Against the Romance of Community Policing

This zine consists of an essay by Stuart Schrader that critiques the concept of community policing. The essay argues that “community” and “policing” are both negative forces and that they rely on each other. There can be no “community” control of the police, as the police need “community” to delineate “trustworthy” groups of people. The text presents a strong criticism of community and argues that the process of dividing people into different groups – or communities – is a process of counter-insurgency. This is a rather dense piece, but a patient reader will be rewarded with many valuable insights.