Community organizers across the country have worked hard to shift power and resources from police and the carceral state to communities to create a transformative vision of justice without police, jails, and prisons. And they have been winning.
According to a recent report, The Demand is Still #DefundthePolice, since May 2020, organizers in over 20 cities have:
- Secured divestment of over $840 million dollars from police departments
- Secured investments of at least $160 million dollars in communities
- Won bans on chemical/military grade weapons in six cities;
- And on use of facial recognition in four cities
- Worked to get 25 cities to cancel contracts with local police departments operating in schools, saving an additional $34 million to be invested in student, family and community supports and restorative justice.
Communities Transforming Policing Fund’s grantees have been at the forefront of many of these campaigns, and their lessons along with many others are now captured on an incredible new online hub: www.DefundPolice.org.
DefundPolice.org is a comprehensive web resource where organizers can find everything they need for their campaign to defund police in one place: information about what groups across the country are doing, resources, trainings, budget tools, and information about legislation and policies that support efforts to divest from systems of policing and punishment and invest in genuine and sustainable community safety strategies.
The website builds on the incredible gains organizers have already made to invest in the safety, dreams, and futures of our communities. And we know, so much more is possible. We hope you’ll check out this collection of resources, from budgeting tools to legislative and organizing resources to upcoming trainings and events.
DefundPolice.org is a collaboration between the Community Resource Hub, Movement for Black Lives, Critical Resistance, Interrupting Criminalization, Freedom Labs (Policy Link, BYP100, Center for Popular Democracy, and Law for Black Lives), Database for Police Abolition, ACRE, Advancement Project, Alliance for Educational Justice, Black Lives Matter Canada and Black Lives Matter Global Network.