The United States now leads the world in the highest number of both COVID-19 cases and deaths. The country’s jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers were already and are inherently sites of violence, illness, and death. Continuing to incarcerate people amidst this global pandemic only exacerbates and magnifies this long-standing truth.

Furthermore, we are also seeing increased use of policing as a mechanism of enforcement for stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders. Enforcement measures so far include police checkpoints, fines and jail time, and the use of drones to both remind people to stay at home and to check for symptoms of fever and cough.

These documents provide information using a public health lens for families, organizers, and advocates who are demanding a response to this pandemic that upholds human dignity and prioritizes healing, not policing and incarceration.

Read the full toolkits here.