June 25th.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Sex Work Policy Briefing

Friday, February 20th, 10-11:30 AM Eastern

Hosted by:

The Policing and Social Justice Project

Featuring:

Red Canary Song

Decrim NY

The Ali Forney Center

The NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

NYC Councilmember Tiffany Caban

Zoom:

https://brooklyn-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meetings/84930585010/invitations?signature=AMF5MNR2EKDV1TNMiQgZc3ZlOhMjopJuY574mtJ-nkA

Policing and Social Justice Project

The Policing and Social Justice Project is a collaboration of faculty, students, and community-based organizations ​that uses research and advocacy to produce safer and more just communities based at Brooklyn College.

Film

We continue to set up screenings and support others organizing them. Universities and community groups can license the film for screenings starting at $99 through Good Docs.

https://gooddocs.net/products/sex-work-its-just-a-job?variant=50119646150903

In January we had a series of screenings in Mexico, with more to come. We now have a Spanish translation of the film.

Follow us on social media for updates on screenings

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sexworkfilm.bsky.social

IG:https://www.instagram.com/itsjustajobmovie/

X: https://x.com/Sexworkfilm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sexworkfilm

Feb 6 Pittsburgh, 7:00 PM

Kelly Strayhorn Theater

Feb 22 Leeds, UK 6:30 PM

Leeds Sex Worker Collective

Protest Testimony Project

The Protest Testimony Project is part of the community engagement component of the settlement agreement addressing the NYPD’s response to the 2020 protests. Their role is to gather the experiences of people participating in First Amendment Activity and help ensure that the NYPD follows the terms of the settlement.

https://www.protesttestimonyproject.org/

Mamdani Transition

While the official Community Safety Subcommittee has officially sunsetted, many of us continue to work on a variety of policy issues and meet with officials in the First Deputy Mayor’s Office.

As part of the effort, we will continue to offer a series of policy briefings, but now we will be making these events open to the public. The first one will be on sex work issue in conjunction with Decrim NY. Red Canary Song, and City Councilmember Tiffany Caban.

Sex Work Briefing Feb 20th 10 AM

https://brooklyn-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meetings/84930585010/invitations?signature=AMF5MNR2EKDV1TNMiQgZc3ZlOhMjopJuY574mtJ-nkA

We are also in the process of planning a briefing on Sentinel Event Reviews as a response to police killings or deaths in custody. These reviews would look at policies and practices that may have contributed to these outcomes and ways to reduce their likelihood going forward.

Prof. Vitale wrote about this idea over the summer for The Nation.

Zohran Mamdani Must Confront the NYPD. Here's What He Can Do. | The Nation

In addition, we have received funding to conduct a research project at community-based anti-violence programs in NYC to look at their strategies for crisis stabilization and the impediments they face from governmental agencies.

NYC Police Writers Group

We had a great meet-up last month with featured guest and new member Stuart Schrader, author of the forthcoming book Blue Power, about the power of police unions.

Our next gathering will be on February 18th. Reach out if you would like to attend.

Media Coverage

Beyond the Headlines: How to Read NYC Crime Stats Like a Pro | THE CITY

2 NYPD shootings spur questions about Mayor Mamdani’s safety plans - Gothamist

NYC Council set to consider Mamdani mental health response plan - Gothamist

Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor who served on Mamdani’s transition team, said he does not expect drastic changes at the NYPD in the short term. But he added that reducing the number of emergency calls that officers respond to could lead to less overtime for the NYPD.“ My biggest short-term hope is that we’ll see a significant reduction in overtime spending,” Vitale said. “That’s the most immediate concrete change that I’m hoping for.” Over time, Vitale said police officers could still be investigating homicides and shootings, but much of the work to prevent shootings could fall to community groups, not the NYPD.

Alex Vitale, sociologist: “The nature of the police in the US is to have impunity because it is a tool of the elites.” - El Diario (en Español)

Alex S. Vitale on Mamdani, ICE Raids, and Abolishing the NYPD Gang Database - Current Affairs

The local police should not help ICE - Die Zeit (auf Deutsch)

Is the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown working? - Al Jazeera

Minneapolis to ICE: Get the Fuck Out! | The Nation

“Any investigation undertaken by the federal government will likely be a sham, Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, added. “Folks should be trying to produce their own sense of justice,” he said, citing the We Charge Genocide petition of the 1950s, which aimed to hold police and mobs accountable for the killings of unarmed Black men and women. The US government has long been reluctant to reckon with its violence.”

Mamdani reiterates campaign promise to disband the NYPD Strategic Response Group - City & State New York

Upcoming Events

Feb 5 DSA Socialist Night School (details below)

Feb 6 Pittsburgh Screening of “Sex Work: It’s Just a Job,” 7 PM

Feb 9 In Conversation with David Stovall at the NYPL

Feb 12 Dignity in Schools Campaign Launch 4:00 pm Tweed Courthouse

Feb 17 Online launch of the Greek Edition of The End of Policing

Feb 18 NYC Police Writers Group

Feb 20 Sex Work Policy Briefing, 10 AM

Feb 25 S. Idaho DSA

Feb 26 Coro Leadership Briefing

March 5 Washington and Lee School of Law

March 12 Cambridge, MA “Sex Work: It’s Just a Job” Screening 6:30 PM

Book Corner

Police Bibliography

Endorsements

Williams, Kristian. 2026. Policing the Progressive City: Portland, Oregon, From Settlement to Uprising. Chico, CA: AK Press.

“A searing and masterful case study of the history and politics of policing. An essential read for anyone who wants to understand the true nature and function of the police institution and why we should be doing everything we can to dismantle it.” —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing

Received

Almanza, Emily Galvin. 2026. The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, A Violent System, and a Public Defender’s Search for Justice in America. New York: Crown.

Duncan, Calvin and Sophie Cull. 2025. The Jailhouse Lawyer. New York: Penguin.

Moskos, Peter. 2025. Back From the Brink: Inside the NYPD and New York City’s Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop. New York: Oxford.

Patterson, Sequoia. 2026. Sequoia. New York: Sequoia Patterson.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Mamdani Transition

It has been a hectic month of effort to support the Mamdani transition effort. Prof. Vitale has been involved in dozens of meetings with subcommittee members and partner organizations, hoping to influence early planning for the new administration. In addition to drafting and commenting on numerous proposals, we hosted a policy briefing on Mental Health Crisis Response on December 19th, featuring the union that represents social workers on the current B-HEARD teams, a high-ranking mental health expert at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and a group of peer advocates. Our Fellow Kate Dempsey provided excellent logistical support. Numerous members of the Community Safety Subcommittee attended, and we distributed extensive notes to others. We are beginning to plan additional briefings that we intend to conduct publicly around additional issues. Stay tuned for updates.

Prof. Vitale was also invited to attend the Inauguration on a cold January 1st at City Hall.

Film

We screened the film in the San Francisco Bay Area in early December with screenings at SF State University and New parkway Theater in Oakland hosted by local film maker David Martinez.

Director and Producer Tami Gold is hosting several screenings in Oaxaca, Mexico. Reach out for details if you’re nearby.

We continue to set up screenings and support others organizing them. Universities and community groups can license the film for screenings starting at $99 through Good Docs.

https://gooddocs.net/products/sex-work-its-just-a-job?variant=50119646150903

Follow us on social media for updates on screenings in Pittsburgh, Cambridge, Philadelphia, and several others.

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sexworkfilm.bsky.social

IG:https://www.instagram.com/itsjustajobmovie/

X: https://x.com/Sexworkfilm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sexworkfilm

Press Coverage

Prof. Vitale was quoted in this piece on The Massey Commission established after the police killing of Sandra Massey, while having a mental health crisis. Prof. Vitale testified before the commission and is quoted about the need for the commission to establish a non-police mental health crisis response in keeping with best practices nationally.

A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference. | Bolts

After a flurry of right-wing attack pieces following his appointment to the Mamdani Transition team, Prof. Vitale also received some positive coverage, including this short video interview for Current Affairs:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2041952149920552

And this:

The Zohran Mamdani Count: Lina Khan, Familiar Progressive Faces and Key Allies Populate Transition Team

Book Corner

Be sure to check out our open-source bibliography on critical police studies.

Police Bibliography

Endorsements

Walker, Allyn and Aimee Wodda, eds. 2025. Abolition and Queer Justice. University of California Press.

“Abolition and Queer Justice provides an essential theoretical and empirical intervention from a diverse group of scholars challenging some of the central tenets of mainstream criminology. If we are serious about creating real justice and safety, we must integrate these experiences and ideas into our theoretical frameworks, methods, and research objectives.”—Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing

Received

Baggett, Hannah. 2025. Beyond Bad Apples: Teacher Education for Police Free Schools. HarvardEducation Press.

Behnken, Brian D. 2025. Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights in the Southwest, 1935-2025. Durham: University of North Carolina.

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last 3 years, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Sex Work: It’s Just A Job

Wednesday, December 3rd, 7 p.m.

The New Parkway Theater

474 24th St

Oakland, CA 94612

Nearest BART: 19th St.

Suggested donation $10, but no one turned away

Mamdani Transition Team

Prof. Vitale has been appointed to Mayor-elect Mamdani’s Transition Team to work on the Community Safety Subcommittee. This subcommittee will be making recommendations on personnel and policy matters related to the NYPD and the proposed Department of Community Safety.

Not surprisingly, this has generated a lot of critical press attention from right-wing media like the NY Post, Wall St. Journal, Newsmax, etc., the main effect of which has been a big increase in sales for The End of Policing.

Mamdani pick for community safety committee Alex Vitale is anti-cop professor who penned ‘The End of Policing’ | New York Post

The Anti-Police Professor Advising Mamdani - WSJ

Prior to joining the Transition Team, Prof. Vitale was on two panels about the new administration’s public safety agenda. The first was for the DSA Organizing Conference with NYC City Councilmember Tiffany Caban, NY State Sen. Julia Salazar, and CUNY colleague Felicia Arriaga. The second was hosted by the Racial Justice Working Group, featuring CUNY colleague Calvin Smiley and Cheryl Rivera from Another World. Both events drew large audiences, indicating renewed interest in organizing around community-based public safety initiatives.

Tiffany Caban, Julia Salazar, Feliacia Arriaga, Alex Vitale, Ciaran Finlayson

Calvin Smiley, Alex Vitale, Cheryl Rivera

Film

We had full houses for recent screenings of the film at the New School, The Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem, and in Washington, DC, with the Sex Workers Advocacy Coalition.

Prof. Vitale with members of the Sex Worker Advocacy Coalition in Washington, DC.

We were also awarded Audience Favorite at the Workers Unite Film Festival.

The film is now available for community and classroom screening through Good Docs.

SEX WORK It’s Just a Job | GOOD DOCS

Upcoming Screenings

Dec 3 Oakland: New Parkway Theater, 8 PM

Dec 4 SF State University, Noon-2 PM

Support

We want to thank our many supporters who, over the last year, have contributed to our work through voluntary paid subscriptions to this newsletter. This has allowed us to provide much-needed support to our interns and community partners.

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know at avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Upcoming Events

Dec 2 CBH Talk | Terrence Keel and Alex Vitale Discuss Death Records and Hiding Police Violence | Brooklyn Public Library

Abolitionist Epistemology Paper

Prof. Vitale’s recent paper on abolitionist epistemology is now available on his web page. The paper is a resource for researchers who want to apply abolitionist theory and methods to their research agendas. There was a great deal of discussion about these issues at last month’s American Society of Criminology meetings, so he is making the paper easily available to those who are interested.

http://www.alex-vitale.info/abolitionist-epistemology.html

Staff Notes

Our Communications Fellow, Aaron Cohen, has been admitted to Hunter College’s Masters in Urban Planning Program. Congratulations Aaron!

Book Corner

Endorsements

Revier, Kevin. 2025. Policing Pain: The Opioid Crisis, Abolition, and the New Ethic of Care. New York: NYU Press.

Kevin Revier’s insightful ethnographic case study, combined with an abolitionist epistemology, compels us to demand alternatives to incarceration that aren’t rooted in treatment modalities that reproduce the logics and practices of punishment and the erasure of structural explanations. He shows in excruciating detail how drug courts and jail treatment programs are part of the problem, not the solution, and lays out a vision for a more just path forward. ~Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing

Received

Randolph, Justin. 2025. Mississippi Law: Policing and Reform in America’s Jim Crow Countryside. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.

Film

We had a great month of screenings of “Sex Work It’s Just a Job” in the UK and NYC, with a sold-out commercial screening at the Workers Unite Film Festival at Cinema Village in Manhattan.

Many people have asked about organizing remote screenings. That is now possible through the Good Docs Web page. Community-based groups and universities can license the film for public screenings for 14 days. Just $99 for community-based groups.

https://gooddocs.net/products/sex-work-its-just-a-job?variant=50119645659383

Upcoming Screenings

New York

Nov 5 Gender and Sexuality Institute New School: 6:30PM Free Event.

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

https://event.newschool.edu/sexworkitsjustajob

Nov 13-15 Maysles Documentary Center, Harlem

https://www.maysles.org/calendar/sex-work-its-just-a-job-11-13-25

Washington, DC

Nov 12 Sex Work Advocacy Coalition Festival Center 6PM

San Francisco

Dec 4 SF State University noon

Dec 4 Community Screening, Howard Zinn Book Festival, 518 Valencia St. 8pm

Dec 5 UC Berkeley 2:30PM

NYC Election

The NYC Election is coming to a close on Tuesday. We collaborated again with The POlice Reform Organizing Project to produce a Voter Guide on policing issues:

2025 NYC General Mayoral Election Voter Guide.pdf

Prof. Vitale also produced this OpEd on Mamdani’s Department of Community Safety proposal.

Opinion: Mamdani’s proposed Department of Community Safety would be a win for New Yorkers

He also was asked to comment on Mamdani’s approach to policing and the decision to ask current NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on.

Walking the Thin Blue Line​ | Bill de Blasio, Zohran Mamdani, and the NYPD

Mamdani’s offer to retain Commissioner Tisch concerns some long-time proponents

Mamdani confirms he would keep Tisch as NYPD commissioner - Gothamist

Newark

Our partner Aqeela Sherrills of the Community Based Public Safety Collective based in Newark produced this amazing TED Talk about the need for more funding for CVI. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration designated that all anti-gun violence grants in the latest budget go exclusively to law enforcement entities.

Aqeela Sherrills: The grassroots movement transforming public safety | TED Talk

American Society of Criminology

Prof. Vitale will be on several panels at the conference this year.

Roundtable: Abolition(ish) Research I

Wed, Nov 12, 11:00am to 12:20pm, Eastern Market - M3

Love, Healing and Empowerment: Lessons from a Credible Messenger Intervention

Wed, Nov 12, 5:00 to 6:20pm, Union Station - M3

Authors Meet Critics: Murder Town, USA: Homicide, Structural Violence and Activism in Wilmington

Fri, Nov 14, 12:30 to 1:50pm, University of DC - M1

Roundtable: Teaching Abolition II

Fri, Nov 14, 2:00 to 3:20pm, L’Enfant Plaza - M3

We will be holding our annual community event this year with the Sex Work Advocacy Coalition. They will be screening our one hour film “Sex Work: It’s Just a Job” at 6 PM followed by a panel discussion at the Festival Center, about 15 minutes from the Marriott Marquis, afterwards we will meet for drinks around the corner at the Raven Grill, around 8:30 PM.

Colombia

Prof. Vitale had a chance to attend a screening of a new documentary about people who suffered traumatic eye injuries at the hands of police during the national strikes in Colombia in 2019. He had a chance to meet with the organization of survivors of this violence MOCAO while in Colombia in 2023.

Upcoming Events

November 5, Seminar on Criminal Justice, Past and Present, CUNY GC 6.30PM

Registration link: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/TvyKSXk1RuqPSIw6Eh61Bg

November 15, NYC-DSA 2025 Socialist Organizing Conference, John Jay College. Time TBA

November 22, DSA Racial Justice Working Group, Another World 629 Nostrand Ave, 4PM

Book Corner

Endorsements

Mancia, Peter. 2025. On the Side of ICE: Policing Migrants in a Sanctuary State. New York; NYU Press.

“Mancina masterfully utilizes police worn body camera footage to produce a timely and provocative picture of the role of local police in the national deportation machine.” ~Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing

Received

Barton, Bernadette, Barbara G. Brents and Angela Jones, eds. 2024. Sex Work Today: Erotic Labor in the Twenty-First Century. New York: NYU Press.

Berglund, Lisa, Devan Bell, Elani Manis, and Corrine Worthington. 2025. “A People’s Handbookof Surveillance of New York.” Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.

Coburn, Jason and DeVone Boggan. 2025. Advancing Peace: Ending Urban Gun ViolenceThrough the Power of Redemptive Love. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Support

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know.

Film

NYC

We had a wonderful sold out premiere of the film at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan featuring the sponsors of decriminalization legislation in NY State, Sen, Julia Salazar, Assemblymember Phara Souffrant-Forrest as well as several people in the film including Jared Trujillo. We got some press coverage in as well Politico: More work on Sex work - POLITICO

Sen. Julia Salazar, Producers Alex Vitale, Beni Matias, Tami Gold and AM Phara Souffrant Forrest

Upcoming NYC Screenings

Oct. 6 Brooklyn College 11:00 AM

Oct. 8 Feirstein Film School 6:30 PM

Oct. 16 John Jay College 6:00 PM

Oct. 23 Workers Unite FF 6:30 PM Cinema Village

Link for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/program-19-sex-work-its-just-a-job-qa-with-tami-gold-tickets-1720997392529

Oct 28 Gender and Sexuality Institute New School: 6:30PM

https://event.newschool.edu/sexworkitsjustajob

Nov. 11 Hunter College 7 PM The Lang Recital Hall

Nov 13-15 Maysles Documentary Center, Harlem

UK

We have two screenings this month in the UK. On the 2nd we will be at the University of Birmingham Law School and on October 3rd at London Southbank University with Decrim Now, Netpol, and Feminist Fightback.

Oct. 3rd registration:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-of-sex-workits-just-a-job-with-alex-vitale-tickets-1728125623259

SF Bay Area

We are currently planning screenings in early December in the San Francisco area. So far we will be at SF State Univ. on Dec 4th at noon. Let us know if you are interested in hosting or co-sponsoring a screening.

If you are interested in hosting a screening, you can fill out this google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfw-pyWlgFfcBlYeWk-cJEMhmwTFonJIk_D4xlKAQV2WtjauA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=113088436827294833804

Any questions, let us know: info@sexworkfilm.com

We also got some additional in-depth radio coverage, tied to our screening in Texas.

https://www.tpr.org/podcast/fronteras/2025-09-19/fronteras-sex-work-is-work-documentary-examines-the-push-to-decriminalize-the-sex-industry

World BEYOND War’s upcoming global virtual conference on abolition, #NoWar2025: Exploring Abolition Movements, taking place on October 24-26 on Zoom.

Upcoming Events

Prof. Vitale will be on a panel to discuss the new People’s Handbook of Surveillance from STOP on Oct 9th the Center for Architecture at NYU. Registration: Eventbrite

Prof. Vitale will be discussing public safety under a Mamdani administration at John Jay College on Oct. 16th. He will also be on a panel on this topic hosted by the DSA Racial Justice Working Group later in the month.

On Oct. 30th Prof. Vitale will be the discussant for David Garland’s presentation of his new book Law and Order Leviathan at the NYU Carcerality, Law, and Punishment workshop.

Check out this interesting event: World BEYOND War will be hosting a global virtual conference on abolition, #NoWar2025: Exploring Abolition Movements, taking place on October 24-26 on Zoom.

Book Corner

Check out our ever-expanding bibliography of critical police studies.

Police Bibliography

Endorsements

Davanna, Tracey and Federica Rossi eds. 2025. Policing in Crisis?: Policing and Resistance in 21st Century Britain. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

‘By mobilizing academic research and insights from on-the-ground organizers, this volume brings into relief the stark crisis facing UK policing and the ways in which it is a permanent crisis stemming from the core nature of the policing institution. It will be certain to stimulate productive debates about how we produce truly safe and just communities.’ Alex S. Vitale, City University of New York

Received

Garland, David. 2025. Law and Order Leviathan: America’s Extraordinary Regime of Policing and Punishment. Princeton University Press.

Hamm, Theodore. 2025. Run Zohran Run! Inside Zohran Mamdani’s Sensational Campaign to Become New York’s First Socialist Mayor. New York: OR Books.

Vakharia, Sheila P. 2024. The Harm Reduction Gap. Helping Individuals Left Behind by Conventional Drug Prevention and Abstinence-only Addiction Treatment. New York: Routledge.

Support

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know.

Support

If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns, fellows, and community partners and allow us to have some independence from the foundation industrial complex. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible co…

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Newark

In June, Prof. Vitale penned two op eds with partners in Newark. On July 25, he discussed these on the Newark-based radio show All Politics R Local with his co-author Rey Chavis from Newark Community Street Team and host Zayid Muhammad. You can watch it here in the second hour: All Politics R Local Friday July 25, 2025 The Disciples.

Film

We have a …

Read more

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/zohran-mamdani-nypd-policing-crime/

Zohran Mamdani Must Confront the NYPD. Here’s What He Can Do.

July 24, 2025

No single issue will be more challenging for a Mayor Mamdani than policing. But there are concrete steps he can take to reform the NYPD and curb its culture of impunity.

If Zohran Mamdani becomes the next mayor of New York City, no single issue will be more challenging for him than policing and public safety.

There will be tremendous pressure on him from all sides. Establishment media, elite business interests, the far right, and many rivals within the Democratic Party will demand that Mamdani beef up police-centered strategies around public safety, despite historically low crime rates. Police unions will target him relentlessly as an extremist who will send crime skyrocketing—indeed, they’re already doing so. His opponents will seize on any incident or sign of trouble as a chance to push the narrative that he is endangering New Yorkers.

Mamdani will also face calls from his allies to rein in the NYPD’s abuses and culture of impunity, whether through procedural police reforms like training and use-of-force policies or enhanced accountability measures. The reform movement, which has taken a battering in the past few years, will look to him for inspiration—and be watching for signs of retreat.

How Mamdani manages these competing demands could have profound implications for his overall ability to govern and, most importantly, deliver on his pledges to make the city more affordable for working people.

First and foremost, a Mamdani administration must address issues of public safety, including quality-of-life concerns. One approach would be to improve police effectiveness in tackling these issues. Mamdani’s primary opponent Zellnor Myrie called for improving homicide clearance rates to address fear of crime, a position echoed in The New York Times. But there is little evidence that clearance rates can be significantly improved by policy interventions or that such improvements translate into safer streets.

Read more