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Thanks to all our new followers after today's police board meeting. Something we get asked a lot by media and politicians is....you don't mean defund ALL of the police do you?
Well, we do! That's what it means to be abolitionist. Here's why.
Well, we do! That's what it means to be abolitionist. Here's why.
1. Policing is institutionally colonial, white supremacist and in the service of capitalism. All attempts to reform police through better training, diversity, oversight and technology have failed. The only answer to the violence of policing is abolition.
2. Police don't keep us safe. Police only react to situations after harm has occurred. Many things that police respond to aren't "crimes" in any meaningful sense - mental health crises, people using drugs, unhoused people "loitering." Charges are only laid 1 of every 3 "crimes."
3. Policing actively harm many communities: killing, assaults, harassment, surveillance, intimidation, stigmatizing. These harms disproportionately harm Indigenous and Black people, poor/unhoused people, people who use drugs, sex workers, people with mental health issues.
4. Incarceration doesn't solve anything. Instead, it makes conditions far worse, isolating the person, breaking up families/communities, jeopardizing housing/employment and leading to many long-term mental health issues. It warehouses away social problems leading to much "crime."
5. Police is incredibly expensive. Police departments in Canada spend over $15 billion a year, with Winnipeg's spending $304 million in 2020 (over 1/4 of the operating budget). More than 1,000 WPS officers make over $100,000 a year. This takes money away from many other services.
We're calling for a total defunding + abolition of the Winnipeg Police and reallocation of its budget to life-sustaining services/infrastructure that actually keep people safe: housing, food, mental health/substance use resources and anti-carceral crisis response.
#AbolishTheWPS
#AbolishTheWPS
