We Have the Power to Make Concord Safe and Equitable

The safety of Concord communities is not equitable. Concord’s Police Department receives over half of the City’s General Fund while funding for social organizations is being steadily cut. Throughout history and today, police have used their massive portions of city general funds to criminalize communities of Black/Indigenous People of Color (BIPoC) and Immigrants. It is time for Concord to defund the harm and invest that money back into these historically affected communities. We take our guidance from the Movement for Black Lives. Here, we have highlighted select goals from their platform that can be achieved on a local level. This is a living document that will grow and change as we receive input from Concord Communities.

DEFUND CONCORD PD

• DEMILITARIZE CONCORD PD
  Disclosure of all military equipment transferred and acquired, and its intended use.
  Immediate end to the transfer of military equipment to Concord PD.
  Immediate ban on the use of military equipment by Concord PD.
• END SURVEILLANCE AND PRIORITIZATION OF COMMUNITY CONTROL OVER COMMUNITY SUPPORT
  Eliminate surveillance of targeted BIPoC and Immigrant communities.
  Eliminate gang databases and related information sharing.
  Significantly reduce police patrol staff
• END THE WAR ON DRUGS
  Immediately and retroactively decriminalize drug-related offenses.

HOLD EXISTING, REDUCED PUBLIC SAFETY ACCOUNTABLE

• Create an oversight branch that exists outside of the Concord Police department
• End qualified immunity

INVEST IN CONCORD COMMUNITIES

• Divest existing community services from the police.
• Uncouple access to services, care, and support from the criminal punishment system.
• Hear needs identified by the BIPoC and Immigrant communities impacted by drug trades, over-policing, racial discrimination, LGBTQ+ discrimination, and gender discrimination.
• Develop community based, transformative approaches to harm, health services, housing, job programs, and other programs.
• Provide quality affordable housing, living wage employment, public transportation, education, and healthcare.
• Provide voluntary, harm reduction and patient driven, community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment.
• Invest in community-based transformative violence prevention and intervention strategies that offer support for criminalized populations
• Link community-based programs to emergency and non-emergency dispatch centers and provide them with the resources needed to respond effectively.
• Provide reparations to survivors of police violence and their families, and to survivors of prison, detention, and deportation violence, and their families.