There’s a lot of misinformation about what “abolish the police” means. At the roots of this struggle are Black Power prison abolitionists like Angela Davis and George Jackson, and educators like Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Mariame Kaba. And this is directly linked to policing.
The U.S. Department of Justice acknowledges that imprisonment does NOT reduce crime and policing doesn’t reduce crime either. Well, what DOES reduce crime?
The answer is sufficient resources for our struggling, underserved communities. That's what abolitionists want.
Abolishing the police means creating the conditions for a world where police are totally unnecessary. Police are in the top ten causes of death for Black men, and Black women are affected too. Something's gotta give, and there are steps that can be taken to make things better for us.
Since policing and prisons are not reducing crime and their overinflated budgets take from our communities, people are demanding we defund the police. Abolition differs from reform, because reform often gives more money and more trust to police. That’s a problem for a reason.
Reforms, bans, and training have not made policing better. It’s been tried for decades! Police still end up killing us no matter what.
It’s time to invest in care, not cops. When we prioritize housing, healthcare, education, and more, our communities will grow.
When police forces cease to exist, police brutality will cease to exist.