Defund the Police: EDMONTON

EDIT:

An even more functional tool has been developed by Black Lives Matter YEG. You can fill out their form and put in your postal code, and the letter will be mailed to the mayor AND your ward’s city councillor, please pass this along!

https://www.blmyeg.com/news/defund-eps-letter-template

tânisi nitôtêmitik,

The following is a template letter developed by abolitionist organizers, specific to the Edmonton context. Please feel free to add to or edit this template, and send it along to your networks. THIS ISN’T MY AWESOME WORK, I’M JUST PASSING IT ON!

To City of Edmonton elected officials:

I am writing to you today to express my absolute outrage regarding the Edmonton Police Services 2020 Operating Budget of $373 million or 14.9% of the total operating budget for the City of Edmonton. The increased capital budget, planned for more than $100 million over 4 years, only locks us into a future of further violence and criminalization, in a city already home to the largest Canadian prison.

This astronomical police budget is approved to climb to over $412 million in 2022, which is unacceptable and requires serious, immediate action. I call upon our elected officials to start divesting from the Edmonton Police Services immediately.

I am asking that you, as an elected official, pledge to do the following:

1. To never again vote to increase the Edmonton Police Services budget.

2. To propose and implement a revision to the pre-approved Edmonton Police Services budget in order to cut, at the absolute minimum, $168 million in accordance with the City of Edmonton’s operating budget shortfall projections due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This should begin by redistributing the 1% property tax increase earmarked for Edmonton Police Services to life-sustaining services.

3. To prioritize the expansion of community-led health and safety initiatives over future financial investment into the Edmonton Police Services.

With police violence recurring across the continent right now, there is no better time to commit ourselves to change. We have seen that investing in body cameras, civilian reviews, or de-escalation and implicit bias training doesn’t work. What we need in Edmonton is leadership that can initiate a reduction in the immense police violence that targets our most marginalized people, toward the eventual abolition of police and prisons, and true decolonization of relations in amiskwâciwaskahikan (Edmonton).

Increased police presence does not keep us safe, rather it directly threatens the lives of our most vulnerable community members (Black, Indigenous, people of colour, transgender, Two-Spirit, LGBQIA+, unhoused people, street-based sex workers, people with disabilities, people experiencing poverty, etc). Police interventions and incarceration create chaos, disorder, and premature death in our communities.

Instead of investing in the police, our city must prioritize alternatives like education, increased mental health services, housing initiatives, free transit, income security, harm-reduction services, accessible rehabilitation, arts and cultural programs, social workers, conflict resolution services, transformative justice, and other vital community-based support systems. Reconciliation and decolonization begin here. These initiatives must support our most vulnerable communities and centre the interests of Black and Indigenous peoples in Edmonton.

I urge you all to reach out to redistribute our tax dollars and effect actual change in keeping communities safe by consulting directly with, funding, and otherwise supporting organizations and services that work with (and are comprised of) community members experiencing the brunt of current policing actions.

I’m asking that our city join the movement to eradicate the notion that human beings are disposable and that organized violence is the only solution to the many issues we face as a community. We must create a better future for all.

Yours sincerely,

NAME HERE

Postal Code

Contacts:

Mayor – Don Iveson: don.iveson[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 1 – Andrew Knack (West Edmonton, Meadowlark, Jasper Place): andrew.knack[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 2 – Bev Esslinger (Northwest Edmonton, Calder, Griesbach): bev.esslinger[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 3 – Jon Dziadyk (Castle Downs, Eaux Claires): jon.dziadyk[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 4 – Aaron Paquette (Northeast Edmonton, Manning, Clareview): aaron.paquette[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 5 – Sarah Hamilton (Callingwood Park, Riverview, Glastonbury): sarah.hamilton[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 6 – Scott McKeen (Central Edmonton, Glenora): scott.mckeen[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 7 – Tony Caterina (East Edmonton, Beverly, Highlands, Norwood): tony.caterina[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 8 – Ben Henderson (Strathcona, Gold Bar): ben.henderson[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 9 – Tim Cartmell (Southwest Edmonton, Riverbend, Whitemud): tim.cartmell[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 10 – Michael Walters (Southgate): michael.walters[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 11 – Mike Nickel (Mill Woods): mike.nickel[at]edmonton.ca

Ward 12 – Mohinder Banga (Southeast Edmonton, Mill Creek, Ellerslie): mohinder.banga[at]edmonton.ca

Further resources:

• Critical Resistance Chart: Reformist Reforms vs Abolitionist Steps in Policing https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59ead8f9692ebee25b72f17f/t/5b65cd58758d46d34254f22c/1533398363539/CR_NoCops_reform_vs_abolition_CRside.pdf 
• Report: Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in Our Communities https://populardemocracy.org/news/publications/freedom-thrive-reimagining-safety-security-our-communities 
• The New Republic: The Pandemic Is the Right Time to Defund the Police https://newrepublic.com/article/157875/pandemic-right-time-defund-police 
• Toronto Life: Toronto’s billion-dollar problem: our cops  https://torontolife.com/city/crime/toronto-police-service-vs-everybody/
• Edmonton anti-Black racism tool kit by Bashir Mohamed: https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/2020/6/2/edmontontoolkit