Law Enforcement Isn’t Going Away—That Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Reimagined

‘De-Tasking’ Non-Crime Police Work Could Go a Long Way Toward Building a Safer Society

If our communities had fewer police officers doing fewer tasks, they could become less dangerous places for everyone, said panelists during at the debut event of a new Zócalo/University of Toronto series.

“What Would Society Look Like Without Police?” was the title question for the discussion, which opened The World We Want—a series exploring today’s societal, political, and economic challenges, and how the world might emerge from the current moment.

The panel of scholars—experts in criminal justice, poverty, and social work—differed on how far to go in reducing police presence. But in …