Defund DPD
In solidarity with individuals and organizations near and far, including the national Movement for Black Lives, SURJ Northland calls on the City of Duluth to invest in community-led solutions to address community safety as well as defunding and abolishing the police department. This movement has received renewed attention in the wake of worldwide protests, but calls by activists and organizers to defund or abolish police have gone unheard for decades. While we acknowledge a range of perspectives locally and nationally, we want to amplify the calls for change that are building across our country and community.
As an initial step in this direction, SURJ Northland supports the petition that calls on Duluth City Council & Mayor Larson to increase police accountability and halt police spending. This petition outlines four specific actions:
to support a racial bias audit of the Duluth Police Dept
to freeze/halt any future increases in the Duluth Police Dept's budget
to establish an office of Violence Prevention for the City of Duluth
to compel DPD and all law enforcement agencies to immediately cease enacting violence on community members.
The Duluth Police Department has openly acknowledged that our city’s current support systems are inadequate to address the complex social issues affecting many vulnerable and marginalized neighbors in this community. No matter how innovative police training is, officers are simply not equipped to meet the needs of most of the individuals they encounter.
What’s more, police response does nothing to build or strengthen support systems or address systemic inequities that create the need for those systems in the first place. Police are often called only after damage has been done, and by their own admission use of force occurs in a relatively minuscule number of calls every year. Yet, the police show up to every call as an embodied demonstration of force, regardless of the circumstances. Challenges like addiction, homelessness, and mental illness are not crimes, and therefore police are not the appropriate solution.
During the city council meeting on July 13th, 2020 neighbors of color, SURJ Northland members, and other community allies spoke out for a reprioritization of city funds, with some sharing experiences of discrimination by Duluth Police. Mental health professionals, social workers and first responders spoke to the dissonance between their professional requirements and those of the police, while considering the vast range of situations police are expected to show up prepared to handle. Other speakers pointed to successful crisis intervention programs in other cities that save millions in public safety costs. We hope we are in agreement with Duluth Police in wanting the best for this city in terms of public safety and health, but we disagree that part of the solution is more police.
SURJ Northland believes that we can be more creative and effective in building a community that is safe for all by redirecting resources. We are not alone in this belief, as evidenced by the 3,000+ community members who signed the petition, 1,000+ people in the street chanting “Defund the DPD,” and community members speaking for over an hour at a city council meeting addressing defunding the police. Our community is ready for change.
“Public Safety” in the form of policing takes 26% of the City of Duluth budget. Step one is to follow the direct calls from the current petition. Over time, City of Duluth funding should be reallocated to include other real tangible sources of public safety, investing in housing, healthcare, meaningful work, education, and community led solutions that are independent of police oversight.
When all members within a community have the stability and resources they need, the public is safer. We encourage you to join us in our demands for immediate police accountability and long-term systemic change.
