Policing Beyond Coercion: A New Idea for a Twenty-first Century Mandate, First Edition

Robert Kane’s Policing Beyond Coercion proposes a fresh paradigm for conceptualizing the police.

In Policing Beyond Coercion, Robert Kane introduces a powerful narrative that encourages policing to move beyond its traditional paradigm with its emphasis on coercion and control. Kane opens by offering a definition of police – based largely on the seminal writings of Egon Bitner and Carl Klockars – and then applies that definition to the police role, arguing that it is time for society to think of policing as an institution whose primary role is to protect life – even when enforcing the law or using force. Kane describes and explains the police subculture, use of force, discretion, recruitment, and accountability and then demonstrates how a protection of life mandate can help policing adapt itself to remain a crucial public institution in a post-George Floyd world. Kane speaks to readers in ways that encourage them to question their assumptions about who the police are while asking them to think about who the police might become.

Professors and students will benefit from:

• A compelling narrative that will keep readers engaged throughout the book
• A solid foundation in policing, police operations, and strategies
• An understanding of current role expectations and conflicts
• A new take on police culture and the “thin blue line” of policing
• Detailed examinations of stop-and-frisk, use of force and deadly force, discretion, and accountability
• A push to change the current police recruitment paradigm from one that mostly “screens-out” to one that mostly “screens-in”
• The introduction of a “new” idea of police that helps policing remain relevant in a post-George Floyd era
• Non-print materials to support students’ engagement with the book and its concepts:
  • Dynamic, online mapping exercises that allow students to analyze police and criminal behavior in real time
  • Blog posts that address emerging topics in the news and encourage students to discuss them with the author and others
  • Podcasts that highlight personal perspectives from police professionals