Police reformism and the challenges of decolonialism and abolitionism
- Publisher:
- Taylor & Francis
- Publication Type:
- Chapter
- Citation:
- Routledge International Handbook of Critical Policing Studies, 2025, pp. 353-364
- Issue Date:
- 2025-06-06
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| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Reformism and the Challenges of Decolonialism and Abolitionism_26_01_13_13_19_08.pdf | Published version | 215.64 kB |
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Over the last 50 years there have been numerous high-profile judicial inquiries, presidential commissions, royal commissions, and national reports into one policing crisis after another across many countries. While varying in scope and content, there are commonalities in the broad focus of recommendations, particularly in the need to change police through a suite of internal police reform mechanisms and improved measures for accountability. This chapter considers the failure of reform and the problem of police reformism. It argues that programmes of reform fail to affect meaningful change and often reinvigorate and reinforce the centrality of the institution of policing. Indeed, police are able to command even greater resources through reforms, and police power is enhanced rather than contested. The chapter places the problem of police reformism within the broader context of decolonialism and abolitionism. It considers the implications for critical policing studies. Abolitionists speak of an abolitionist horizon and the need to re-imagine and build a future without systems of control founded in violence. This work involves strategic decisions about reform that do not reinscribe and strengthen police power. The chapter explores some of the complexities and political challenges in making these strategic decisions.
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