VISION AND DEMANDS
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Creating real safety means defunding the police and reinvesting in people and communities. It means moving from “an economy of punishment” to “an economy of care.”
The police claim to protect public safety, but we know that’s not the case. The police were created to protect private property and preserve an oppressive social order, and they continue to play this role today.
Most police work has nothing to do with harm or even crime. When it comes to actual harm, the police can only punish the perpetrator after the fact, not prevent the harm from occurring. And the police, in many communities, are a major source of violence, insecurity, and harm. We know how to keep each other safe and it has nothing to do with police.
OUR TEN DEMANDS
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OUR TEN DEMANDS 📣
1.Reduce the SPVM budget
Immediately cut at least 50 percent from the $665 million SPVM budget and redirect these funds to the programs and services, managed by and for affected communities, listed below.
2. Disarm police officers
Withdraw all weapons from police officers, including tasers, batons, firearms, rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and sound canons; disband militarized police units, including SWAT teams and other units using military grade weapons and surveillance equipment. (disarm and demilitarize)
3. Invest in alternative justice models
Invest in Indigenous models of justice and empower Indigenous communities to address all harms committed by Indigenous people though these models; empower other oppressed communities, especially Black communities, to develop and run similar approaches to justice.
4. Invest in community-led programs for harm prevention
Invest in programs created and run by communities to prevent harm (including harms related to violence, mental illness, and drug use) and support transformative justice; empower communities to develop and manage programs that work for them, with the understanding that communities are not monolithic, experience multiple intersecting axes of oppression, and require leadership and programs that integrate and utilize an intersectional approach (e.g., LBGTQ2S, disability, sex work, drug use).
5. Create unarmed service teams
Create and fund unarmed service teams outside the police to address mental health and drug related crises, traffic violations, gender-based violence, juvenile “summary” offenses, and missing persons cases.
6. Invest in programs and services in criminalized communities
Invest in programs and services, including youth programs, recreation programs, and social housing, in presently criminalized communities; empower communities to develop and manage programs that work for them.
7. Decriminalize drugs, sex work, and HIV status
Decriminalize all drugs, sex work, and HIV status, eliminate the SPVM drug squad, morality squad, Eclipse squad and all other units targeting marginalized communities, as well as all proactive surveillance programs, and release and expunge criminal records for drug and sex work charges.
8. Eliminate social control bylaws
Eliminate social control bylaws related to “incivilities,” and release and expunge all records related to these bylaws (including unpaid bylaw fines), including surveillance and enforcement in public transit.
9. Withdraw police from youth-centred activities
Permanently withdraw police from schools and sports programs, and cease police patrols of public parks, community events, and other spaces in which youth congregate.
10. End the criminalization and surveillance of migration
End the criminalization and surveillance of migration by eliminating all collaboration between the police and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) agents and any other form of involvement of the SPVM in immigration matters.
Video capsules
We’ve created a set of short, engaging video capsules that explain our demands and how they’ll create a safer city for everyone. Check them out and share them with others.
Alternative city budget
Defunding the police and reinvesting in communities is a concrete, practical project. Inspired by movements across North America, we spoke with over 100 Montreal groups to hear how they’d like to reinvest the money currently overinvested in police. The result is an alternative city budget, The People’s Vision.
Get involved
There are multiple ways to get involved with or support the work of the Coalition as we fight for a safer city for everyone. From joining the Coalition to following us on social media, there are many ways to plug in.