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Defund Coalition Statement to the Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce

December 21, 2020

To: Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas, Councilmember Loren Taylor, Oakland Assistant City Administrator Jason Mitchell, Anand Subramanian - PolicyLink co-facilitator, David Muhammad - National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform co-facilitator

CC: Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce, Reimagining Public Safety Advisory Boards, Oakland City Administrator Ed Reiskin, Mayor Libby Schaaf

From: The Defund Police Coalition: Anti Police-Terror Project, Community Ready Corps, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Black Organizing Project, Oakland Rising, Causa Justa-Just Cause, Bay Rising, Ella Baker Center, Critical Resistance, East Bay Alliance for A Sustainable Economy, Urban Peace Movement, Arab Resource Organizing Center

Dear Reimagining Community:

Thank you for your time, commitment, energy and passion. The work you are doing is critical. In this political moment - on the long continuum of the struggle for Black liberation and justice - we have an opportunity for Oakland, once again, to be the vanguard; to show other cities what progressive, just and equitable values look like in action. We have an opportunity to transform public safety into programs, policies and institutions that are rooted in prevention, healing and holistic practices that actually keep us safe.

We know that this is difficult and trying work. We deeply appreciate your commitment to it. The signatories on this letter are organizers, advocates, policymakers, co-founders of the Defund movement and experts in police reform, abolition, state violence, healing justice, transformative justice, progressive policymaking and the implementation of new and innovative models that provide true healing and safety to our communities. We are also BIPOC parents, spouses, children, partners and community members. Some of us are from these streets or other communities where Black and Brown bodies fall. Some of us are violence survivors. Some of us are formerly incarcerated. Some of us are immigrants. Some of us are allies committed to using our privilege to advance the struggle. We are Black, Brown, Asian, white, queer, straight, poor, not-so-poor; a diverse bunch who deeply love Oakland and our people. We are excited about this moment and the healing balm it will provide.

The purpose of this letter is a simple request: We are asking that the Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce recommit to its mission and purpose as laid out by the community and then legislated by City Council. In order for this to happen, the Taskforce, and all those who comprise it, must have the tools, resources, training, understanding and commitment that will allow the Taskforce to carry out its mandated work.

As Oakland is rocked by the current levels of violence in our streets, our humanity and justified fear sends us running back to that which we know - regardless of whether what is familiar is actually effective. We must brace ourselves against that fear, refuse to repeat patterns that have not/do not work and be steadfast in the promise made to tens of thousands of Oaklanders: we will create a safer, more just, fair and peaceful Town through innovation and the utilization of decades of research that definitively proves that militarized policing and a violent carceral state do not keep us safe.

Police are not violence interrupters - they are violence responders. They arrive after the fact. We want to get to the gun before the bullet flies rather than to the mother as she puts her child in the ground.

Existing data does not support investing in policing to address this current rise in violence. This spike in violence is occurring now, while OPD is fully funded. Every year we give OPD 50% of our budget and every year, Oakland appears on the list of America’s top 10 violent cities. What we are doing is not working. It has never worked. It is past time to try something new. We owe it to the fallen to do so.

Oaklanders across race, class and ideology agree as demonstrated in recent surveys by the Defund Coalition and RAHEEM and the thousands of people in the streets during the #summerofrage with one mantra: Defund Now.

Really, the mantra should be REfund as that is actually the job of this body: To REfund what was stolen in investments, social services, and supports from Black and Brown communities that have resulted in poverty-stricken, violence plagued, and trauma saturated neighborhoods struggling to survive - let alone thrive.

Last week’s meeting made it clear that the Reimagine process is in trouble. Through no fault of their own, many people on the Taskforce, and even some of the Advisory Board members who called in, demonstrated a lacking clarity of what Defund means, what the Taskforce is supposed to do and how this work walks us down a path of true safety. We are now aware there were no trainings or grounding meetings before the process began. Facilitation should have ensured participants were equipped with tools for success.

The work of the Taskforce to-date has been too heavily focused on only half of the necessary dialogue: How/where to slash OPD’s budget. The mandate of this body is to identify places where the OPD budget can cut AND develop a plan to redirect those dollars to alternative programs, practices and policies that generate true community safety. This process is about ensuring cops are not relied on for every single social ill such as mental health response. The job of the Taskforce is to develop a plan to redirect OPD dollars to alternatives for intervention and prevention of violent crime, human trafficking, “crimes” of survival etc.

The Defund Coalition urged for the Reimagine table to be a combination of experts in policing, police reform and mass incarceration. These experts were to sit at the table with impacted community members - also experts in their lived realities - to build the most progressive and transformative approach to public safety in the country. We were ignored. Moving forward, it is imperative that local community experts from organizations like Anti Police-Terror Project, Community Ready Corps, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Urban Peace Movement, Critical Resistance, and Ella Baker Center, be tapped to support the Reimagining efforts. The Defund Coalition will also - in the very near future - present to community and all of you our best thinking, research and data from our decades of work; a clear path toward how to successfully Defund and REfund.

If it is going to succeed, and should the process continue, this Taskforce/process needs an immediate and profound reset:

All participants need to be trained in the history of the Oakland Defund movement, what Defund means, the mandate of this body, the work of experts including Mariame Kaba and others, where this approach is and has been working, and a study of the 2018 Oakland Equity Report wherein OPD received the lowest score in all categories; demonstrating unequivocally they have not been able to reform, are plagued by racism, and are not protecting or serving the Black community. The Anti Police-Terror Project has been training communities across the country for the last five years and we suggest the training series begin with them. Our coalition is also able/willing to identify additional people and organizations for the rest of the suggested trainings.
All participants must be grounded in the language of the City of Oakland Resolution and mandated mission of the Reimagining process and vocalize/demonstrate their commitment to the goal of redirecting OPD dollars to community investments that keep us safe and able to build thriving communities. If an individual(s) are not in alignment with the goals and mission of the Taskforce, it is wholly inappropriate for them to remain members of the Taskforce. Similar to the current practice of some Advisory Boards, a preamble that reminds the Taskforce of their goals and mission should be read at the top of every meeting for grounding, focus and accountability.
The Taskforce process is supposed to lead to the recommendation of a 50% reduction in the OPD budget that is redirected to alternative policies, programs and practices that prevent violence, strengthen communities, increase access to social services that are not rooted in law enforcement and address healing and trauma in our neighborhoods.
The Taskforce and Advisory Board members must agree to both a) a set of principles of engagement that guide behavior/actions around media engagement, social media statements, treatment of their colleagues, participation levels etc. and b) Principles of engagement that will guide the final recommendations of the Taskforce to Oakland City Council for how to successfully transform public safety in Oakland. These principles must be developed collectively at the first two Taskforce meetings of 2021. These principles must empower the Taskforce to achieve, as well as align with, the stated goals for the Taskforce in the resolution passed by City Council at the behest of tens of thousands of Oaklanders.
The Taskforce, Advisory Board members, Executive Board, co-facilitators and co-chairs must call out and resist the efforts of any Oakland official, be it the Mayor, a member of the Administration or employee of OPD, to circumvent or derail the Reimagining process. For example, the current efforts of the Mayor to implement austerity measures to our police-bloated budget without consulting the Taskforce or Advisory Board members will have devastating impacts on the Reimagining process and the City that may well yield the entire process futile. It is your job to protect the mission, goals and process of Reimagining which includes calling out unprincipled behavior, demanding regular updates about the current budget process, demanding the current process be aligned with the goals of the Taskforce, ensuring this process and city budget activities are rooted in equity and resisting efforts to exploit our current tragic circumstances to incite fear and spread misinformation about what it means to Defund and REfund.

This moment, this Taskforce, your mission, has the ability to create a seismic shift in how safety happens in Oakland - and across the country. We may never be in another moment like we are facing right now. We have the ability to set the course for the country: Other communities are calling, emailing and looking to us for guidance on how to do it right. What we do in Oakland reverberates around the nation.

The goal of the Taskforce is to reimagine public safety, not retrench the current system through ineffective and piecemeal reforms. This is about saving Black lives, families and communities here in Oakland and across America. It is not an opportunity that can afford to be squandered.

We want to be your allies, partners, and supporters through this process. Many of us are already on the Taskforce or an Advisory Board. Please let us know how we can best support your success.

With humility and solidarity,

The Defund Coalition: Anti Police-Terror Project, Community Ready Corps, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Black Organizing Project, Oakland Rising, Causa Justa-Just Cause, Bay Rising, Ella Baker Center, Critical Resistance, East Bay Alliance for A Sustainable Economy, Urban Peace Movement, Arab Resource Organizing Center

From the City of Oakland Website

The purpose of the Reimagining Public Safety Taskforce is to rapidly reimagine and reconstruct the public safety system in Oakland by developing a recommendation for Council consideration to increase community safety through alternative responses to calls for assistance, and investments in programs that address the root causes of violence and crime (such as health services, housing, jobs, etc), with a goal of a 50% reduction in the OPD General Purpose Fund (GFP) budget allocation.