Resources

This research brief reviews existing empirical research on the impacts of decriminalization — and conversely criminalization — of sex work to inform recommendations for policy and practice. The ACLU has a history of supporting the decriminalization of sex work, but as efforts for U.S. legislative reform at the local, state, and federal level grow, examining the potential impacts of proposed policies is critical. Developed in consultation with local affiliates and sex worker organizers, this Brief provides an assessment of the growing evidence base on the potential benefits and harms of the decriminalization of consensual sex work (including buyer-only criminalization and full criminalization) and concludes with specific recommendations for policymakers, law enforcement, advocates, and researchers.

For the past decade, Chicago has displaced and over-policed Black and Brown families, and starved the city’s working people of the resources they need to live and thrive. Black, Brown and working families overpay through a discriminatory use of fines, fees, and property taxes while corporate developers receive massive handouts for projects that displace residents. The city’s budget is an opportunity to continue on a path of growing inequality and austerity politics, or to chart a new path towards prosperity for all. A budget is a moral document, and we believe it must contain the funding for the resources that will make Chicago a safe, livable and thriving city for everyone.

A report on research by Abolish APD that details Albuquerque Police partnerships with private firms linked to neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites and the CIA, as well as highlighting lack of transparency and honesty around APD’s use of these programs.

Dare to Reimagine: A Vision for Transformative Change is a framework for building a just and equitable future from the ground up—created collectively by more than 300 local elected officials across the Local Progress network, movement allies, and community partners. Recognizing that our cities and municipalities are the epicenter of progressive evolution, this framework outlines the transformative change we aspire to and showcases the work of Local Progress members to move us towards this north star. Dare to Reimagine showcases more than 50 policy wins and organizing efforts across 22 states and DC that are moving us towards a more just and equitable future.

The Oakland Reimagining Public Safety Task Force was created in direct response to significant local demand to redirect monies from the Oakland Police Department to programs, support services and resources that take a holistic view of public safety and focus on addressing the root causes of so-called “crime” rather than relying on militarized policing and a violent, cyclical carceral state. The Defund Coalition is excited about the many recommendations presented that offer a real opportunity to shift, reimagine and evolve the way Oakland thinks about and implements public safety. This report responds to each of the 114 draft recommendations issued by the Task Force. We break down all the recommendations we support, the ones we don’t, and why.

The Abolitionist Law Center has published a report on policing in Pittsburgh, highlighting glaring racial disparities in traffic stops, frisks, warrantless search and seizures, arrests, and use of force by the City’s police force. Despite these disparities, Mayor Bill Peduto has increased the Police Budget 60% since taking office in 2014, from $72 million to $115 million. It now enconpasses nearly one fifth of the City’s entire operating budget. Furthermore, the year-to-year rate of increase of the police budget went up from an average of 0.75% from 2000-2014 to 8.18% from 2015-2020 under Mayor Peduto, even though violent crime levels in Pittsburgh have been steadily decreasing since the early 1990s.

Areva is joined by Andrea Ritchie, Breaion King, Michelle Jacobs, Shalonda Jones, Dr. Thalia González and Dr. Treva Lindsey. Why are Black girls and women abused by police invisible? These experts say its deeper than race.

Six months on from the killing of George Floyd by police in the US, our new report examines the policing of the subsequent large-scale protests across Britain. Named after a rallying cry of demonstrators, ‘Britain is not innocent’: A Netpol Report on the policing of Black Lives Matter protests in Britain’s towns and cities in 2020 is informed by evidence from over 100 witnesses, including protesters, legal observers, and arrestee support volunteers.

The Investing in Safety We Can Feel survey was released in October 2020 to help answer the question: “what do our communities need to be safe?” Over 1300 Philadelphia residents responded to the online survey, and their responses show that Philadelphians know that directly investing in communities is how we make them strong, healthy, and safe – not investing in policing.