February 2025 Newsletter
Policing and Social Justice Project
January was a busy month for the Project. We brought on new interns and fellows, completed work on our new documentary about sex work decriminalization with filmmaker Tami Gold, and officially joined two NYC-based coalitions working to decriminalize sex work and remove police from schools. Please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription.
Sex Work
Documentary
There is now a completed version of Sex Work: It’s Just a Job. We have begun submitting it to film festivals and are in the early stages of planning public screenings. This one-hour documentary centers the voices of sex workers demanding an end to the criminalization of sex work. It tracks the successful organizing effort to repeal the loitering for the purposes of prostitution law in New York that was used primarily to target trans people in low-income immigrant communities. Reach out if you want to host a screening or support the film: itsjustajobmovie@gmail.com.
Web page:
Organizing
We are now part of the Decrim NY Coalition, which working to fully decriminalize sex work in New York. Project Fellow Kate Dempsey and student intern Ella Hauck are both working on this effort. A lobby day in Albany is being planned for March 4 with the support of State Senator Julia Salazar and a fundraiser is being planned for March 18th. Details in our next newsletter.
Police Free Schools
We are now an official member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign in New York City. The Campaign is calling for the phasing out of school police and replacing them with a significant expansion in Restorative Justice programming and support for students in crisis. Our student intern Magali Ramos is working on this campaign on our behalf. A rollout of the campaign's agenda is being planned for March. You can read our report on alternatives to school police on our web page:
https://policingandjustice.org/
GANGS Coalition
The NYC GANGS Coalition has been pushing a bill to abolish the NYPD Gang Database. The City Council will be having a hearing on the bill on February 24th at City Hall. We will be holding a rally beforehand at 9 am on the City Hall steps. More details about the campaign are on their web page:
https://erasethedatabasenyc.com/
The Coalition is also doing extensive public outreach. If you are interested in hosting an information briefing let us know. The Policing and Social Justice Project was the original convener of this effort. You can read our report on the harms of NYPD gang suppression policing on our web page:
https://policingandjustice.org/
Abolitionist Epistemology
Prof. Vitale has a new article in the journal Social Research on the social theory behind police and prison abolition and how this approach can shape research agendas and designs.
Toward an Abolitionist Epistemology
Social Research: An International Quarterly
Volume 91, Number 4, Winter 2024
Abstract:
The theoretical underpinnings of police and penal abolition can provide important epistemological guidance to social science researchers. A review of the conceptual frames of abolition and the social science theories underlying it provides a basis for an abolitionist epistemology that incorporates insights from queer theory, critical race theory, feminism, historical materialism, and postcolonial theory. An exposition of existing studies that conform to these theoretical frameworks shows this approach’s value.
The article is available here: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/54137
NYC Police Writers Group
Each month we sponsor an informal gathering of academics, journalists, researchers, and novelists who write about policing and are usually joined by a special guest. Last month we hosted NY State Sen Zellnor Myrie, who is running for mayor and welcomed new members Steve Wasserman of John Jay College and The Legal Aid Society and Eric Umansky from Pro Publica. Later this month we will be hosting mayoral candidate and State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani. If you are interested in joining the group, let us know.
No Cop City NY
New York Mayor Eric Adams has proposed a massive new police training facility at a cost of $225 million. A major organizing event is being planned on February 8th at Our House in Astoria. Prof. Vitale will be on a panel at the event at 2 PM.
International Drug Policy
We are continuing to work with Colectivo Justicia Racial (Bogota), Justice Collective (Berlin), and RATS — radical acts to survive (London) on developing abolitionist approaches to international drug policy. Christy Thornton from NYU has joined our planning group and brought on board Nicole Cartier from Colombia to act as a research associate for the project. We are currently planning a follow-up event on how to address the issue of armed groups. Let us know if you are interested in being on our list of people to invite.
Staff Notes
We have two new additions to the Project. Aaron Cohen is joining us as a Communications Fellow. He is an activist and communications strategist with a commitment to social justice and higher education advocacy. Aaron holds a BA in Political Science from Queens College of the City University of New York. Intern Ella Hauck is a student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a background in youth and sex worker advocacy.
Book Corner
Received
Green, Elon, 2025. The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart’s New York. New York: Celadon.
W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School for Abolition and Reconstruction. 2024. Abolition and Reconstruction: An Emergent Guide of Collective Study. Philadelphia: Common Notions.
Zavala, Oswaldo. 2022. Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narco-Trafficking and Culture in the US and Mexico. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Endorsements
Gallant, Chanelle and Elene Lam. 2024. Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice. Chicago: Haymarket.
AJS Review Essay
Prof. Vitale has a review essay on 8 recent policing monographs by sociologists in the American Journal of Sociology. Vol 130 (4) p. 1028-1033.
Critical Police Studies Bibliography
Be sure to check out our Bibliography of critical police studies.
Support
If you want to support our work and hear more frequently about what we’re up to, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions support our interns and community partners. If you are interested in making a more substantial tax-deductible contribution through the Brooklyn College Foundation, let us know.