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Getting a lot of replies tonight about the demand to Defund Police, police abolition, etc. 1st I'd say that "Defund Police" is not *my* demand, but it is the demand emanating from the Black-led organizers who have been doing this work for years right now in this moment. (thread)
It is a demand that I think makes sense, in this moment. The first round of the #BlackLivesMatter 
movement experimented with a number of reforms. Some reformist reforms (like training and body cameras) and some non-reformist (civilian review boards). The mvmt is 6+ years in.
movement experimented with a number of reforms. Some reformist reforms (like training and body cameras) and some non-reformist (civilian review boards). The mvmt is 6+ years in.
Some organizers even in the first round - particularly folks with more experience - said that anything that provided funding or resources to police departments was a mistake. Clearly, they were correct. I don't think there's any real debate about that anymore.
So what does that mean? It means that the abolitionist trajectory is the correct agenda regarding policing in the US. Reducing or eliminating police, reducing the number of cops on the street, demilitarizing them, taking away their resources not granting more.
So what about "crime" - well to deal with crime, it is also clear that you have to deal with inequality in society. Reparations, social spending, UBI, universal free healthcare, universal free education. The root of crime is poverty, inequity, racism and policing itself.
To really deal with this, we need to wither away the US military, the prison industrial complex, and police. We need to create an economy that is not dependent upon a globalized and national policing apparatus.
But abolition is not just about the negation of all these violent and oppressive institutions, but about the creation, development and proliferation of strong communities of care, restoration, accountability and social transformation.
If you are interested in learning more, there are many things I can recommend. But here are two books on policing first of all. They're important in understanding what police do, and why policing cannot be reformed, as well as how alternatives might work https://twitter.com/haymarketbooks/status/1266407238270410766?s=20
This one as well by @avitale really handles all the issues with all the reformist approaches that have been attempted & why reformism won't ever work. (both this and the book above are free right now, in ebook form, I recommend both) https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing
. @prisonculture is one person who has been an amazing mentor to so many of us in the prison & police abolition world. She knew the reforms that would & wouldn't work back in 2014 (& I'm sure before). http://transformharm.org is a website she & a comrade created on alternatives
this is another website of hers that has great resources as well http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/
Critical Resistance is an organization that has generated a lot of the abolitionist thought and work over the years, their website has great resources on PIC abolition http://criticalresistance.org
. @Beyond_Prison which is a podcast I helped get off the ground, which has been led by the amazing @phillyprof03 and @bsonenstein is an amazing resource of abolitionist thought, debate, discussion and information https://www.beyond-prisons.com
. @rustbeltradio is another great abolitionist podcast with a ton of great episodes through a lens of penal abolition. https://rustbeltradio.org
News outlets. @truthout @shadowproofcom @theappeal have a number of reporters & editors who are prison abolitionists, as a result their reporting is considerate of the harms that police perpetuate and uplifting voices from abolitionist organizing and those building alternatives.
Anyway, I know that if abolition is new to you, it can seem ridiculous. A key understanding is that abolition is not about believing we can completely end crime or violence. It's about how do we create society and systems *more capable* of preventing & responding to harm.
When you go through that exercise it becomes quite clear that we have to create a presence of resources and community, and an absence of brutally violent racist unjust systems. #DefundPolice is a good step on that path.
Another good resource here from @MicahHerskind on a bunch of books, articles, essays etc on policing, prisons & abolition https://medium.com/@micahherskind/resource-guide-prisons-policing-and-punishment-effb5e0f6620
. @No_Cop_Zone has a great website on police abolition http://aworldwithoutpolice.org
oh also wherever you are it is likely there are already abolitionists in your town or city (most places at least). If you want to connect with folks near you, my DM's are always open and I'll do my best.
