Skip to main content

New top story from Time: How Are Activists Managing Dissension Within the ‘Defund the Police’ Movement?

https://ift.tt/3qRRGDU

In June 2020, the Minneapolis city council announced plans to disband its police department following the killing of George Floyd. The council’s decision came after days of protesting and unrest in the city—and across the country—related to Floyd’s death and calls for larger-scale accountability from law enforcement. Central in many of these calls-for-action was a phrase soon to go global: “defund the police.”

Eight months later, however, and the city’s police department has not been dissolved, though a lot has happened in the interim; Minneapolis’ struggle to implement meaningful reforms serves as a microcosm of how the “defund the police” movement has impacted the country. Council members who initially supported the idea have walked back their positions. In August the city charter delayed the council’s proposal to disband the police pending further review, only to reject the proposal entirely in November. (Instead, there have been some rollbacks within the department as a result of cuts to its budget.)

In those eight months, the term “defund” quickly became divisive—viewed widely as a lightning point in larger culture wars. This has been apparent not just between those operating on different sides of the U.S. political spectrum, but between moderate and progressive politicians in the Democratic party’s coalition, as well as between newly-engaged activists and those whose work towards police reform dated back years/decades.

In the aftermath of the 2020 elections, some pundits and lawmakers argued the reason some Democrats in swing suburban districts lost their races was due in part to fear-mongering and misinformation surrounding the term “defund.” Though others have pushed back, pointing to a number of other relevant factors, the New York Times reported on Feb. 20 that analysis of Democrats’ performance in both House and Senate races being undertaken by “a cluster of Democratic advocacy groups” will include messaging on police reform.

Read more: America’s Policing System Is Broken. It’s Time to Radically Rethink Public Safety

There are now varying (and even contradictory) takes on what the term “defund” actually means—and in what ways it should be used to foster change. Some activists use it to describe their goal of wholly disbanding police forces, others take its definition to mean the reallocation, to varying extents, of a police department’s budget. Others still believe the term can be used to describe both goals, or use it simply as a broader call for accountability.

This dissent is now apparent across the country, particularly in communities where issues of over-policing, gun violence, and systemic racism are most prevalent. Activists worry it could hamstring large-scale action to reform policing.

Demonstrators calling to defund the Minneapolis Police Department march in Minneapolis, on June 6, 2020.
Stephen Maturen—Getty ImagesDemonstrators calling to defund the Minneapolis Police Department march in Minneapolis, on June 6, 2020.

“The ‘defund the police’ slogan to me [has become] a mask for ‘remove police from the streets’. In a time of rapidly rising violent crimes, it is the very last thing that we should be doing,” Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City tells TIME. “That’s just the worst thing we could do right now.”

With 2020 ending as one of the most violent years in the U.S. in decades, Aborn is among those who see a direct correlation between calls for defunding and a rise in crime (though other experts have pushed back against that assertion, arguing the situation is more nuanced).

“If you have to explain a term like this so much that means it’s a bad term,” Aborn says, adding he is not against taking certain responsibilities away from the police. “The answer to excessive police conduct is not to eliminate the cops, it’s to change the conduct.”

“I think language is very important,” adds Chi Osse, a Brooklyn activist currently running for a seat on NYC’s City Council. “I think the right has done a good job of changing what it actually means. Some people don’t even give you a chance to explain.”

Osse says he likes to use the word “divest” when explaining his take on the slogan—and says, in his experience, people agree with its overall message more often than not when they’re offered more policy-oriented context: that there needs to be investment and support for social services and grassroots organizations. “The bottom line is we need reinvestment in our underfunded systems,” Osse says.

Read more: Society Is Paying the Price for America’s Outdated Police Training Methods

“What’s really disturbing is how the term has been demonized while ignoring what is most importantly being called for—which is renewed investment in social services,” Justin Christian, an Atlanta activist with For a World Without Police says, arguing that critics of “defund” willfully ignore more nuanced goals he believes are possible. “When we say ‘defund the police’ we’re also saying to fund community health care centers, [to] provide money for community college and job training,” calling police budgets “wasteful, and that “increased police budgets only increase violence.”

However, even in neighborhoods impacted by over-policing, there are differing perspectives. A lot of times those divisions are generational. “I think for some people, policing is fine as it is now.” Reverend James Perkins, a Detroit activist tells TIME of many people in his community. “They don’t want to change policing.”

Detroit was one of the many cities that saw a significant increase in gun violence in 2020, but Perkins argues that it’s on activists to hold city leaders accountable in addressing reforms: like adjusting the training and making sure there are consequences when an unarmed person is killed. And when it comes to abolishing the city’s police force entirely, “I am not with that at all. We need the police,” Reverend Perkins says.

Demonstrators gather for a protest after an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, 27, at a Wendy's fast food restaurant drive-thru in Atlanta, on June 14, 2020.
Ben Hendren—Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesDemonstrators gather for a protest after an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, 27, at a Wendy’s fast food restaurant drive-thru in Atlanta, on June 14, 2020.

Devren Washington, a Philadelphia-based activist, doesn’t think the idea of defunding and abolishing should be mutually exclusive. “I think it’s really important not to divorce the defund movement from the abolition of police entirely,” Washington says. “When you’re looking at a lot of society’s problems, the police are not used to fix them. They’re used to put people in jail.”

“People hear defund the police or abolish the police and think that this is about creating a gap and it’s not,” Washington continues. “In reality, we want to take away something that is suffocating our imagination so that we can give so much more [to communities].”

Some cities have already begun implementing such initiatives. In Denver, Colorado, a program was launched in June 2020 with healthcare professionals replacing cops in the handling of mental health incidents. Since the program started, these workers have gone out on nearly 800 calls and, according to city officials, the program is showing success.

In Austin, Texas, meanwhile, funds from the police department will be used to buy a hotel to support the homeless community; the Los Angeles school board voted on Feb. 16 to eliminate a third of the city’s school police officers, and “diverts funds from the department to improve the education of Black students.”

With these kinds of steps forward—be they large- or small-scale—many community leaders are hopeful that more common ground on the issue can be found. Antoine Towers, the co-chair of the Oakland Violence Prevention Coalition, thinks that the divisiveness amounts to little more than political showboating. He says that those who are putting in the work on the frontlines are not working against one another, regardless of different priorities or divergent strategies.

“I think everybody actually has the same goal in mind. We’re all trying to accomplish the same things. We’re all trying to come to a place where we’re safe,” Towers says. “The only thing that creates the separation is the wording.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New top story from Time: House Passes President Biden’s $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill

https://ift.tt/2ZVMCSX WASHINGTON — The House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in a win for President Joe Biden, even as top Democrats tried assuring agitated progressives that they’d revive their derailed drive to boost the minimum wage. The new president’s vision for flushing cash to individuals, businesses, states and cities battered by COVID-19 passed on a near party-line 219-212 vote early Saturday. That ships the massive measure to the Senate, where Democrats seem bent on resuscitating their minimum wage push and fights could erupt over state aid and other issues. Democrats said the still-faltering economy and the half-million American lives lost demanded quick, decisive action. GOP lawmakers, they said, were out of step with a public that polling shows largely views the bill favorably. “I am a happy camper tonight,” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Friday. “This is what America needs. Republicans, you ought to be a part of this. But if you’re not,

New top story from Time: Latest Tests Bring Israel a Step Closer to Commercial Drones

https://ift.tt/3lyZxGe TEL AVIV, Israel — Dozens of drones floated through the skies of Tel Aviv on Monday, ferrying cartons of ice cream and sushi across the city in an experiment that officials hope provided a glimpse of the not-too-distant future. Israel’s National Drone Initiative, a government program, carried out the drill to prepare for a world in which large quantities of commercial deliveries will be made by drones to take pressure off highly congested urban roads. The two-year program aims to apply the capabilities of Israeli drone companies to establish a nationwide network where customers can order goods and have them delivered to pick up spots. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The project, now in the third of eight stages, is still in its infancy and faces many questions about security and logistics. “We had 700 test flights at the start of this year and now we are close to 9,000 flights,” said Daniella Partem, from Israel Innovation Authority, a partner in th

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J सिद्धार्थ रॉय कपूर फिल्म्स कि अगली सीरीज़ विलियम डेलरिम्पल कि बेस्टसेलर, 'द एनार्की: पर आधारित होगी

सिद्धार्थ रॉय कपूर के प्रोडक्शन 'रॉय कपूर फिल्म्स' ने हालही में अवार्ड विनिंग इतिहासकार और लेखक विलियम डेलरिम्पल की बेस्ट सेलिंग हिस्टोरिकल बुक ‘द अनार्की: द रिलेंटलेस राइज़ ऑफ़ द ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी' के आधिकारिक राइट्स हासिल कर इसे सीरीज़ के from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/siddharth-roy-kapoor-next-web-series-will-be-based-on-anarchy-090499.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.11.231.156&utm_campaign=client-rss

New top story from Time: Japan’s Prime Minister Abe Reportedly Stepping Down Over Health Concerns

https://ift.tt/32yNoGh (TOKYO) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed his intention to step down due to his declining health, according to reports Friday by NHK and other Japanese media. The Prime Minister’s Office said the report could not be immediately confirmed, but that Abe was believed to be meeting top ruling officials at the party headquarters. The Liberal Democratic Party spokesman did not answer the phone. Concerns about Abe’s chronic health issues, simmering since earlier this summer, intensified this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups. Abe, whose term ends in September 2021, is expected to stay on until a new party leader is elected and formally approved by the parliament. He had abruptly resigned from his first stint in office in 2007 due to his health, which was fueling concerns about his recent condition. Abe on Monday became Japan’s longest serving prime minister by consecutive days in of

New top story from Time: Justice Department Charges 8 in Chinese Harassment Plot in U.S.

https://ift.tt/37P9856 (WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has charged eight people with working on behalf of the Chinese government in a pressure campaign aimed at coercing a New Jersey man who was wanted by Beijing into returning to China to face charges, officials said Wednesday. The prosecution, which Justice Department officials said was the first of its kind, accuses the defendants of participating in a Chinese government operation known as “Fox Hunt” that was ostensibly created to help Beijing locate fugitives abroad but that U.S. officials say in practice relied on intimidation and bullying to go after dissidents and political opponents. Five of the eight, including an American private investigator who was hired as part of the effort, were arrested Wednesday. The other three are believed to be in China. All eight were charged with conspiring to act as illegal agents for China in a case filed in federal court in Brooklyn. “Without coordination with our governmen

New top story from Time: The Reopening of Springsteen on Broadway Brought Broadway Out of Hibernation—and One Packed Theater Into a Brighter Future

https://ift.tt/3A6wS0a The city that never sleeps is still a little sleepy, unsure of how to move its joints and muscles as it awakens from its forced hibernation . Although Times Square is now almost as brightly lit as ever, it’s remarkably hard to find a bar that will serve a drink after 11 p.m. On a late-June Saturday night, Eighth Ave. around 42nd Street was vibrating with young people: guys imported from the outer boroughs and beyond in their baggy, rumpled shorts, young women in elastic spangled mini-dresses making their first outing after a year lying in a drawer, men in mardi gras beads and the tiniest of tank tops ready to make the most of the final days of Pride month . Yet it was hard to know exactly what all these people were doing there, other than taking their place in a kind of Brownian-movement minuet under the cheerfully garish lights. Because Times Square cannot be itself while Broadway—meaning not the actual street but the constellation of live shows around

More 20 MPH Streets Coming Soon Near You

More 20 MPH Streets Coming Soon Near You By Christine Osorio Last October when California Assembly Bill 43 (Friedman) was signed into law, we posted a blog about which gave cities new flexibility in setting speed limits—specifically reducing them. “Speed Management,” a reference that is still in development, focused on reducing speed limits in key business activity districts where at least 50% are dining or retail. Since the bill went into effect last month, we’ve already started lowering speed limits by 5 MPH (from 25 MPH to 20 MPH) in the first phase of approved corridors, four of which have been implemented:  San Bruno Avenue, from Silver to Paul avenues (Completed January 2022)  Polk Street, from Filbert to Sutter streets (Completed January 2022)  Haight Street, from Stanyan Street to Central Avenue and from Webster to Steiner streets (Completed February 2022)  24th Street, from Diamond to Chattanooga streets and from Valencia Street to San Bruno Avenue (Completed

New top story from Time: Department of Homeland Security Warns of Politically Motivated Violence

https://ift.tt/2NINiIA WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks. The department did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular event or date, such as July 4. But this particular bulletin, issued through the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts

In-Person Pride Parade & Celebrations Return This Month!

In-Person Pride Parade & Celebrations Return This Month! By Pamela Johnson The SFMTA is happy to join San Francisco Pride celebrations when they return to in-person events this month as the city continues its recovery from the pandemic. This year’s theme is “Love will Keep Us Together.” The Trans March is happening on Friday, June 24 and the Pride Parade is on Sunday, June 26. SFMTA staff are, of course, an important part of the LGBTQIA+ community that keeps SF moving with Pride. Pride is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our continued support of the LGBTQIA+ community, promoting our core values of respect, inclusivity and integrity.  History/Background of SF Pride   San Francisco had its first Pride celebration in 1970. For more than three decades the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies have been moving San Francisco forward to become a better, safer, and more equitable world for the LGBTQIA+ community and the city a better place for people to live, work and enjoy.    His

New top story from Time: ‘Do Not Hold Grudges.’ Joe Biden’s Notes Reveal Talking Points About Kamala Harris

https://ift.tt/2X4natB (WILMINGTON, Del.) — Joe Biden was uncharacteristically tight-lipped on Tuesday about the final stretch of his search for a vice president. But the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee seemed prepared to talk about at least one leading contender: California Sen. Kamala Harris. As he took questions from reporters on Tuesday, Biden held notes that were captured by an Associated Press photographer. Harris’ name was scrawled across the top, followed by five talking points. “Do not hold grudges.” “Campaigned with me & Jill.” “Talented.” “Great help to campaign.” “Great respect for her.” Those are all observations Biden has made about Harris before. But they take on new significance following a recent Politico report that one of Biden’s closest friends and a co-chair of his vice presidential vetting committee, former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, still harbors concerns about Harris’ tough debate stage performance and that she hasn’t expressed reg