"If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, that's not progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress comes from healing the wound that the blow made."

                                                                                                                                                                                      ― Malcolm X

Facts

• Police violence is a leading cause of death for young men in the United States. Over the life course, about 1 in every 1,000 Black men can expect to be killed by police
• Police were responsible for about "8% of all homicides with adult male victims between 2012 and 2018." Black and Latino men are at higher risk of death than are white men, and these disparities vary markedly across place
• Black women and men and American Indian and Alaska Native women and men are significantly more likely than white women and men to be killed by police
• In the past four decades, the cost of policing in the US has tripled and is now $115bn, according to a recent analysis
• Compared to peer nations, the US spends significantly less on social services and more on public safety programs, and has astronomically higher incarceration rates
• In most cities, spending on police is significantly greater than spending on services and other departments
• Police have a bad track record of solving murders or handling rape and domestic violence
• Policing that punishes poverty, such as hefty traffic tickets and debts, can also create conditions where crime is more likely
• America’s powerful police unions have long resisted even minor reforms

Organizations Addressing Police Violence

• Advancement Project
• Anti-Police Terror Project
• BYP100
• Black and Pink
• Black Lives Matter
• Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC)
• Black and Pink
• Black Visions Collective
• Brave Space Alliance
• Campaign Zero
• Color Of Change
• Dream Defenders
• End Police Violence
• The Bail Project
• The Innocence Project
• Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI)
• Movement for Black Lives
• NAACP
• National Bail Fund Network
• National Bail Out
• National Black Justice Coalition
• Southerners on New Ground
• Unicorn Riot
• Leaders Igniting Transformation

Articles

• Sam Levin | The Guardian "The movement to defund police has won historic victories across the US. What's next?" (August, 2020)
• The Nation | "‘Starve the Beast’: A Q&A With Alex S. Vitale on Defunding the Police" (July, 2020)
• Interview with Alex Vitale on NPR | "How Much Do We Need The Police?" (June, 2020)
• Mary Retta | The Nation, "Minneapolis Public Schools terminates contract with Police Department over George Floyd's death" (June, 2020)
• Sarah Beller | Filter "The American Public Health Association Declares Police Violence a Public Health Issue" (November, 2018)

 

"By shrinking their massive budgets, we can help end decades of racially driven social control and oppression as well as address social problems at their root instead of investing in an institution that further oppresses and terrorizes communities."

- Paige Fernandez, ACLU Policing Policy Advisor ("Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer")

Polls

• "Nine in 10 Americans believe that racism and police violence are problems in the country" (Guardian/Opinium Research, July 2020)
• Most Americans Say Policing Needs 'Major Changes' (Gallup, July 2020)
• "Majorities of both black and white Americans say black people are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police and by the criminal justice system as a whole" (PEW Research Center, June 2020)

 

Academic Papers & Reports

"Police argue that residents in high-crime communities often demand police action. What is left out is that these communities also ask for better schools, parks, libraries, and jobs, but these services are rarely provided."

- Alex S. Vitale, "The End of Policing"

 

 

Videos

Malcolm X on Police Brutality

 

Discussion on the Black Lives Matter Movement

 

Ep 172 Prejudential and BLM feat Margaret Kimberley

 

The End of Policing: Alex Vitale on How Cops & Their Unions Cover Up Inequality, Exploitation