Examples of “Defunding the Police”
What does it look like when we begin to Defund the Police?
“Whether under pressure from settlements agreements, consent decrees, protests or public opinion, some cities around the country have implemented reforms that have reduced their reliance on traditional policing in response to mental health crises. However, the large majority of these reforms still rely on police to some degree. Whether those reforms can be used as seeds for new models is yet to be seen. Here is a short list of examples:
Eugene, OR – model for community response to mental health calls involving police dispatch[29]
The CAHOOTS model, which has been in place for 30 years in Eugene, is a collaboration between local police and a community service crisis intervention clinic. Calls to 911 that involve mental health issues, behavioral disturbances, and more broadly non-legal matters are re-routed to the CAHOOTS response. A medic and a crisis worker respond, without police, to assess the situation and connect the individual with ongoing care if needed. Currently the team receives about 20% of calls to 911.
The CAHOOTS team is able to call for police backup if they cannot handle the situation. Out of 24,000 calls that they responded to in 2019, they called for police backup only in 150 of them.
The CAHOOTS model saves the cities of Eugene and Springfield an estimated $15 million in costs that would have been spent on police, EMTs, ER visits, and jail time. In 30 years, the CAHOOTS team has never been responsible for a series injury or death.
Sacramento, CA – innovative community-only response to mental health calls, in addition to expanded police-led response
APTP Sacramento recently launched MH First, a model for non-police response to mental health crisis.[30] The goal of MH First is to respond to mental health crises including, but not limited to, psychiatric emergencies, substance use disorder support, and domestic violence situations that require victim extraction. The team is made of mental health professionals and a security member who can support and keep police away.
The Sacramento Police Department started three new teams, which members of the public or other patrol officers can call on:[31]
Mental health unit responds to behavioral or mental health emergencies
Impact team responds to emergencies associated with homelessness
Hospital team responds to the needs of people in Kaiser and Sutter emergency rooms
According to the Sacramento Police Department, officers connect people to over 50 organizations that offer counseling services, shelter and housing, suicide prevention, health clinics, older adult services, self-help guidance and more.
Oakland, CA – multiple examples of community solutions to crime and harm
The Anti-Police Terror Project (“APTP”)[32] and Community Ready Corps[33] have been creating a community safety network that includes support for victims of police violence, non-police security for community events, jail and bail support for activists, as well as broader violence prevention work.
APTP is launching an MH First program in Oakland, similar to the MH First program in Sacramento (see above).
The Oakland City Council commissioned an implementation report by the Urban Strategies Council on creating a pilot project in Oakland to begin in July 2020, called Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO). The pilot will be similar to the CAHOOTS model in that calls to 911 that involve mental health issues will be diverted to a community team. The pilot will respond to a broad range of non-criminal crises, including dispute resolution, non-emergency medical care, transportation to services, and problems related to homelessness, intoxication, disorientation, substance abuse, and mental illness.
Critical Resistance, a national abolitionist organization with a local chapter, has been leading the Oakland Power Projects,[34] a model for engaging residents in identifying existing harms, amplifying resources, and developing new practices that do not rely on policing. Some communities, including faith-based organizations, have made collective commitments to not call the police.
Dallas, TX – example of mixed police-mental health crisis response[35]
Partnership between paramedics, police officers, and mental health professionals to respond as a single coordinated team to safely and effectively manage patients experiencing behavioral emergencies.
Behavioral-related calls will be responded to by a team of three members: a specially trained police office, paramedic and behavioral health specialist.
This partnership was used in only a few communities in the Dallas area. In communities covered by this new program, the number of patients seeking psychological care at the local emergency rooms decreased by 20%, while other communities saw a 30% rise over the same period. This likely indicates that the team of responders played a positive role in assisting the individual who was experiencing a behavioral health emergency, by either preventing the need to go to the emergency room at the time of the call or in the future because of the same emergency.
Camden, NJ – not a model at all, addressed here as a cautionary tale[36]
City dissolved its police force and police union and was replaced with the county police force. This change has led to more police officers on duty.
Camden has recently been identified as one example of a city that abolished and defunded its police force. While it certainly fits within that category, the act of simply replacing the city police with county police did not substantively adjust the police presence or scope in Camden. Camden is an example of why both sides of the divest/invest demand are crucial to the movement’s ultimate goals.
Sunnyvale, CA – an example of a police response that is more integrated[37]
The department of public safety trains officers to provide services of fire, police, and emergency medical services. Each officer is required to be trained and proficient in each service and is constantly prepared to provide services when emergencies arise in either sector.
There is evidence that this practice has reduced the cost to residents but we found no data comparing crime rates, arrest rates or use of force rates pre- and post-implementation of this practice.
In considering the role and scope of police in the United States, it is helpful to compare U.S. practices with those of other countries. The U.S. spends more on “domestic public-safety programs” than virtually all of its peer nations while it spends a lot less on critical social programs.[38] The U.S. murder rates is higher than the average internationally and four times the rate of Canada.[39] The number of rapes, robberies and injuries from firearms are also much higher as are deaths in the hands of police. In England and Wales 55 people were killed by police in the last 24 years,[40] while in the U.S. on average 1000 people die in the hands of police per year.[41]
A brief review of police practices from other countries lends support to the claim that communities can remain safe without large, militarized police forces:[42]
European Standard for Use of Deadly Force – An officer may use deadly force only if it’s absolutely necessary in order to achieve a legitimate law enforcement purpose. In contrast, the U.S. allows police officers to use deadly force if there’s a reasonable perception of a grave and imminent threat.
Spain – Officers are required to fire a warning shot, then aim for a non-vital body part before resorting to lethal shooting.
Finland – In order to respond to gun violence by shooting, officers are required to receive permission from a superior officer.
As of 2006, Finland experienced 0.034 annual fatal police shootings per million residents. In contrast, the U.S. had a rate of 3.42.
Norway – Police are required to undergo three years of training, as opposed to an average of 19 weeks in the U.S.
As of 2018, Norway experienced 0.0 annual fatal police shootings per million residents compared to the U.S.’ rate of 3.35.
New Zealand – Police are not armed during routine work.
As of 2018, New Zealand experienced 2.0 annual fatal police shootings per million residents compared to the U.S.’ rate of 3.35.
What Are Some Recent Victories in the Campaigns to Defund the Police?
As activists unite behind the Defund Movement and push for systemic change, some cities are starting to take measures to reduce or dismantle their police departments. What follows is a partial list of recent commitments, promises, and ordinances, shared with the understanding that new information emerges every day:
Minneapolis – On June 12, the City Council passed a resolution to pursue a community-led public safety system to replace the police department through a year-long analysis.[43]
On June 2, the Minneapolis school board voted unanimously to terminate its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department for SROs.[44]
Portland – On June 9, the Mayor set the following goals:[45]
Divert $12 million from the police bureau to directly support communities of color
Defund three police units including the gun violence reduction team
Ban officers from using chokeholds
Remove city police officers from Portland Public High Schools
Make the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing a permanent community oversight body
Make cases of intentional discrimination by police officers subject to formal action
San Francisco – On June 11, the Mayor set the following goals:[46]
Remove police officers from responding to “issues like disputes between neighbors, reports about homeless people and school discipline interventions.”
Ban the use of military-grade weapons, including tear gas, bayonets and tanks, against unarmed civilians.
Change the “police department’s hiring, promotional, training, and disciplinary systems, and redirect funding to invest in marginalized communities.”
West Contra Costa School Board – On June 10, the West Contra Costa school board voted unanimously to cancel the district’s contracts with local police departments for SROs and reallocate $1.5 million to educational programs for African American students.[47]
Denver – On June 11, the Denver School Board voted unanimously to terminate their contract for school police.[48]
The deep structural racism inherent in policing is becoming more visible to and less tolerated by a broader portion of our society. The Movement for Black Lives has popularized the work of abolitionists and galvanized social attention around the demand to defund the police and invest in education, affordable housing, healthcare, and community solutions to preventing and addressing harm. We at Equal Justice Society are learning from the new models for public safety developing across the country and supporting the critical work of envisioning safety beyond policing and justice beyond punishment.
(Thank you Yoana Tchoukleva, Amalee Beattie and Josh Cottle
Equal Justice Society
June 18, 2020
https://equaljusticesociety.org/defundthepolicememo/)
