Resources

In recent years, videos capturing the fatal shootings of unarmed men of color by police officers have swept media outlets and public discourse. Facilitated by cellphone video and social media and spurred by a new generation of Black Lives Matter activists, public awareness of excessive force incidents has gained new momentum and shined a light on broader concerns about racial disparities within our criminal justice system. This report highlights states’ efforts to provide access to officer disciplinary records (through “sunshine legislation”) and the obstacles that police unions pose when trying to pass and enforce these laws.

“Healing Justice is a framework that identifies how we can holistically respond to and intervene on intergenerational trauma and violence, and to bring collective practices that can impact and transform the consequences of oppression on our collective bodies, hearts and minds.” -Cara Page

The Freedom Papers is a vision for a future that is able to serve the everyday needs of its people. The toolkit is designed to promote community-based and online conversations about the future the Freedom Papers is fighting for, and the big corporations who are standing in the way of this vision. It also aims to educate about private prisons and lobbying impacts on the political system and experiences of the community, as well as provide a framework for pressuring politicians.

A toolkit that discusses the issue of police abuse and misconduct while also highlighting different community goals around police accountability, organizing strategies to achieve these goals, and further resources.

Reuters examined police union contracts across the country and found a pattern of protections afforded officers: Many contracts erase disciplinary records or allow police to forfeit sick leave for suspensions. Meantime, residents face hurdles in pursuing complaints.

A report that details the historical and current context around policing and racism, as well as a proposition for community control as a tool for reform and the details behind implementing such a policy.

The occurrence of sexual harassment in policing is a national problem. Indicative of the significance of this problem are the increasing numbers of sexual harassment complaints filed by female officers against their male counterparts. Less apparent is whether the harassing officers are disciplined for these acts. This article sheds light on the subject by providing an analysis of the disciplinary measures taken by the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission against law enforcement officers found guilty of sexual harassment. This article describes the role and responsibilities of the Commission, the regulatory body charged with disciplining law enforcement officers in Florida. The article concludes that, despite evidence of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in Florida law enforcement agencies, the numbers of sexual harassment cases in which the Commission accepts jurisdiction are minimal and the discipline imposed is often insubstantial.

This provocation is intended to intervene in some of the current tensions around solidarity/support work. There are many so-called “allies” in the migrant rights struggle who support “comprehensive immigration reform” which furthers militarization of Indigenous lands. This toolkit zine highlights problems among allyship and how to navigate work that involves liberation, Indigenous rights, and more.

For most of its history, the United States excluded people of color from its main pathways of opportunity and upward mobility, causing deep inequities across many aspects of life. But we can imagine a more equitable future in which structural racism—the policies, programs, and institutional practices that generated inequitable outcomes—and its consequences are remedied. Pages 19-24 give recommendations around policing policy to address this issue of structural racism.