Best resources for Police Abolition and Reimagining Public Safety?

June 8, 2020 3:44 AM

What are the best resources for understanding Police Abolition and Reimagining Public Safety? Especially interested in 1) full conceptualizations of the day-to-day methods for maintaining public safety 2) explanations that are not highly academic or theory based, i.e. plain language 3) works by Black and Queer folks.
posted by hworth to Law & Government (6 answers total)

8toabolition.com is probably what you're looking for. Also check mpd150.com/resources which is specifically targeted at Minneapolis but has a good collection of resources on the topic.
posted by AV at 4:03 AM on June 8, 2020

MPD150 (A People’s Project Evaluating Policing) in Minneapolis have done great work on this front & has a list of some great resources here.

Including in zine form, “Building a Police-Free Future: Frequently Asked Questions”.

For reference, Minneapolis city council has voted to disband the police department and fund proven community led public safety
posted by photoelectric at 4:04 AM on June 8, 2020

Dean Spade (link goes to their website and other prison abolition resources) & Reina Gossett (short video) talk to each other about "What about the dangerous people?" Short and clear.
posted by spamandkimchi at 7:57 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]

By the way, there's probably more stuff easily searchable on "prison abolition" rather than "police abolition." Longtime abolitionists like Ruth Wilson Gilmore (her NYT Magazine profile is great and there are a ton of video interviews etc) and Mariame Kaba (interview with Chris Hayes) have been working within the prison abolition framework, which for me has always implied the end of police as well. And always always I return to the work of Critical Resistance is a national abolition org with local chapters that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:04 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]

There has been a lot of organizing around community-based alternatives to calling the police. Safe OUTside the System (Audre Lorde Project NYC) has been around for more than 10 years.

SOS is an "anti-violence program led by and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans, and Gender Non Conforming people of color. We are devoted to challenging hate and police violence by using community based strategies rather than relying on the police."
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:09 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Creative Interventions is focused on creating and sharing "collective responses to interpersonal violence." Specifically they work with "domestic violence and sexual assault organizations to make community-based, transformative justice and community accountability interventions a real option." They have put together the Creative Interventions Toolkit: An Invitation and Practical Guide for Everyone to Stop Violence. This work has been longstanding, with groups such as INCITE diagnosing the harms that law enforcement have committed (both direct violence against and the systemic lack of justice).
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:16 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]