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 Minneapolis and Seattle, are already taking steps to defund and/or abolish their police departments and reinvest those resources into the community.