What is at stake in promoting safety through inclusion or through control?

Adam Omar Hosein
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Northeastern University

In this talk, I will distinguish two different broad approaches to promoting public safety. The first, the method of control, involves tools of punishment, coercion, and surveillance. The second, the method of inclusion, involves promoting full and equal participation for each member of society. What is at stake in choosing between these methods, especially in the context of policing? Public discourse has largely focused on the potential harms of police brutality, but I will argue that other crucial values are also at stake, especially concerning freedom and democratic equality. These values, I’ll argue, mean that inclusion should be prioritized as a method of promoting safety and control used only as a last resort.