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Mayor Lightfoot recently has pledged to allocate just $1 million towards two mental health crisis response models: one in which mental health professionals are paired with armed police officers, and one non-law enforcement, clinician-only model. Chicago needs #TreatmentNotTrauma
As the organizations and campaigns that have been fighting for #TreatmentNotTrauma, we believe that the Mayor's proposal falls far short of what is needed. We strongly encourage our supporters in the Chicago City Council to hold out for more.
We oppose the Mayor's proposal for several critical reasons:
$1 million is an offensively small amount. Chicago spends $4.8 million PER DAY on policing. $5 million is the bare minimum needed to ensure that this pilot program is not being set up for failure from the beginning.
$1 million is an offensively small amount. Chicago spends $4.8 million PER DAY on policing. $5 million is the bare minimum needed to ensure that this pilot program is not being set up for failure from the beginning.
We don't need to pilot a police-led model. We already know what happens when armed officers respond to people in crisis—Black people are shot and killed. We oppose a police-led pilot. This is non-negotiable.
The funding for the pilot must come from the Chicago Police Department budget. The point of this crisis response model is ultimately to reduce the scope and reach of armed officers.
The funding for this pilot must come from the CPD budget, which has gone up consistently every year and which this year will account for 39% of the corporate fund (up from 37% last year). This is non-negotiable.
We need commitments to increase funding and expand the pilot in subsequent years. We will not be bought off by vague, one-time promises. This is non-negotiable.
Email your alderperson to tell them to vote NO on this anti-Black, pro-cop budget.
http://bit.ly/voteno1123
Chicago needs #TreatmentNotTrauma
http://bit.ly/voteno1123
Chicago needs #TreatmentNotTrauma
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@ActionNowChi @AFROSOCDSA @BLMChi @BlackrootsChi @byp100 @CAARPRNow @chitorture @GKMC18 @KOCOmmunity @LetUsBreathe773 @LiveFreeChicago @LB_HopeCenter @PUAIllinois @StopChicago @C4RacialJustice @25thIPO @33rdWardWorking @39thWardUnited @48thneighbors @ACREcampaigns
@ActionNowChi @AFROSOCDSA @BLMChi @BlackrootsChi @byp100 @CAARPRNow @chitorture @GKMC18 @KOCOmmunity @LetUsBreathe773 @LiveFreeChicago @LB_HopeCenter @PUAIllinois @StopChicago @C4RacialJustice @25thIPO @33rdWardWorking @39thWardUnited @48thneighbors @ACREcampaigns
