READINGS ON DEFUNDING POLICE AND REALLOCATING TO COMMUNITIES with all readings, don’t just absorb, be reflective and critical

Chicago 2020 Budget and Chicago’s City Budget 101
In Chicago’s 2020 budget, $1.7 billion dollars is allocated to the Chicago Police Department, and of that 71% goes to patroling. That represents almost 38% of the City of Chicago’s operating budget. In comparison, the Police board, an independent civilian body that oversees CPD, receives $540,000. This CPD budget does not include other contracts such as the $33 million deal with Chicago Public Schools. The yearly budget calendar includes public town halls in September.

Chicago Police Consent Decree and CPD Monitoring Team
For the first time in Chicago’s history, there is a court order mandating broad police reform. The goal of that court order—known as a consent decree—is to put in place reforms that govern police training and policies and provide officers the support they need to implement safe and constitutional policing practices. A consent decree requiring effective, lasting reforms is the only way to begin to build trust between Chicago’s residents and police.

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) Independent Monitoring Team is responsible for assessing the CPD’s and the City of Chicago’s (City’s) compliance with the required elements of the consent decree.

Defunding the NYPD contact sheet and scripts and the open letter to cutting the NYPD budget for FY2021.
The NYC Fiscal Year starts July 1, meaning we have until June 23ed to reach out to city council members and demand they vote NO on the current budget and significantly defunding the NYPD. The NYPD's budget has increased 22% between FY14 to FY 19. Despite compounded crises brought on by COVID-19, the FY21 budget proposal states the NYPD would receive $5.9 billion, a 0.32% cut from previous years. The same proposal cuts Youth and Community Development programs by 32%. Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is calling for a $1.1 billion cut to the NYPD, using a four-year plan to reallocate funds to those hit first and hardest by COVID-19, to increase mental health initiatives, and to NYC's public hospital system, parks, public schools, CUNY community colleges, and all three library systems. 

Citizens Police Data Project by Invisible Institute
An interactive online database that empowers anyone to review the misconduct of the CPD. Since 2000, the city averages 7000 complaints yearly and that is only from those that are aware of the complaint submission process and file. Until the Invisible Institute sued, for years the City of Chicago privately held these complaints. In 2016, they were publicly released.

Citizens, Cops, and Power: Recognizing the Limits of Community
Politicians, citizens, and police agencies have long embraced community policing, hoping to reduce crime and disorder by strengthening the ties between urban residents and the officers entrusted with their protection. That strategy seems to make sense, but in Citizens, Cops, and Power, Steve Herbert reveals the reasons why it rarely, if ever, works. 

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale
Among activists, journalists, and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. “Broken windows” practices, the militarization of law enforcement, and the dramatic expansion of the police’s role over the last forty years have created a mandate for officers that must be rolled back.

The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850-1894 by Sam Mitrani
Chicago was roiling with political and economic conflict, much of it rooted in class tensions, and the city's lawmakers and business elite overcame many obstacles to build a force that could impose order–-and reinforce their ideals for the city.

Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in Our Communities by a coalition between The Center for Popular Democracy and national and local racial justice groups
”These invest/divest campaigns, which advocate for investments in supportive services and divestment from punitive institutions, challenge the very roots of mass criminalization and inequity…They demand elected officials and decision makers acknowledge that the lack of investment in communities of color and the over-investment in their criminalization is emblematic of governmental disregard for Black and brown life.”

READINGS ON THE CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK YOUTHS with all readings, don’t just absorb, be reflective and critical

Caught from WNJP Radio - FM
All kids make dumb mistakes. But depending on your zip code, race, or just bad luck, those mistakes can have a lasting impact. Mass incarceration starts young. In Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice, hear from kids about the moment they collided with law and order, and how it changed them forever.

The Criminalization of Black Youth in the Classroom a panel conversation by New America in collaboration with Howard University
Last year, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released a report that revealed shocking data about school discipline policies around the country. Nationally, black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students, often starting at an early age. For instance, black children only represent 18% of preschool enrollment, but they represent 48% of preschool children receiving more than one out-of-school. The uneven use of suspension and expulsion is mirrored across K-12. What are the long-term effects of the overuse and misuse of disciplinary action? How much of a role does it play in the school-to-prison pipeline? Are there policy solutions at the local and federal level should be considered?

Teach Us All directed and produced by Sonia Lowman
Sixty years after the Little Rock Nine faced violent resistance when desegregating Central High in Arkansas, America’s schools continue to represent the key battleground of the Civil Rights Movement. Teach Us All demonstrates powerful lessons from history within a timely context, emphasizing the need for unity and collective action to rectify the disparities among America’s children. The Teach Us All social justice campaign seeks to build the capacity of students and educators to take leadership in carrying forth the legacy of the Little Rock Nine while activating broader community engagement in today’s urgent need for educational equity. 

A Graphic History of Juvenile Justice in Illinois by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams
This is a zine authored and illustrated by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams as part of the cradle to prison pipeline comic series. This was a partnership between Project NIA, Hull House Museum and Chicago Freedom School.