A Punitive Bind: Policing, Poverty, and Neoliberalism in New York City

Narrowly conceived, neoliberalism is a system of economic ideas and policy initiatives that emphasize small government and market-based solutions to social and economic problems. Adopted in response to the fiscal, welfare and racial crises of the Keynesian state, neoliberalism has become the dominant governing principle in the United States over the last forty years. A growing body of literature has shown how the rise of neoliberalism has underwritten the massive expansion of the American criminal justice system and the growth of its incarceral arm. Yet theorists of neoliberalism have largely ignored how the rise of neoliberalism has affected policing practices and, in turn, have failed to consider the role that police play in the neoliberal state. This Note considers policing practices and policies in New York City under the rise of neoliberalism. It argues that the rise of neoliberalism has led to significant and lasting changes in the accountability structures, enforcement priorities, and policing strategies and tactics of New York City\u27s policing apparatus. While new approaches to policing have been heralded by some as making the NYPD internally more efficient and more effective at fighting crime, this Note contends that the adoption of neoliberal policing techniques cannot be evaluated without a broader account of the historical, social, political and economic contexts in which they are implemented. An analysis of policing within these broader contexts reveals that there is good reason to be concerned about many facets of neoliberal policing, which include shifting accountability structures, the policing of disorder and the deployment of stop-and-frisk policing. Collectively, these neoliberal policing practices constitute the punitive governance of disproportionately marginalized communities, which erodes police legitimacy and may ultimately make poor people and people of color less secure