A candidate was attacked for calling to defund the police. She won her election anyway.
Hi everyone. I hope you are having a good weekend. I wanted to share a story I published this week in The Intercept about Janeese Lewis George, who just won her election to the D.C City Council. Lewis George defeated the incumbent representative, and notably ran on a platform that included demilitarizing the police and taking some money out of the police budget and investing it into violence prevention programs and social services.
Lewis George’s platform, and her victory, is especially relevant right now as activists across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death have been calling for measures to defund the police.
(Credit: The Committee to Elect Janeese Lewis George)
Lewis George didn’t come to her views on policing out of nowhere. She worked for the Philadelphia District Attorney and later the D.C. Attorney General. Those experiences informed her views of public health-oriented approaches to safety.
I know for a lot of people the calls to defund the police have seemed abrupt, and confusing. One thing to consider is that people mean different things when they’re talking about defunding the police and abolition. One point activists and leaders like Lewis George have made, is that many measures we’ve taken to “strengthen” our police departments in recent years — like equip them with military gear and advanced surveillance technology — costs a ton of money. We can be rethinking all those investments and consider how we both work to decriminalize certain offenses like sex work and drug-use, while also investing into more preventative, humane areas, like education, healthcare, housing and social services.
This just isn’t how things are generally done, and I think a lot of people right now are starting to pay a lot more attention to how budgets are actually crafted. In Washington D.C., for example, the mayor’s latest proposed budget would increase police funding by 3.3 percent, but cut violence prevention programs by 11 percent. Similarly in Philadelphia, the mayor’s proposed budget cuts youth violence programs, workforce development and arts and culture, but offers a $14 million increase to its police department. And here is what the mayor is currently proposing in Baltimore:
You can read my story about Lewis George here and how she weathered attacks on the campaign trail that she was not taking public safety seriously. I also asked her what she would say to other politicians who are interested in bold police reforms but are nervous about political blowback.
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I also want to recommend this podcast episode on police abolition, which I listened to this morning on a walk and found really clarifying and agitating. If you’ve been paying attention to some of debates over the last two weeks amid the police brutality protests, you may have heard people discussing abolition vs. criminal justice reform. I think this podcast did a really good job of helping to unpack some of those ideas and jargon and thinking.
This is a serious time of learning for everyone, including myself. I have been reporting on aspects of policing and criminal justice for as long as I’ve been in journalism. Just this week I remembered an article I published in 2014 that looked at the crazy (and still true) fact that the costs of police misconduct rarely, if ever, comes out of police budgets, and almost always comes from a city’s general coffers or insurance plan. In 2015 I was living in Baltimore and did a lot reporting on the protests and aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black resident who suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody.
But I’m still learning, and I think we all need to be doing so with a greater sense of urgency. And as important as it is to educate ourselves and our communities, we can’t stop there. I’ve been thinking about these tweets recently:
Lastly, if you feel a little awkward, embarrassed, confused or uncomfortable — just know that’s not a bad thing. It’s way better to feel that and be doing something, then to feel comfortable and be doing nothing. I know there are some really thoughtful people subscribed to this newsletter, and if there’s something you’ve read or watched or listened to recently that you’ve felt changed the way you think about policing and justice, please do post in the comments or shoot me an email — I’d love to hear. Likewise if there are new (or old) organizations you’re supporting right now that you want to help bring more awareness to, let us know. Thanks all.