We are in the midst of a national uprising that is calling on us to be steadfast in our defense of Black lives.
In 2020, we launched the Defund Boscops campaign, giving the Boston City Council and Mayor Walsh the opportunity to join us in taking action. Their response was to placate our demands with cuts to overtime and shuffling money around within the police department.
This year, we demand accountability from Mayor Wu and the Boston City Council. The call to action remains the same: defund the police, invest in our communities.
Boston is a resource-rich city with a history of hiding behind task forces, special committees, and crisis funds instead of doing the work of systemic change. Black, Muslim, immigrant, and youth groups and organizations led by communities of color have been leading this work for years. Meanwhile, spending on policing in Boston is already over one million dollars a day, and BPD regularly overspends millions past the proposed overtime budget.
Our communities know all too well that police reform does not work. From the implementation of body cameras to “community policing,” we have paid the price of the failures of reform for decades.
We refuse to accept that the city's investment in our communities is to add more surveillance and further criminalize us. We do not need more reforms; we need action that moves toward real, long-term change and away from policing.
We are fighting for a budget that reflects our values, invests in Black and brown communities, and supports full and vibrant lives for all of Boston’s residents. Our communities are united in our vision and commitment to building a city where we all have what we need to thrive.
To achieve our vision, we demand that Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston City Councilors:
DIVEST
Divest $120 million from the Boston Police budget
Cap overtime
Freeze hiring
INVEST
Invest in real community safety and wellness:
Fund the new community mental health response
Create an office for construction details
Fund more community led safety programming and initiatives
Increase youth jobs funding to $26 million
Create and protect affordable housing
Fully fund what we need: healthcare, housing, education, and more!