What is Abolition?
For some of us, abolishing the police may be an uncomfortable idea. But abolition is not a new concept — our communities have been researching, implementing, and advocating for community-led safety solutions for decades. Use these resources to learn what a police-free society looks like and how we can get there together.
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Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (BOOK)
“As Davis notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable.”
The Case for Abolition by Ruth Wilson Gilmore and James Kilgore (BOOK)
“Our belief in abolition is first and foremost philosophical. It grew from watching, experiencing, and opposing decades of reliance on concrete and steel cages as catch-all solutions to social problems.”
What Do Abolitionists Really Want? by Bill Keller (BOOK)
“Abolitionists’ aim is to redistribute government spending from police and prisons to narrowing the underlying, crime-breeding inequalities of wealth and opportunity.”
‘Disband, Disempower, and Disarm’: Amplifying the Theory and Practice of Police Abolition by Meghan G. McDowell & Luis A. Fernandez (ARTICLE)
“Critical criminologists have challenged the utility of efforts to reform the criminal justice system for decades, including strong calls to abolish the prison system.”
What Does Police Abolition Mean? by Derecka Purnell (ARTICLE)
In “Policing: A Public Good Gone Bad,” Tracey Meares calls for a “kind of policing that we all can enjoy.” She suggests that the police can be transformed after they have been abolished, and that “disadvantaged communities ought not give up policing any more than they should give up public schools, electricity, or water.”
Abolish the Police. Instead, Let’s Have Full Social, Economic, and Political Equality by Mychal Denzel Smith (ARTICLE)
“I’ve said this before: there is no justice where there are dead black people. I’ll continue saying it, because if we’re satisfied with charges and potential prison time, we’ve missed the entire point of #BlackLivesMatter.”
Police Can’t Solve the Problem, They are the Problem by By Derecka Purnell and Marbre Stahly-Butts (ARTICLE)
“Politicians promise jail closings even as they increase police budgets — and, as a result, arrests. Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York has acknowledged that the 1994 crime bill was a mistake and wants the city’s Rikers Island jail to close by 2026.”
The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale (BOOK)
“This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice — even public safety”.
Summer Heat by Mariame Kaba (ARTICLE)
“History offers evidence of the intractability of the problem of police violence. What should we do then? Quite simply, we must end the police. The hegemony of police is so complete that we often can’t begin to imagine a world without the institution.”
Histories Of Police, Policing, And Police Unions In The United States (ARTICLE)
“The Black Lives Matter movement—and the reactionary “Blue Lives Matter” response from U.S. law enforcement—have also recently brought police power to the front of contemporary debates about racism and human rights in the 21st century U.S. and beyond.”
#8toAbolition
“While communities across the country mourn the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Jamel Floyd, and so many more Black victims of police murder, Campaign Zero released its 8 Can’t Wait campaign, offering a set of eight reforms they claim would reduce police killings by 72%. As police and prison abolitionists, we believe that this campaign is dangerous and irresponsible, offering a slate of reforms that have already been tried and failed, that mislead a public newly invigorated to the possibilities of police and prison abolition, and that do not reflect the needs of criminalized communities.
We honor the work of abolitionists who have come before us, and those who organize now. A better world is possible. We refuse to allow the blatant co-optation of decades of abolitionist organizing toward reformist ends that erases the work of Black feminist theorists. As the abolitionist organization Critical Resistance recently noted, 8 Can’t Wait will merely ‘improve policing’s war on us.’ Additionally, many abolitionists have already debunked the 8 Can’t Wait campaign’s claims, assumptions, and faulty science.
Abolition can’t wait.”
