Resources

A database containing several thousand data points on over 3,000 city and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices nationwide, allows citizens, journalists, and academics to review details about the technologies police are deploying, and provides a resource to check what devices and systems have been purchased locally. Built using crowdsourcing and data journalism over the last 18 months, the Atlas of Surveillance documents the alarming increase in the use of unchecked high-tech tools that collect biometric records, photos, and videos of people in their communities, locate and track them via their cell phones, and purport to predict where crimes will be committed.

This kit is designed to consolidate the information regarding Invest Divest strategy and resources for Louisville, Kentucky. This kit is intended to be used for the following: refer to this document for campaigning at the social media level, share this document with your base, and hold teach-ins and trainings on the uses of narrative and social media for this campaign, post directly from your own personal channels, and share to and from the partner organizations listed here.

Historically, Black women, girls, and femmes have not fit the most accessible frames of anti-Black police violence. Consequently, it is difficult to tell stories about their lost lives that people recognize and remember. Their precarity is buried beneath myths, stereotypes, and denial. But the heartbreaking truth is that Black girls as young as 7 and women as old as 93 have been killed by the police. Explore a special zine issue highlighting the victims of police violence and an interactive webpage to learn more about the women that #SayHerName represents.

This comprehensive guide to reviewing your city or county budget will explain how to argue for changes in police staffing and funding to your local policymakers. Whether you are in a major city, a smaller town, or a rural county – this guide was written to help you take action over how public funds are raised and spent in your community. The advice in this guide is based on Jared Knowles’ experience doing in-depth budget reviews of police departments in cities and counties across the country as well as working as a budget analyst in state government.

A report that looks into who foots the bill for law enforcement settlements and judgments in locations around the US. Findings should expand courts’ and scholars’ understandings of the impact of lawsuits on police reform efforts, inspire experimentation with budgeting arrangements that encourage more caretaking and accountability by law enforcement, and draw attention to the positive role government insurers can and do play in efforts to promote risk management and accountability in policing.

There is no question that the number of police killings of civilians in the U.S. – who are disproportionately Black and other people of color – are the result of policies and practices that enable and even encourage police violence. Compared to police in other wealthy democracies, American police kill civilians at incredibly high rates.

Across the country, police unions have written contracts and laws that make it almost impossible to hold police accountable. We reviewed police union contracts in nearly 600 cities and “Police Bill of Rights” laws in 20 states. Learn how police unions and police Bills of Rights create obstacles and how they look in your state.

Campaign Zero reviewed the use of force policies of America’s 100 largest city police departments to determine whether they include meaningful protections against police violence.

A report from Grassroots Leadership, Just Futures Law, and Mijente that documents the rise of surveillance technology use in Austin, Texas. This report looks at the relationship and links between tech companies, city projects, and increases in policing and surveillance of Austin residents. Authors analyze local policing initiatives like the Austin Regional Intelligence Center and note contracts held by local law enforcement agencies with tech companies. They also note the collaboration between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how tech companies bolster this collaboration, leading to deportations and further erosion of Austin’s Black, Latinx, and immigrant residents. The authors also present advocacy demands for this issue.