Militarization of police – INDIVISIBLE VENTURA

Image used by permission of Darrin Bell, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. The death of Trayvon Martin was one of driving motivations behind his amazing work.

ALL of the members of the CA Indivisible coalition are working together to drive calls to our legislators to push important bills through their house. Today, we’re asking for a flood of support for AB-392 “Peace officers: deadly force“. This bill, backed by the ACLU, civil-liberties groups, labor unions, and families, CHANGES the standards about when police are allowed to use deadly force from “reasonable” to “only as a LAST resort” and mandates de-escalation.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I’m calling (optional: “as a member of Indivisible”) to ask Assemblymember [___] to support AB 392 to change California’s policy for police use of deadly force.

More script if you want it: Too many people, mostly young men of color, are killed at the hands of police every year with no justice due to our weak standard for use of force. This needs to end.

Continue reading “Tues 5/21: AB-392 – Act to Save Lives. Call your assemblymember now!” →

FERGUSON, MO – AUGUST 18: Frederick Scott protests the killing of teenager Michael Brown on August 18, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on August 9.

“Having military style weaponry moving down the main street of a middle-American town is as un-American as a coup d’état rather than an election.”
– Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) on police response to protests in Ferguson, MO, 2014

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FERGUSON, MO

There is a national crisis of police violence against people of color in this country. Black men are killed by the police at a rate that is nearly three times higher than that of white men. In 2017, 35% of the unarmed people killed by police in 2017 were black, even though black people make up only 13% of the population and 99% of these cases have resulted in the officer’s acquittal. Since 1997, police and sheriff departments have received weaponry for war from the Pentagon through the 1033 program, including mine-resistant wheeled tanks and more than 6,000 military rifles. Studies show that the more militarized a law enforcement agency becomes, the higher the number of civilians killed each year. Arming police forces with this kind of equipment will inevitably result in it being used against people of color in our communities.

“Militarization makes every problem — even a car of teenagers driving away from a party — look like a nail that should be hit with an AR-15 hammer.” (wapo) Continue reading “Fri 4/13 – Yes on AB 3131: Police Demilitarization and Accountability” →