Sam Gwin
On April 14, the Institute for Freedom and Community (IFC) hosted two guest speakers: Jake Monaghan, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California and Michelle Phelps, Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. These scholars were invited by the IFC for a talk titled “The Challenge of Police Reform,” where they shared their perspectives on injustice in the criminal justice system.
Monaghan began by presenting two central questions: what is policing, and what is the proper relationship between policing and democracy? His primary insight was that the institution of policing is a direct result of the “desire for order maintenance” in society. Monaghan reflected on the empirical reality of different situations, and how data shows that society was being policed before the police existed.
According to Monaghan, the controversies of policing all come down to specialization. This broad concept emphasizes the development of units and resources specifically crafted for an area or situation that they are designed to interact with. He argued that specialization can be limited in rural areas, and that any potential order maintenance systems seem to be intertwined with urban development.
Phelps echoed similar ideas in her talk, focusing on how the theories of policing play out in Minneapolis. She spoke about the events following the murder of George Floyd, and posed the question of whether or not the “defund the police” movement was a political failure for Democrats.
In her book, titled “The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America,” Phelps reflects on why the mass mobilization after this moment was so unsuccessful in bringing about legislative changes. She stated that some of these issues lie in the fact that certain neighborhoods are “over-policed and underprotected” — and that ultimately, the police cannot singlehandedly change the culture of a neighborhood.
The talk concluded with a discussion moderated by St. Olaf Professor of Philosophy Michael Furnstein.
“Police can identify system failures and propose solutions — they are very powerful political agents,” said Phelps in this discussion.
Students attending the presentation were very engaged.
“I think the topic of police violence is very prevalent in policy reform due to its intrinsic ties to systematic inequality of all kinds,” said Margo Musolf ’28. “Getting a little bit of insight into what researchers and leading thinkers are advising is really helpful for framing how to think about the issues involved in policing, as well as what logistically can be done about it.”