“Let’s begin our abolitionist journey not with the question “What do we have now and how can we make it better?” Instead, let’s ask, “What can we imagine for ourselves and the world?” If we do that, then boundless possibilities of a more just world await us.”
-Mariame Kaba, The Journey Continues
Police reform efforts—from Minneapolis to Northampton—have failed. To stop police violence, the police must be reduced in size, in budget, and in scope. The police have never served as an adequate response to social problems. They are rooted in violence against Black people. In order to protect Black lives, this moment calls for investing and expanding our safety and well-being beyond policing.
Northampton Abolition Now has been working with community members and city leaders since the uprisings in June to discuss abolition in our community. The following are demands that have been crafted after much research on abolition, paths other cities have taken towards abolition, and numerous conversations within the Northampton community. These demands lay a clear path for the city to make immediate and meaningful progress towards the “goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.”
Please show your support for abolition in Northampton by reading our demands and signing onto them, either as an organization or business or as an individual!
If you have any questions email us at .
THE DEMANDS
1. Immediately reallocate the full $880,000
The Northampton Mayor and City Council must immediately reallocate the full $880,000, which was cut from the police budget in June 2020, to meet the urgent needs of community members in FY2021. Decision making about how the money is used must be in the hands of community members who have been most harmed by policing and state violence.
2. Establish a new Department of Community Care
The Northampton Mayor and City Council must establish a new Department of Community Care, which shall be responsible for reimagining and implementing true public safety in Northampton, by May of 2021. This new department must be accountable to communities in Northampton who are most impacted by criminalization and policing. Money cut from the NPD’s proposed FY2022 budget shall be used to fund the Department of Community Care.
3. Defund the Northampton Police Department by 50% and re-allocate these funds
The Northampton Mayor and City council must defund the Northampton Police Department by 50% in FY2022 and re-allocate these funds through a participatory budgeting process overseen by the Department of Community Care under the leadership of people who have been most harmed by policing and state violence.