ABOLISH POLICE

The institution of policing is abusive, it does not love Black people, it does not love Indigenous people, it does not love LGBTQ+ people, it kills people. I am a white queer person and have witnessed Ottawa Police bully young people at Pride, reject the Pride flag, and do nothing in the face of violent homophobic attacks. The presence of Ottawa Police in my high school was uncomfortable and scary at best, and harmful to students with drug problems and troubled backgrounds at worst. I also know from listening to BIPOC in Ottawa that the Ottawa Police are actively racist and violent to racialized people, particularly Black and Indigenous folks. I have seen enough videos of police brutalizing, abusing, mocking, and even killing folks. Studies have shown that reforms like training, bodycams, etc do not work to eradicate these issues. You cannot reform a system when the very lowest foundation is violent and inequitable. Police do not make vulnerable communities feel safe. LGBTQ+, BIPOC, poor, and homeless people are subjected to unjust violence and surveillance by Ottawa Police. City budget is wasted on giving cops weapons to abuse and equipment that is proven ineffective in controlling this abuse. We need to gradually defund and ultimately abolish police and find new ways to achieve community safety and harm reduction. Please note: police abolition means prison abolition too, AND we need to also challenge the racism present in institutions of social work and public health before blindly investing in those avenues which also contribute to the problems we see in police as well. As a taxpayer I'm disgusted that my own money is used to survey, harass, brutalize, and kill people in the name of safety and policing. Something needs to change.