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Forget about whether Kier ‘Tough on Crime’ Starmer is on board with a BLM *movement* demand.
Make defunding the police the brick and mortar of localised organising and win the argument in queues, in parks, in community centres and on doorsteps.
What is the argument?
1/
Make defunding the police the brick and mortar of localised organising and win the argument in queues, in parks, in community centres and on doorsteps.
What is the argument?
1/
Policing harms society, is expensive and there is another way.
UK police budgets are the SECOND highest in Europe, they are actually at a historic high second only to the early 2000’s and we currently have more feds on the beat than we did under Thatcher. Spending is rising.
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UK police budgets are the SECOND highest in Europe, they are actually at a historic high second only to the early 2000’s and we currently have more feds on the beat than we did under Thatcher. Spending is rising.
2/
We spent almost the same amount on policing, prisons and courts last year as we did on public health AND social housing AND social care. You beginning to see the problem?
But what about all the criminals, theft, violence and gangs? Your neighbour might ask.
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But what about all the criminals, theft, violence and gangs? Your neighbour might ask.
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Police are not ‘crime fighters’ - 92% of all crime ends with no charge or prosecution, this jumps to 98% for crimes related to sexual violence. Policing is sexist.
84% of calls to police are unrelated to crime. And half of all crimes in 2019 were not reported to the police.
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84% of calls to police are unrelated to crime. And half of all crimes in 2019 were not reported to the police.
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Most ‘crime’ the police deal with harms nobody, but is the root of most criminalising - petty drug and theft offences: crimes of being poor.
These are related to people’s quality of life.
The result of this criminalisation: the largest prison population in Western Europe.
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These are related to people’s quality of life.
The result of this criminalisation: the largest prison population in Western Europe.
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But surely reform is already taking place?
The police have been reforming since the 81’ Scarman report, still, there have been over 1700 deaths in police custody since 1990, £30m in payouts for misconduct, and stop and search remains disgustingly racist (9 x more likely).
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The police have been reforming since the 81’ Scarman report, still, there have been over 1700 deaths in police custody since 1990, £30m in payouts for misconduct, and stop and search remains disgustingly racist (9 x more likely).
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We have no rational grounds upon which to base the indispensability of police.
Yet, at a time when life saving essential services like CAMHS and child protection have been subject to cuts the police have had UNPARALLELED access to local authority spending.
This is a DRAIN.
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Yet, at a time when life saving essential services like CAMHS and child protection have been subject to cuts the police have had UNPARALLELED access to local authority spending.
This is a DRAIN.
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The Gangs Matrix + the ‘war on gangs’.
Drug policing and stop and search. The Prevent programme.
The Hostile environment.
These are all racist, terrorising and expensive failures which ruin and punish entire communities, and families.
They need to go.
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Drug policing and stop and search. The Prevent programme.
The Hostile environment.
These are all racist, terrorising and expensive failures which ruin and punish entire communities, and families.
They need to go.
8/
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Policing harms society, it harms racialised communities. We need to defund the police and reinvest into our quality of life.
Mental health services.
Women’s services.
Youth services.
Social housing.
Education + training.
9/
Policing harms society, it harms racialised communities. We need to defund the police and reinvest into our quality of life.
Mental health services.
Women’s services.
Youth services.
Social housing.
Education + training.
9/
The complete and catastrophic failure of policing and prisons are unnecessarily ruining millions of lives, but in every local police budget line lies an opportunity to invest into and change the future.
Defund the police, invest in community.
Defund the police, invest in community.
