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Dear C-Ville City Council Members,
The police violence on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall on July 8, 2020 represents one of many reasons why the community is calling C-ville City Council to divest from policing and invest in community-based pathways of support. (1/24)
The police violence on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall on July 8, 2020 represents one of many reasons why the community is calling C-ville City Council to divest from policing and invest in community-based pathways of support. (1/24)
We are calling on Charlottesville City Council to recognize that in order to create effective change, we must get to the root of the problem. The problem with the July 8 incident is that the police were involved at all. (2/24)
The police presence made the interaction about crime and punishment, instead of about caring for a community member in need. (3/24)
In an article in the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney acknowledges that acts violence by police officers against community members often occur. (4/24)
“Because these cameras get knocked off so frequently during scuffles and fights, we have ordered clips that will provide a way to have them attached more securely,” she said. (5/24)
“The body-worn cameras are placed on the chest area because it gives the best view and least likely to obstruct any of the interactions that will be occurring between any of our officers in the public that we engage with.” (6/24)
There are many examples of programs being set up in other communities to remove police from situations in which they are not helpful. (7/24)
For example:
In St. Petersburg, Florida, social workers, instead of the police, can now respond to non-violent, social service calls into 911, https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/st-petersburg-police-chief-mayor-announce-plans-to-re-imagine-department. (8/24)
In St. Petersburg, Florida, social workers, instead of the police, can now respond to non-violent, social service calls into 911, https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/st-petersburg-police-chief-mayor-announce-plans-to-re-imagine-department. (8/24)
In Portland, Oregon, the city council just provided $4.8 million to a Port. Street Response program that will have med. professionals & peer support spec. respond to calls involving houselessness or behavioral health crises, instead of the police, https://portlandstreetresponse.org/ (9/24)
In Hartford, Connecticut, the city council just decided to take $1 million away from the police to instead go social service departmetns such as Families, Children, Youth & Recreation, and Health & Human Services, https://www.wnpr.org/post/hartford-council-mayor-move-reallocate-and-reduce-police-budget (10/24)
The Baltimore City Council just approved a $22 million cut to their police department, https://www.wbal.com/article/464307/124/city-budget-committee-makes-227m-in-cuts-to-police-prosecutors (11/24)
Defund Cville Police believes that the time has come to divert funding away from the Charlottesville Police department and instead to services that actually protect the well being of community members: (12/24)
We demand that Charlottesville City Council develop a division of first responders with principals rooted in de-escalation tactics, transformative/restorative justice, trauma-informed... (13/24)
... crisis response and public health for the community, particularly as it relates to Black, Brown, Indigenous individuals who can/will hold multiple identities. (14/24)
The role of these responders would be to replace police as respondents in calls relating to: mental health, sexual assault and gender-based violence and abuse, domestic disputes, and substance disease. (15/24)
As community members we recognize that police officers are often dispatched to these calls instead of actual community professionals who by education and/or training are better equipped to navigate these crisis situations. (16/24)
We feel it is necessary to ensure our most vulnerable community members are provided the proper support instead of being criminalized. (17/24)
We demand that Charlottesville City Council end all future hiring, training and job openings as it pertains to the police department by amending the current budget. Instead, invest those funds into a new responder initiative. (18/24)
We demand that Charlottesville City Council divert 60% ($10,800,000) of the Charlottesville Police Department budget to community support programs. We recognize these areas have been underfunded prior to the pandemic and will greatly be affected moving forward. (19/24)
For example: 1) the reallocation of funds to education could go to supplying laptop computers, internet service and other resources that were provided during the initial start of the pandemic to be continued throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. (20/24)
This would in turn relieve school officials, teachers, city school support staff, parents and youth of the anxiety of reopening prematurely 2) the reallocation of funds to housing could be used to provide additional funding to low-barrier rehousing, rental relief... (21/24)
eviction prevention and SOAR training programs specifically supporting Black and Brown and low-income/non-income communities 3) the reallocation of funds to go to mental health for youth and adult outreach, substance use disease, dom. assault, sexual assault and violence. (22/24)
Since being established in 1854, the Charlottesville Police Department has targeted, surveilled and traumatized Black communities for generations. (23/24)
We’ve continued to fund this organization under the guise of "public safety" while neglecting community-centered solutions crucial to the survival of impacted communities. We are calling on Charlottesville City Council to take swift action on this matter. (24/24)
You can also find our response here: https://medium.com/@SURJ_Cville/defund-cville-police-calls-on-charlottesville-city-council-to-take-immediate-action-to-divest-7d73c0d0f6b
