kaileescales

I really appreciate this question, not everyone can be on the front lines. I think staying vigilant on the road to freedom is important. Staying aware, informed, signing petitions, sharing content, joining town halls, participating in the conversation, etc. A lot of organization work has moved to the digital space in the age of COVID, so follow blacklivesmatter.com and your local chapter to get involved and stay engaged.

Let me be clear: we do not advocate violence in protests of any kind -- not by any protester and not by police. We do not advocate or condone destruction of property. We believe in the value of human lives.

Of course not --- but what we don't need is $100 Billion per year spent on law enforcement and another $80 Billion per year on incarceration. What we don't need is a militarized police force to handle the majority of 911 calls -- calls about domestic issues and health services.

The call for defunding the police force is based in simple facts:

More than 1,000 people are killed by police in the US every, single year. 220 lives were taken by police this year alone.

Modern-day policing institutions have their roots in slave-catching. These systems were created to hunt, maim, and kill Black people -- and are the result of centuries-old anti-Black attitudes codified into law.

Simply put the criminal justice system in this country -- including law enforcement and incarceration -- is actually working the way it is intended to.

We are calling for a re-focused effort to transform and nurture our communities. We are calling for divestment in police in order to support more teachers, mental health and restorative services, and community resilience departments, social workers, and government resource liaisons.

In truth, the most 911 calls are for mental health services, health and EMT and fire service and in a 2017 report, the NYPD halted proactive policing in late 2014 and early 2015. Analysis found that civilian complaints of major crimes (like burglary, felony assault, and grand larceny) decreased during and shortly after reductions in policing.

So we know decreased policing works.

We advocate for peaceful protests in every instance and do not condone looting or destruction of any kind. We also believe violations of property should never be equated with violations of human life.