(L) Christine M. Sarteschi, Ph.D. and an Associate Professor of Social Work and.Criminology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA and (R) Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), Attorney and Professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City. (Courtesy photos)
The call for wide-ranging replacement of police by social workers is, at best, premature. It is a popular but inappropriate solution to the problem of incidents of police brutality, a term without a uniform definition. Social workers and police officers are indispensable in our society, but social work and policing are not similar professions.
In the United States, police need and have an immense amount of power. They can rightly or wrongly interfere with anyone’s freedom at any time. They can search, handcuff, detain, and arrest individuals. They carry tasers and deadly firearms of all kinds. Social workers have none of these weapons.
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