A sociology professor from Brooklyn College, who has been selected to join the transition team of New York’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, is known for his work advocating the end of traditional policing.

Alex Vitale announced his new role on social media, expressing enthusiasm about contributing to community safety initiatives under the Mamdani administration. He shared his excitement via a post on X, stating, “A New Era for NYC.”

Vitale authored the 2017 book “The End of Policing,” which challenges the conventional role of police forces. The book argues against using police for handling certain criminal activities, such as drug use, sex work, border security, and youth misconduct. It further suggests that policing should not involve tackling street gangs.

In a 2020 discussion at the University of Southern Maine, Vitale spoke about school policing alongside other panelists, including Portland Police Chief Frank Clark and Portland School Board Chair Roberto Rodriguez. The event was captured by Shawn Patrick Ouellette for the Portland Press Herald.

Vitale’s stance on dismantling gang units stems from his belief that these operations are inherently racist.

“In most cities, gang units function as a mechanism for racialized social control,” the book says in chapter five. “Black and Latino youth are labeled as gang members for hanging out together, while white youth groups are dismissed as harmless.”

Policing borders is also racist, according to the author. 

“The expansion of Border Patrol powers has been justified through fear and racism. It legitimizes xenophobic narratives that define immigrants as threats rather than as fellow workers or neighbors,” the book says in chapter six.

Vitale also describes border policing as “inhumane.” 

Chapter nine of the book argues against training police officers on implicit bias, claiming that police officers’ views on race do not matter because the whole system of policing is racist. 

Zohran Mamdani delivers a victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York City.  (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

“Racism in policing is structural, not simply a product of bad attitudes,” the book says. “Training officers to recognize implicit bias without changing what they are tasked with enforcing is like teaching a soldier to be sensitive while sending him to occupy a foreign country.”

The professor’s faculty profile on Brooklyn College’s website says Vitale has spent 30 years writing about policing, and that he consults with law enforcement entities and international human rights organizations.

He teaches courses about African Americans in the criminal justice system, according to his university profile.

Vitale has often called to abolish police on his X account, including bicycle police, police helicopters and police in schools. He has also called to abolish joint terrorism task forces, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol and even the presidency of the United States.

NYPD officers respond to a shooting. (John Nacion/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

He has also called for the NYPD to abolish its gang database.

Neither Vitale nor Brooklyn College returned requests for comment.

Mamdani has hired others who harbor anti-police sentiments.

Earlier this month, he announced that campaign advisor Elle Bisgaard-Church would join his staff. She has been dubbed the “chief architect” of Mamdani’s campaign proposal to have social workers respond to certain non-violent 911 calls, and is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.

Mamdani officials did not return a request for comment.