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From Denver to Minneapolis, we're starting to see cities & city officials respond to BLM & change their policies.
That can be hard to keep track of, so I'm starting a thread to document them as they come.
It'll hopefully help follow, & also compare their scope & ambition. (1/?)
That can be hard to keep track of, so I'm starting a thread to document them as they come.
It'll hopefully help follow, & also compare their scope & ambition. (1/?)
Minneapolis: A veto-proof majority on the city council has announced its intention to "dismantle" the police department and invest in other avenues & programs. https://theappeal.org/minneapolis-city-council-members-announce-intent-to-disband-the-police-department-invest-in-proven-community-led-public-safety/
Los Angeles: Already under fire in May for shielding the LAPD from spending cuts, Mayor Garcetti agreed to a step of reducing its budget by about $150 million. Money will be steeered to “youth jobs, health initiatives & ‘peace centers’ to heal trauma.” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-05/eric-garcetti-lapd-budget-cuts-10000-officers-protests
Denver: Police department has changed some of its policies, including banning the use of chokeholds & new mandate that officers report use of guns. (Addition of new rules leaves hanging issues of impunity for breaking policies & extralegal violence.) https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/07/denver-police-ban-chokeholds/
Portland: School superintendent is ending the program that has the police patrol public high schools. The progam's budget was $1.6 million. His shift came a day after Jo Ann Hardesty (Portland's only black city councilor) called for this. https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/06/portland-superintendent-says-hes-discontinuing-school-resource-officer-program.html
Phoenix: Council finally funded the city’s civilian oversight board.Took 2 separate activist wins (read below): (a) In Feb., they got mayor to withdraw weak proposal, agree to much more powerful board. (b) Now, pushed for stronger funding. https://twitter.com/megoconnor13/status/1270065793733025809
Philadelphia: Just weeks ago, Philly's mayor pushed for a budget that increased police funding by about $20 million. Council members since said they'll oppose it, & today the mayor agreed: budget increase cancelled. (This is steps away, of course, from demands to cut funding.)
D.C.: Council passed slate of measures (veto-proof). Bill is meant to make hiring more restrictive & discipline easier, new disclosure mandates, bans chokeholds & bans tear gas/rubber bullet vs protests, & more. But idea to reduce police force left out. https://dcist.com/story/20/06/09/d-c-council-passes-emergency-police-reform-bill-but-delays-shrinking-size-of-mpd/
Oakland: Scool board has moved to end its police department, which will free up nearly $3 million the district spends on armed officers. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-school-board-and-superintendent-back-15331729.php
Charlottesville: School board ends agreement with the police department to place "school resource officers" into public schools. Groups like Legal Aid pushed against SROs as harming the "safety, security and educational advancement of black students." https://twitter.com/Knott_Katherine/status/1271104035676925952
Louisville: The Metro Council is set to pass a ban on no-knock police raids, three months after Breonna Taylor was killed during such a raid. https://theappeal.org/louisville-kentucky-ban-no-knock-warrants-breonna-taylor/
: Denver (again, see: ): School board unanimously decided to end its contract with the police department & remove police officers from public schools. (School front has been most consistent tide so far.) This won't happen until the summer of 2021. https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/dps-contract-with-dpd/73-a55f3ad8-54e4-4c72-bdbb-8becb4d93f7c
San Francisco: Police will no longer “respond to calls for help on noncriminal matters involving mental health, the homeless, school discipline and neighbor disputes”, and is barred from using chemical weapons. (Has 18 months to get rid of them.) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-12/san-francisco-police-reforms-stop-response-noncriminal-calls
Los Angeles (part 2): City imposing a moratorium on LAPD adding names into the CalGang database https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/garcetti-halting-lapd-budget-increase-prohibiting-adding-names-to-gang-database/2374361/That’s the system that’s meant to track gang affiliations, & that is a racist mess enabling a mountain of misconduct. Read: https://theappeal.org/drakeo-california-gang-laws-racism/
Boston: City will move $10 million from the police budget to community, public health housing programs. (Another $2 million will be moved around within the police budget.) (Review of use of force policies left to a task force.) https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/walsh-declares-racism-public-health-crisis-boston-reallocates-12m-police-ot-budget/YAM5JC6S3BAWTJYRVHIERTGVT4/
New York: The NYPD is disbanding its unit of plain-clothed officers, which "has been involved in some of the city’s most notorious police shootings." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/nyregion/nypd-plainclothes-cops.html
Albuquerque: The police will no longer be the ones responding to 911 calls involving mental health, homelessness, and drug use. Instead, the city is creating a new department of civilian respondents. https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/mayor-keller-announces-creation-of-albuquerque-community-safety-department/5760086/
Two state-level moves that will affect local police depts.
New York: Repealed Section 50a, which shielded police records from disclosure.
New Jersey: AG ordered law enforcement to publicly disclose serious disciplinary violations, a big shift: https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/06/nj-will-identify-cops-accused-of-serious-violations-in-major-new-directive-by-state-attorney-general.html
New York: Repealed Section 50a, which shielded police records from disclosure. New Jersey: AG ordered law enforcement to publicly disclose serious disciplinary violations, a big shift: https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/06/nj-will-identify-cops-accused-of-serious-violations-in-major-new-directive-by-state-attorney-general.html
Rochester, NY: The city council voted 8 to 1 tonight to cut its $95 million police budget by 4%.That's far less than what BLM organizers called for. (See: https://www.whec.com/rochester-new-york-news/rpd-funding-cuts-defund-the-police/5760473/). It's also a sign of the new political pull of demands to shrink. https://www.wxxinews.org/post/city-council-approves-rochesters-budget-says-no-rcsd-spending-plan
Norman, OK: The city council has cut the local police department's budget by $865,000 in a heated meeting that had at least one councilor asking for a much biger cut.That seems to be about 4% of the police budget (via https://www.normantranscript.com/news/norman-advocacy-group-calls-npd-review-plan-an-empty-gesture-lists-demands/article_d1b7db74-a9c7-11ea-969e-ab5cf051f157.html) http://www.oudaily.com/news/norman-city-council-cuts-865-000-from-police-funding-after-heated-11-hour-meeting/article_b0d305fc-b09b-11ea-8a03-b3330c8ceb4b.html
Portland, OR: Council cuts funding for the police by $15 million. This ends funds for police transit & school resource officers. (Only "no" vote proposed bigger cut.) $5 million will fund non-police responders addressing calls about homelessness. https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/defunding-portland-police-city-council-budget-15-million-cuts/283-239c5e3a-cfed-4dce-8775-d2c52a9df9aa
Salt Lake City: The city council cuts police budget by $5 million. (That's =6%.)But half of that will fund people working within the police, even as the money will not be controlled by police leadership. And some advocates pushed for $30 million. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2020/06/16/slc-council-approves/
New York City: The city is launching an online database where anyone can track the disciplinary records of police officers who have been accused of misconduct and excessive force. This will include 1,100 pending cases starting next month. https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/06/17/public-online-database-will-let-new-yorkers-track-police-disciplinary-cases-de-blasio-says/
Northampton, MA: The city council has cut police budget by 10%.The biggest cut in this thread so far.
Mayor had proposed a 3% budget increase. Instead, city reversed that growth, AND cut 10% from current funding. (Roughly 13% cut from proposal.) https://www.gazettenet.com/City-council-cuts-police-department-budget-34846489
Arcata, CA: City cuts the police budget by 11%. Police chief says it'll mean less policing of so-called "quality of life" offenses, e.g. being drunk in public or traffic. (And: This is the new biggest cut in thread.)
1) https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2020/jun/18/arcata-city-council-approves-budget-cuts-including/
2) https://www.times-standard.com/2020/06/19/arcata-police-to-lose-752000-in-2020-city-budget/#:~:text=The%20APD's%202020%20operating%20budget,APD%20with%2025%20police%20officers.
Madison, WI: City launches moves to create civilian review board & independent auditor. (Note #1: Comes out of years of study from a committee, sets up work group.) (Note #2: Devil is in details with such boards having teeth, eg. subpoena power.) https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-creates-police-review-board-alder-work-group/article_215f7a4b-7a89-54f5-873c-2906148de3a7.html
Iowa City: The city bans use of chokeholds by its police department "without exceptions." Goes further than IA's new law. (Note: Such rules leave hanging core problem of impunity, & lack of respect for restrictions or accountability for violations.) https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2020/06/22/iowa-city-council-ban-chokeholds-without-exception-police-george-floyd-protests/3234853001/
Seattle: City council repeals two laws. One enabled arrests of sex workers for "loitering;" the other enabled arrests for drug soliciting even with no evidence of drugs present.Council members pointed to unequal policing, & impetus of BLM protests. https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-city-council-votes-to-repeal-two-loitering-laws
San Francisco: San Francisco's school district will be ending its partnership with the police department. The partnership took the form of 12 armed police officers in public schools. https://missionlocal.org/2020/06/san-francisco-unified-school-district-votes-to-cut-ties-and-funds-from-police/
Seattle: The school board voted to suspend its agreement with the police department, which led to armed police officers in city schools. (Note: The Chicago school board voted *against* doing the same today, despite growing number of cities that are.) https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/police-presence-at-seattle-public-schools-halted-indefinitely/
Update to , on Minneapolis: As it promised weeks ago (see above), the city council approved a proposal to disband the current police department, and to change the city charter that requires a police force. Council is aiming for a citywide vote by Nov.: https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-city-council-votes-unanimously-for-proposal-that-could-replace-police-department/571504662/
, on Minneapolis: As it promised weeks ago (see above), the city council approved a proposal to disband the current police department, and to change the city charter that requires a police force. Council is aiming for a citywide vote by Nov.: https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-city-council-votes-unanimously-for-proposal-that-could-replace-police-department/571504662/
San Diego: City council is putting an initiative on the Nov. ballot that'd create a new police review board that'd be independent from the mayor and the police department and, importantly, would have subpoena power to compel testimony and disclosure https://www.10news.com/news/news-links/san-diego-city-council-votes-on-police-reform-measure
Philadelphia: City council reinstates requirement that police officers be city residents. It also placed other measures on the November ballot as initiatives, incl. creating a new civilian oversight board with subpoena power. https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/philly-city-council-passes-police-reforms-shelves-others-for-the-summer/
New York City: City is cutting ≈ half-a-billion $ from NYPD budget, canceling hire of 1,163 officers. It says it's cutting another ≈ half-a-billion, but that's by moving a budget line that pays for police in schools without ending police in schools. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/nyregion/nyc-budget-police.html
Spokane: The city council unanimously rejected a new police union contract after local activists mobilized to reject what it meant for oversight and accountability. Mayor supported contract. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/29/spokane-city-council-rejects-police-union-contract/(More context: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/29/protesters-call-on-spokane-city-council-to-reject-/)
Los Angeles: on 4-3 vote, the school board cuts the school police force by a third, a cut of $25 million. The vote bars district from contracting with LAPD, LASD, or private force to replace. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-30/lausd-unified-budget-school-police-reopening
Berkeley: City council cuts the city's police budget by 12%, amid council voices who proposed cuts of double or quadruple that. (There's a meeting scheduled on July 14 for other assessments of police role.) https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/07/02/berkeley-city-council-approves-budget-with-9-2-million-in-police-cuts/
Boston: In late June, the city council banned the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement & public authorities, joining 5 other MA cities and some in CA. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/boston-vote-ban-facial-recognition
Sacramento: City will remove the police from answering 911 calls that don't involve crimes, e.g. calls that involve mental health crisis. (Once new division created.) City did not also cut police budget; created new oversight. https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/07/03/sacramento-passes-police-reforms-but-activists-say-city-officials-must-do-more/ https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article243941897.html
A bit of a parenthetical: You can hear me discuss the changes chronicled on this thread — and why we've seen so much now, and also why we haven't seen more — with @amyewalter & @TheTakeaway in this interview: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/politics-amy-walter/episodes/how-cities-across-us-are-responding-demands-police-reform
Somerville, MA: City council has cut its upcoming police budget by 8% compared to the current fiscal year. (A council member proposed an additional cut of roughly 5%, which was rejected.) https://somerville.wickedlocal.com/news/20200710/on-cut-night-somerville-city-council-cuts-police-public-works-and-other-budgets
Berkeley, CA: The city council decided that the police will no longer hand traffic citations (unarmed city workers outside the PD will instead). Police also won't be responding to emergency calls that involve people having mental health crises. https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/07/15/berkeley-city-council-oks-sweeping-changes-to-transform-police/
San Francisco: The city's Board of Supervisors approved a ballot measure to eliminate the city's mandate to have a minimum of 1971 full time police officers. (This is one of several ballot initiatives created since June on this list.) https://theappeal.org/san-francisco-voters-will-decide-on-abolishing-mandatory-staffing-levels-for-police/
Charlottesville, VA: The city is banning the police department from "acquiring weapons from the military and taking military training". But resolution doesn't ban getting military weapons elsewhere than directly from the military. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-council-passes-resolution-limiting-police-weapon-purchases/article_de4c9662-0357-5f31-b0d3-3caa3693fc74.html
Madison, WI: The city council has voted to remove police officers from Madison's four high schools. It's the latest city to make this move. (See above.) Council vote was 19-1. https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-terminates-contract-providing-police-officers-in-schools/article_26f2da88-df45-5f4f-bddb-862d998a4b36.html
Washington D.C.: In a historic move, D.C. adopted an "emergency bill" that fully abolishes felony disenfranchisement, citing in part the racial inequalities of the criminal legal system. The emergency bill also makes changes to policing rules. https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/washington-d-c-felony-disenfranchisement/
