Invest in People, Not Police
July 22, 2022
Contact: Yasmeen Ramahi, yramahi@advancementproject.org
“Invest in People, Not Police”
Advancement Project National Office Response to Joe Biden’s “Safer America Plan”
Washington, DC – In response to the “Safer America Plan” introduced by President Joe Biden on Thursday, Liyah Brown, program director for the Justice Project at Advancement Project National Office, issued this statement:
“President Biden’s call for an increase of 100,000 police officers in our communities will not only fail to improve public safety, but will also inevitably lead to even more harm. We cannot keep doing business as usual when that business persists in failure and is rotten to its core.
“Year after year, politicians increase police presence, weapons and funding, and the result is always more police violence directed at communities of color and poor people, more people locked up away from their families, and less resources for education, housing, health and human services. For our communities to be free and thrive, we must fight back against the notion that Blackness is a crime and retake control over what it means to be safe.
“The police-only model of governance is dangerous and often deadly. Local communities know what they need for their safety and wellness: investments in people, not police. Together, we keep us safe.”
