We are thrilled and stunned by the verdict but we want people to be clear we haven’t solved white supremacy and anti Blackness. The people must know that it was the people who got this conviction. We know that when we organize, we win, and today is proof of that.
Some thoughts...
This decision gives momentum to people to keep organizing, it gives us a boost of energy at a time when we’re seeing a bloodbath at the hands of law enforcement at Contra Costa country.
There is a danger that folks will think the courts will take care of us. The exact opposite is true. The State wants us to do just that, to go home. To think they got this & that our people will be safe. The reality is that every day the cops kill Black and Brown people.
The protests last summer led to the creation of the Reimagining Public Safety task force. This was a win for the movement. We started DefundOPD almost 6 years ago because we know we must reinvest in mental health services. When we first called for it we were laughed at.
But today tens of thousands of Oaklanders are on board. And as part of this budget process (from April to June) we will get reinvestment in community services that will keep us safe, such as violence interrupters, trauma responders, and mental health support.
Today our hope is that Black people get a chance to breathe. Even it's just for a second. We never get to exhale. We try to do all we can just to breathe. To take a collective breath. it might just be one, but it’s one. And we're going to inhale that today.
We spent so much time fighting against forces that tell us so much of our lived existence isn’t real. The cognitive dissonance that Black people survive under is damaging. Today's verdict is just a concession from a system of white supremacy, but we hope it’s a healing ball.

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More from @APTPaction

20 Apr
We're live now.

James Burch, APTP policy director is on with @CatsCommentary, APTP co founder, and @ChaneyTurner. The purpose of the convo is to reimagine public safety and defund OPD.

Cat Brooks is now breaking down what @MHFirstOak is...
Cat just gave an overview of how we got MACRO in Oakland. It started w/APTP’s own project @MHFirstOak. We started this because we want to be visionary, not reactionary. We had a convo about how we can reduce police terror. Police didn’t always used to be the answer to everything.
Read 88 tweets
18 Apr
Such a beautiful day in Oakland to be in community. 🥰🌞🥰

Thanks for kicking it with APTP, the Defund Police Coalition, and MH First at the Akoma Market today!

#RefundRestoreReimagine #DefundOPD #RefundOaklanders ImageImageImageImage
Image IDs:
Photo 1: group photo of 14 representatives of the Defund Police Coaltion standing in front of the Defund Police booth at the Akoma Market
Photo 2: image of people coming up to the Defund Police Coalition booth at Akoma Market to get information
ID:
Photo 3: image of 2 community members participating in an activity at the Defund Police Coalition table
Photo 4: art piece by Melanie Cervantes @Meloniousfunk of 3 people, one speaking into a megaphone that says APTP, another holding a “Defund the police” sign.
Read 4 tweets
9 Mar
"We've been trying to get this data for years. It's been incredibly hard to get it from the police dept. Fortunately for us, the task force provided a vehicle even though OPD dragged their feet, the city dragged their feet..." - James Burch, policy director APTP
"To understand the data we hired 2 crime analytics experts from New Orleans, they analyzed the calls OPD received. It's been a real struggle to bring this clarity to the people, and i'm relieved we can bring this info to the public." - James Burch live now on @UpfrontKPFA
"Cops are our most expensive civil servant by leaps and bounds. It's completely unnecessary to be sending law enforcement officers for the vast majority of these calls."
Read 4 tweets
9 Mar
NEW: Today we are publishing an analysis of 442,812 calls to the Oakland Police Department in 2019. The analysis found only 4% of calls to police are for violent crime, and that 1% of police calls take up 57% of police time (based on their own record keeping).

Let's dig in. 🤓
The data is published in a report we submitted responding to the final recommendations issued by Oakland’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force. The Task Force was set up because we've called to #DefundOPD for 5 years & YOU took to the streets last summer.
antipoliceterrorproject.org/oakland-is-rea…
Last summer the NYT asked: "How do police actually spend their time?"

We realized in Oakland we didn't know how the Police, who cost us half our city budget(!), actually spend their time.

nytimes.com/2020/06/19/ups…
Read 8 tweets
9 Feb
ACTION ALERT! Join us TOMORROW, Feb 9 @ 1:30 pm at Oakland City Council’s Public Safety Committee to demand:

1) a properly funded community ambassador program, and
2) short & long-term plans to provide support to people in crisis, in partnership w/ unions & community-based orgs
Read more details on our Facebook event: fb.me/e/EGoZMGgl

Link to Oakland’s Public Safety Committee meeting: bit.ly/publicsafetyoak

#WeKeepUsSafe
In response to recent violence in Chinatown, we join community leaders who are advocating for a properly funded community ambassador program, as it is severely underfunded. This would allow trusted community members to work full-time to make sure EVERYONE feels safe & supported.
Read 5 tweets
7 Feb
Shout out to our defund coalition partner org @APEN4EJ for being part of a coalition of groups organizing community based responses to the violent crimes against Chinatown’s seniors and businesses. #WeKeepUsSafe #ChinatownLove

Sign up to support here: bit.ly/Iwant2help
From the Oakland Chinatown Coalition: “Otherwise we're encouraging our community to COME OUT TO CHINATOWN! All this weekend and whenever you can. Wear Yellow to show you're in support of Chinatown seniors and businesses and that you're there to help us keep each other safe.”
Council president Bas @nikki4oakland and council member Fife @carroll_fife joined the Chinatown community today to support. Image
Read 5 tweets

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