Some Actions to Demand Police Reforms
As we mourn George Floyd and grieve the latest losses of black lives in our nation and communities due police brutality and anti-blackness, we can continue to demand actions.
- Contact Assemblymember Waldron and State Senator Jones and ask them to support AB 2054 which “will establish the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (C.R.I.S.E.S.) Act pilot grant program, to fundamentally improve emergency responses for vulnerable populations in California, by strengthening, expanding and promoting community-based responses to emergency situations”.
See How Much Do We Need The Police? Author Alex S. Vitale Talks ‘The End Of Policing’ After Floyd Death, San Diego Council Members Propose Social Workers Oversee Homeless Outreach Instead Of Police and Pass the CRISES Act.
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Contact the Mayor McNamara and the rest of Escondido City Council and show support for Councilmember Diaz’s proposal which she put forth at a Escondido Take a Knee demonstration:
- requiring citizen input on the hire and recruitment of police chief captains
- the collection and study of racial statistics in traffic stops
- hiring of more women and diverse applicants in law enforcement
- On citizen input, support an independent police commission in Escondido. See San Diegans for Justice, Geneviéve Jones-Wright’s Op-Ed and their efforts to establish a community-led independent commission on police practices in San Diego City. Then contact the Mayor McNamara and the Escondido City Council and ask for a community-led independent commission on police practices in Escondido.
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Read more on What Does ‘Defund The Police’ Mean? and Mariame Kaba’s Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police
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Support #8toabolition to:
- Read up on The Critical Resistance’s Abolition Organizing Toolkit and Reformist reforms vs. abolitionist steps in policing
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Open in new tab - Contact the Mayor McNamara and the Escondido City Council and ask that the Escondido Police Department enacts #8CantWait police reform policies. Note that Escondido Police announced end to carotid restraint on June 3, 2020.
8 can’t wait is a Campaign Zero project which promotes eight policies which “research shows more restrictive use of force policies can reduce killings by police and save lives”. (Campaign Zero is an organization campaigning for police reforms and that was founded by Black Lives Matter activists.)
8 can’t wait provides the following phone script:
Phone Script
I’m calling Mayor Paul McNamara to urge them to take the pledge to enact the #8CantWait Use of Force policies. I live in [city] in [neighborhood] and I know our city would benefit from these policies.
The #8CantWait policies are simple, common-sense and would make our community safer. ESCONDIDO is okay with the other 2 policies that are a part of the #8CantWait pledge. Can you commit to banning the following policies?
- Ban Chokeholds & Strangleholds
- Require De-escalation
- Require Exhaust All Alternatives Before Shooting
- Duty To Intervene
- Ban shooting at moving vehicles
- Require Use Of Force Continuum
- Support Equal Justice Initiative’s Reforming Policing in America 2020 to:
- Document and Expose the Problem
- Change Police Culture
- Ban and Criminalize Excessive Use of Force
- Empower Civilians and Citizens to Shape Policy and Hiring and Review Police Misconduct Complaints
- Confront the History of Racial Injustice
- Require Training of Officers to be Responsive to the Needs of Community Members
- Mandate Independent Prosecution when Citizens are Killed
- Eliminate Qualified Immunity
- Invest in Community Health and Crime Reduction
- Incentivize and Create More Diverse Police Departments
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Contact Assemblymember Waldron and State Senator Jones and ask them to support legislation to ban use of “sleeper hold”. See California Legislative Leaders Back State ‘Sleeper Hold’ Ban.
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Contact Assemblymember Waldron and State Senator Jones and ask them to support legislation limiting the use of rubber bullets. See Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Leads Legislative Push Against Rubber Bullets and Police Using Rubber Bullets On Protesters That Can Kill, Blind Or Maim For Life.
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Read-up on Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On — Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Police weapons used in George Floyd protests.
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Read NAACP’s We Are Done Dying, Indivisible’s Taking Action in Solidarity with Black Lives, and ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties’ Statement of Solidarity with the Black Community and All Who Seek Justice for George Floyd.
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Read former President Obama’s How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change.
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Support organizations for racial justice and police reforms such as:
- North County San Diego NAACP & NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- DeDe McClure Community Bail Fund (List of Bail Funds for Protestors across the Country)
- The Bail Project
- Black Lives Matter & Black Lives Matter San Diego
- Campaign Zero
- National Bail Out
- March for Black Womxn San Diego Mutual Aid
- Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego
Last Updated:
- June 9, 2020 to:
- add actions related to #8toabolition & ban use of “sleeper hold”
- change quote for #8cantwait from “proves that together these eight policies can decrease police violence by 72%” to “research shows more restrictive use of force policies can reduce killings by police and save lives”
- add additional links to related orgs & articles (e.g. What Does ‘Defund The Police’ Mean?, NAACP’s We Are Done Dying, Black Lives Matter San Diego, Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego)
- June 14, 2020 to:
- add additional links to The Critical Resistance’s Abolition Organizing Toolkit and Reformist reforms vs. abolitionist steps in policing, Equal Justice Initiative’s Reforming Policing in America 2020, Mariame Kaba’s Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police