Note: Digital Read

URL: http://www.mediafire.com/?jj8n7jvqw2s46gs

Opening:

Whether we call them because of a dispute between neighbors or a robbery, a shooting or sexual violence, the police rarely meet our needs. They don’t help us heal. And they don’t prevent future harm. Rather than serve as advocates for true justice, they use their incredible power to reinforce the the oppressive status quo. They threaten us with violence and incarceration and target the most oppressed and vulnerable people in our society. This is the current state of policing, and it will be the future unless we work to change it.

For Rose City Copwatch, our long-term vision is a world without police, a world in which communities function and thrive without the intervention of the heavy and often deadly hand of the State. But it can be difficult to imagine a cop-free world. Who would respond to emergencies? What would we do about crime? The existing police, prison and court systems have presented themselves to the public as the only possible answers. As police abolitionists, we need to find other solutions. If we can create and support liberatory alternatives to the police, we can meet the community’s basic needs for dealing with harm, disrupt the idea that the work of the police is legitimate, and help people imagine a world without police.

Since its inception in 2003, Rose City Copwatch has promoted discussion about alternatives to the police. In 2007, we decided to take a step back and learn about alternatives-to-cops projects in action, both historical and ongoing. We began by looking in books, magazines, and on-line for descriptions of these alternatives and how they work.

It wasn’t our aim to find or create a perfect model. Instead we looked for projects that would help us in our thinking about the strengths and challenges of different approaches. We prioritized groups working towards some sort of collective liberation and de-emphasized professionally-based groups such as social service agencies. We did not consider projects administered by the police, the prison system, or the courts; but we did look at some groups that might function as auxiliaries to the police. As an organization working in the United States we chose to focus on other work done in the U.S., but we did include a couple of examples from other countries that indicate the importance of such projects in broader liberation struggles.

Over the course of six months, we read articles and met to discuss them together. We took notes on what we found inspiring and documented our questions and concerns about the different projects. We learned a lot and decided to make this booklet to share our research with other people and hopefully hear about their ideas and experiences as well.

The booklet can be read from beginning to end, or it can serve as a reference to be skimmed in search of what most interests you. We begin with a brief discussion about useful criteria for evaluating alternatives to the police. Then we get into the bulk of the booklet: summaries of fifteen different projects along with our thoughts about them and suggestions for where to go for more information. Given the brevity of this pamphlet, our descriptions can only be basic introductions. We’ve included an annotated bibliography showing what we read in producing this booklet. And we end with an opportunity for you to share your stories about alternatives to the police, and to give us feedback about this project.