In May, many of us were devastated and heartbroken when George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis. This marked yet another Black man’s life being taken too soon by the very people that are supposed to protect us. As Philadelphians took to the streets to express their First Amendment rights with justified anger at the institutions that enabled this to happen and to advocate for Black lives, the City of Philadelphia appeared unprepared to handle the resulting unrest. The investigation shows that the root cause of the lack of planning was a lack of leadership at the highest levels.

It is also important to spend time reflecting on the fact that teargas was deployed in our city during these events. Teargas is banned in warfare and has not been used in Philadelphia for civil unrest since the MOVE crisis in 1985. Despite this, teargas was deployed on our own people several times during the unrest. The negative and painful effects of teargas cannot be overstated, and it should not have been used the way it was. The report details how our own police department shot teargas canisters down residential streets in West Philadelphia, hurting children in their own homes and innocent bystanders.

Read the full report and calls to action here.

This update to our June 2020 #DefundPolice toolkit reflects victories won across the country, key strategies deployed, some lessons learned – including, tricks, tensions, and roadblocks along the way – and key questions communities are contending with in campaigns to defund police as we look forward to 2021. It contains some excerpts from the original toolkit, but is not intended as a substitute. Our hope is that this report will be read in conjunction with the original #DefundPolice #FundthePeople #DefendBlack Lives toolkit, along with our What’s Next: Safer and More Just Communities Without Policing report and Domestic Violence Awareness Month & Defund Fact Sheet.

Access the full resource here.

After months of emails, public comments, and conversations with the Winston-Salem City Council members and the Mayor, no direct response has been made by the City Council for a dialogue on the topic of divesting from police spending. On November 20th, Triad Abolition Project, Hate Out Of Winston, and Drum Majors Alliance co-signed a letter to city council, which did not receive a response from any Council member nor the city’s Mayor. On November 29th, the Winston-Salem Journal published “Police-spending critics call on city to discuss their concerns.” The People’s Report is a community dialogue in response to the Journal’s story, and continued conversation on the topic of divesting from WSPD as our city approaches the FY2021-2022 budget cycle.

Watch all 3 videos here.

This report was written by Pascal Emmer, Woods Ervin, Derecka Purnell, Andrea J. Ritchie, and Tiffany Wang for the COVID19 Policing Project, hosted by the Community Resource Hub for Safety & Accountability. It gathers and expands on regular project updates, and is the first in a series on the impacts of policing and criminalization in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full report here.

Visit the COVID19 Policing Project page here.

On International Human Rights Day, the Center for Constitutional Rights outlines necessary steps that the Biden administration and the 117th Congress must take to begin shifting power back to the people. Our 100-day demands, rooted in human rights and international law, challenge systemic discrimination and the unjust distribution of power and public resources and amplify the future visions articulated by impacted communities and movements for social justice. In defining immediately actionable, rights-based measures for the federal government, we are guided not by what is practical, but by what is necessary, just, life-giving, and liberatory.

Explore the full resource here.

This new collaborative document edited by Mariame Kaba outlines ten major steps required to successfully launch a new paradigm for real safety, and includes helpful messages and responses for those with doubts, existing institutions that help create real safety, a deeper dive on police and prison abolition, and more models to explore.

Explore the full resource here.

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.

Explore the full resource here.

This advisory aims to compel Congress and the VA to investigate excessive police force, biased policing, surveillance tactics and other problematic practices involving people of color or homeless, mentally ill or otherwise vulnerable veterans who turn to the VA for help. The advisory emphasizes that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates concerns for veterans’ health and safety and adds urgency to an already troubling situation.

Read the full advisory report here.