Welcome to Jacobin Radio. I'm Susie Wiseman.

It's hard to imagine that less than two weeks ago the call to defund the police would have been unthinkable and hopelessly utopian.

Now, after the public lynching of George Floyd on May 25th, that demand, defunding the police,

is part of the national conversation.

Mayor Garcetti in Los Angeles has said he'll redirect $250 million from the LAPD police,

that is, to jobs, health and other programs supporting communities of color.

Just a week ago, that would have been unthinkable before demonstrators march to his house

with one central demand, defund the police.

And the Minneapolis City Council is considering disbanding the police and starting over.

And after the last week of what many

are calling police riots backed by the National Guard, Trump has threatened to bring the military

to the streets and some of the military top brass are declining this intervention.

We're fortunate to be able to spend the hour with Philip McHarris, a PhD candidate at

Yale, who's written widely on the questions of policing, mass incarceration, housing,

and he has innovative ideas for reform. All this when our program returns in just a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Susie Wiseman. Well, I'm very pleased to have Phil McHarris with us. He's a writer and PhD candidate in sociology and African American studies at Yale

University. His research focuses on race, housing, policing, and mass incarceration. And you can

read his recent pieces in the New York Times and Washington Post. The one in the New York Times

was May 30th. It's called No More Money for the Police in the Washington Post. Why does the

Minneapolis Police Department look like a military unit?

And we're very pleased to have them with us today for the hour. Welcome, Phil.

Thank you.

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