Policing the Progressive City

The dangers of "progressive policing" as told through a study of Portland, Oregon.

Policing the Progressive City tells the story of how Portland’s “law and order” has been shaped for over two hundred years by business interests, political climbers, and social campaigners—as well as its history of mass resistance to police brutality. With meticulous research and expert storytelling, Kristian Williams exposes how the city’s progressive veneer enables its police to weather scandals, co-opt critics, and refurbish its reputation through carefully limited reforms. Time and again, the record reveals the Portland Police Bureau’s legacy of racism, violence, and exploitation, even in one of America’s most loudly liberal environments.