More money for human services. Less for police.
Our community has come together at the steps of City Hall in solidarity with the demonstrations that are ongoing nationwide against the murder of George Floyd and police brutality. On Friday June 12th more than 750 of us marched silently in support of this cause. Maybe you’ve driven by or joined us! We have engaged in several discussions with members of the city council, the mayor, and the police department about issues that we face as a city and how we can find better ways to help our community going forward. It is heartwarming to know that our city is listening and understands there is a need for change. You, and the rest of the community members that have supported us and engaged in these conversations are our proof.
Our goal is to defund and abolish the Issaquah Police Department and reinvest into the community. This serves as the basis for our collective’s action steps, as informed by the demands by Black Lives Matter both nationally and locally . There are many ways to envision a future with a decreased police presence. It might look like more social workers, investing in more affordable housing, an expanded food bank, and other specialized services including improved liaisons between the police and the community.
You may be wondering about our stance on reform, and the #8cantwait campaign some of you have shared with us. While #8cantwait is meant to be a tool used by the police for reform focusing on limiting the use of force and increasing accountability, many of the policies have been implemented in other cities without sufficient reduction or elimination of police violence. (see Philadelphia, Chicago and D.C.). Simply put, reform is not enough. Please visit www.8toabolition.com and look through the resources we have posted to our linked google drive to learn more. Several cities around the nation, such as Minneappolis and Seattle, are already taking steps to defund and/or abolish their police departments and reinvest those resources into the community.
As interest grows in the demonstrations on the steps of City Hall, from people who have been showing up day after day, from folks who are just joining us, or from those who have just learned about our demonstrations, we are getting many questions, including questions about scheduling and our plans moving forward. As many know, we have been posting updates on Twitter under the hashtag #IssaquahProtest . We also plan to continue demonstrating on the steps of city hall every week on Friday from 5pm - 7pm and hope to see you then! We also highly encourage anyone to stand on the steps to show their support at any other time. All that we ask in regard to this is that we respect the bus stop and continue social distancing in regard to COVID-19.
As far as plans moving forward, as stated above, we will be focusing on Defunding Issaquah PD and redirecting more of the city budget towards social services. We acknowledge that there are more issues in Issaquah, in the state of Washington, and nationally, that need to be addressed. We encourage any interested parties to take up a cause and advocate for it. We are happy to share resources and support you in any way we can. However, we believe that defunding the police and allocating more money towards human services is the best next step toward a better Issaquah for all. Thus, we will be focusing the majority of our efforts towards this goal.
We have created a google drive, where you can find Issaquah-specific city documents, as well as some resources we have found helpful in our own learning about police defunding. You will also find a list of concerns and ideas brought up by the community, with updates to the list as applicable. We hope you will use this as a starting point for your own continued education, and help us begin forming specific actionable steps.
The work is just getting started, and we are so glad you are here. Thank you for your enthusiasm, thank you for showing up, and thank you for your encouraging messages. We can’t wait to work together to create lasting change in our community.