Defund Police

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Policing (and prisons) are ubiquitous features of our world, yet these institutions have not always existed, nor played as large a role in our society as they do today. In response to the death of George Floyd, racial justice protests sparked a renewed interest in police abolition as an ideological goal - with the defunding of police departments becoming a policy informed by those ideas.

Ryan Cudemus-Brunoli

Don't believe the hype; Mayor Bowser's budget engagement forums are little more than show-n-tell propaganda events.

An organizers guide to building a community base for police abolition.

In the past fourteen months, current and former officers have brought five lawsuits against MPD. The failure of the department to protect honest whistleblowers casts doubt on the possibility of police reform.

A new coalition is looking to disrupt police involvement in basic traffic enforcement.

Alex Mell-Taylor

It's simple to wave your hand and say you will hire an unrealistic number of police officers. But reality is more complicated than that.

Metro DC DSA's Defund MPD working group

The District has made strides to replace police with non-law enforcement public servants and non-carceral programming. Our message to DC Council is simple: keep going.

What opponents of CRT are really afraid of is white students embracing solidarity with students of color in favor of social change.

Has the national defund movement slowed? Part of the problem may be the movement’s messaging.

In DC, the Defund MPD effort has found quiet success in changing policy and opinions on policing shared by the broader public.

The Washington Revolutionary

'The Washington Revolutionary' reports on the grotesque intersection of police brutality, gentrification and the thin blue line of silence that produces false narratives.

What would it take to reduce gun violence as we emerge from the pandemic? (Hint — more cops are not the solution.)

On Thursday, June 10th, the Defund MPD coalition brought its case for reimagining public safety to the District Council.

An explanation for the emotions, language, and objectives of the sometimes-embattled term “Defund.”

To end the prevalence of "warrior" culture found within police departments, PD bargaining units should be combined with other social support staff.

A decade of neoliberal retrenchment is finally starting to crack. Can DC's left recognize the moment?

The Police Union is a critical barrier to defunding the Metropolitan Police Department and investing in the community - here's what needs to happen.

The latest eyewitness reporting on protesters, hostile and often brutal police conduct, and Mayor Bowser’s duplicitous and self-serving maneuvers.

How do we think about the police and their unions? Their entanglement in the goals of the capitalist ruling class suggest that they are outliers in the real workers’ movement.

A wide network of activists and organizers, fueled by popular uprising in DC, provides a legitimate political opening for local change.

The left should see the problem of police brutality as the multiracial class issue that it is, and the left should propose specific policy alternatives to the current police “warrior” culture.

The quick propensity to lock people up on one side, while failing to provide adequate service or opportunities on the other, has undermined the quality of life in Maryland.

Larry Stafford Jr.

I think I’ve learned that punishment and justice are not the same. The carceral system is not something I could ever find myself celebrating or expecting to bring me peace.

Maryland needs a system that treats addiction and substance abuse as a health care, instead of criminal issue.

A program to abolish prisons and police needs more than sloganeering. We need a program that understands the struggle to win control for all the people looking to pursue a more just society.

Intrinsically valuable in and of themselves, a reentry council, an office of returning citizens, and community-based halfway houses can also open up a pathway for changing a system that is too willing to throw away the lives of too many.

The pro-police message of NLEM demands a countervailing narrative, one that makes more than a brief pass at the abuses of law-enforcement officers.

Occupation Free DC is part of a nationwide campaign led by Jewish Voice for Peace that seeks to get US law enforcement to end its “deadly exchange” with Israeli police and military.

To understand the roots of mass incarceration and warrior-style policing in DC we must start with a profound social fact: In the years preceding and during our punishment binge, black communities were devastated by historically unprecedented levels of crime and violence.