Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution joins the chorus of millions of individuals and groups in the U.S. and around the world who have spoken out against the institutional racism that, for more than 400 years has continued to claim the lives and livelihoods of people of color. We encourage all of our members and the public at large to challenge racism in whatever forms it manifests itself. White privilege is a subtle and not-so-subtle way of dividing people who are all struggling against the degradation foisted on us by the capitalist system that places profit for a few above the needs of the many. None of us will be able to live our lives fully until all are able to do so.
Specifically, we support the efforts of Black Lives Matter and Defund413 in their demands to:
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- End the resource officer in the public schools. This position tends to criminalize difficult behavior of children rather than looking to the underlying problems and solving them. Statistics have demonstrated that children of color are more likely to be singled out for discipline by the resource officer. We support the use of these funds to increase counseling and support services for students in our schools.
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- End the use of money bail within our court system. The cash bail system penalizes low income people, who are disproportionately people of color, by preventing them from returning home while awaiting adjudication of the legal issues at hand. This is not only a difficulty for the arrested individual, but also the individual’s family as this causes the loss of employment and greater financial insecurity. And it reverberates through the entire community. People of means, even modest means, have the ability to continue employment while awaiting trial. This system criminalizes poverty and should be eliminated.
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- Reallocate funds from the police to mental health first responders, peer supports, substance abuse services, domestic and intimate partner violence advocacy and support. The police are presently expected to respond to situations for which they are not well trained. A task force should be developed to re-imagine the work of the police and direct funds to services that more appropriately deal with the issues at hand. When that plan has been devised, funds should then be reallocated to social service organizations or to the hiring of additional appropriately trained staff to deal with the social and human service issues that are often today part of the police portfolio.
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- Create a police review board with power. Install an independent citizens complaint review board that will have authority to review all complaints including the use of force and will determine disciplinary actions for offending officers. The review board would be composed of people with direct experience of police brutality or misconduct along with others concerned about equitable enforcement of the law. The board would approve de-escalation, racial justice, restraint and other training in an ongoing manner.
We look forward to working with Black Lives Matter, Racial Justice for Franklin County–Solidarity and Action, Racial Justice Rising and other organizations in creating a more equitable and just society.