Rethinking the Police: An Officer’s Confession and the Pathway to Reform

Daniel Reinhardt
InterVarsity Press, 208 pages | Published November 21, 2023

Who better to speak to police than one of their own? Christian scholar Daniel Reinhardt served 24 years in a precinct outside Cleveland, so he understands the daily risks police officers face. He also sees how police culture can lead to unwarranted brutality and discrimination, particularly against Black citizens. “Dehumanizing treatment was normal, unquestioned, and preferred at the street level,” he writes, as he recalls story after story of senior officers reinforcing that suspects were not fully human.

Rather than accept the false dichotomy of “two sides,” Reinhardt recognizes there are no winners in this current situation – racial-minority citizens experience ongoing harassment, or worse, while officers find themselves in a system that demands their compliance, even when they are expected to act in ways that are contrary to their personal moral codes. He suggests another way forward: a path of servant leadership and followership based in the way of Jesus. He describes a ”new strategy of peace” in thoughtful and respectful terms.

While Reinhardt is one of many voices in the police-reform conversation, his personal experiences, combined with a calm yet passionate tone, provide a welcome addition to a complex topic. His vivid examples already enlivened last Sunday’s sermon, and I am eager to share Rethinking the Police with adult education committees and colleagues working on this timely issue.

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