Why are we putting so much money into law enforcement when we need money that helps people have opportunity? We can increase our spending on critical areas, we can ensure people have health care, education, good living wage jobs.
The Los Angeles School Board voted to cut $70 million a year budget of the Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD) by $25 million—35%—and move those funds to programs focused on the needs of Black students.
Defunding the police is the first step in a longer process that may culminate in the end of policing in the United States. The repeated failure of meaningful reform have made concepts like “defunding” and “abolition” part of mainstream conversation.
Mere reform won’t fix policing.
In a powerful new film, director Katherin Hervey explores a program at San Quentin prison that pairs inmates with ‘surrogate victims’ as a form of therapy
In St. Louis, the demand to defund the police has dovetailed with long-lasting struggles against cash bail and the abuse of prisoners.
“I just don’t feel that police evicting people is a way to ‘protect and serve.’”
City leaders are urged to direct the money to "more relevant city agencies, harm reduction programs, and community-based organizations who are better trained and equipped to actually keep our communities safe."
Police foundations across the country are partnering with corporations to raise money to supplement police budgets by funding programs and purchasing tech and weaponry for law enforcement with little public oversight.
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