{"product_id":"policing-the-progressive-city","title":"Policing the Progressive City: Portland, Oregon, From Settlement to Uprising","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe dangers of \"progressive policing\" as told through a study of Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a story of Portland, Oregon, from an outpost of the Hudson’s Bay Company, through its founding as a city and the long and lively twentieth century shaped by organized crime, labor unrest, and waves of migration. But more so, this is a story of how over the course of nearly 200 years, the city has pursued \"law and order\" under the influence of business interests, political climbers, and social campaigners. By maintaining the Portland Police Bureau, a body that has time and again proved a law unto itself, the powers-that-be belie the city's reputation for liberal values and civic mindedness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn expert chronicler of police abuse of power, Kristian Williams now turns his focus to law enforcement in his own backyard. It is the city’s progressive veneer, this book argues, that allows the repressive core of its policing machinery to function so effectively, weathering scandals, co-opting critics, and periodically renewing police legitimacy with well-timed and carefully limited reforms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilliams’s meticulous research and expert storytelling lay bare the Portland Police Bureau's legacy of bigotry, corruption, and violence. The most well-intended efforts to address the community's needs have resorted to the criminal justice system, incarcerating and killing those they purport to help. Portland was among the first in the US to hire a female officer and the first large city with a female police chief, as well as an early and enthusiastic proponent of community policing. Yet the city’s public record comprehensively shows racially discriminatory (and disproportionately violent) encounters with law enforcement, a department that commits racist and sexist abuse both inside and outside its ranks, and persistent criminal and retributive actions on the part of its officers. The PPB is an institution impervious to reform, let alone common decency.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmid the 2020 protests that swept the nation, and after decades of grassroots organizing against police killings in the city, Portland saw almost 200 days of mass uprising against police brutality and far right extremism—exposing the depth of anger aimed at the outrageous actions of the PPB. \u003cem\u003ePolicing the Progressive City\u003c\/em\u003e adds to our understanding of how the US police system perpetuates racism, violence, and exploitation, even in one of America’s most loudly liberal environments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKristian Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e has been writing about and organizing against the police since the mid 1990s.  He is the author of seven books, including \u003cem\u003eOur Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America\u003c\/em\u003e and lives in Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat People Are Saying\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"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.\" \u003cstrong\u003eAlex S. Vitale\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eThe End of Policing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“A gripping narrative of how people in the Portland area became subject to police rule over two hundred years. . . . This book is essential for abolitionist study.” \u003cstrong\u003eDean Spade\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eLove in a F*cked Up World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“By focusing on how progressive policing has, in fact, reinscribed the legitimacy of the police . . . Williams has provided a much-needed and well-considered warning. . . . Now more than ever, Williams's words are urgent in the fight against fascism.” \u003cstrong\u003eJessica Pishko\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Highest Law in the Land\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“A courageous intervention that forces us to recognize how the ‘progress’ narrative has expanded and entrenched state violence. Readers far beyond Portland will benefit from this history of expansionist police reform.” \u003cstrong\u003eMaya Schenwar\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003ePrison by Any Other Name\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“An incredible, detailed history. . . . A must read for anyone trying to understand why changing the culture of policing is so difficult and why police consistently push back on change.” \u003cstrong\u003eJo Ann Hardesty\u003c\/strong\u003e, former Portland City Council member\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AK Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44444275802205,"sku":"9781849354288","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0826\/1213\/files\/policingtheprogressivecity.jpg?v=1781451458","url":"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/en-us\/products\/policing-the-progressive-city","provider":"Leftwingbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}