福利姬

The Winston Center hosted Dr. Rosa Brooks as its聽annual Chambers lecturer this spring. Brooks is the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and聽Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, where she also founded the Center聽for Innovations in Community Safety. In 2017, the center launched the Police聽for Tomorrow Fellowship Program with the Washington, D.C., Police聽Department to include police in discussions about the future of policing.

Brooks has served in numerous policy roles under multiple聽administrations, and is a frequently quoted political commentator. Many of her聽roles have delved into the intersections and complexities between law and聽violence in our society. In 2016, she authored How Everything Became War and聽the Military Became Everything, about the ever-expanding role of the U.S.聽military. More recently, her focus has shifted to policing, leading her to聽spend five years as a reserve police officer in Washington, D.C. She drew on聽this experience while writing her most recent book, Tangled Up in Blue:聽Policing the American City, which examines some of the complexities of聽modern policing.

Brooks began her lecture by orienting students to how the聽past few years have created shifts in how people think and talk about policing.聽When COVID-19 prevented police from performing the usual high-contact nature of聽the job, people began to question whether it was even necessary. In May 2020,聽the murder of George Floyd, as well as police crackdowns in response to the聽ensuing protests, shook the nation and certainly changed the dialogue around聽policing. Again in 2021, the dialogue shifted with the Jan. 6 insurrection,聽when many policymakers switched to praising police as heroes. This series of聽events, as well as many interconnected occurrences, created a tendency for the聽vast majority of U.S. citizens to view police in binaries, Brooks said. She聽urged students to get more nuanced, and understand that police are not聽operating in a vacuum鈥攎ost of the problems with policing are a mirror into much聽deeper societal injustices.

Drawing on her firsthand experience, Brooks discussed how the聽setup of modern policing creates officers who feel both powerful and powerless,聽and are constantly being expected to handle situations they are not trained to聽handle. Despite the complexity of the problems with the U.S. policing system,聽Brooks told students that she actually feels hopeful looking forward, as both聽police and those vehemently opposed to the institution understand there is a聽need for change. Rather than entering into a common debate of whether police聽are good or bad, Brooks urged students to think critically and start聽discussions surrounding how social institutions can be reshaped to make聽policing a more productive rather than harmful force. Instead of shutting down聽discussion, Brooks told students that in order to incrementally get to the聽changes to community safety that we need, citizens need to think about what聽that should look like, and what people, institutions, training, and funding we聽need to get to this better future.

Anna Lonnquist '23,聽Winston Ambassador