No Police Oversight or Accountability in Bmore (2/2)

#StopCopCityBaltimore & invest in community mental health, non-violent conflict resolution, etc.

The current system isn't invested in development or healing, it's wants prisons full for profit. Police accountability is antithetical to that goal.

No Police Oversight or Accountability in Bmore (1/2)

The MD Police Accountability Act of 2021 requires civilian oversight so Baltimore created the civilian committees.

They canNOT investigate complaints or ensure sustained complaints results in discipline.

2/2 'Police murdered 1,260 people in 2024'
More than 600 murders were in response to non-violent offenses.

Imagine what our communities can look like if we allocated resources to addiction services or to address the housing crisis.

#StopCopCityBaltimore and spend $330 million on our people instead

1/2 'Police murdered 1,260 people in 2024'
Despite a reduction in violent crime across the US, police killed more people in 2024 than they did in the previous 10 years.

Calls for reform or more training have not produced results, police continue to murder unarmed people with impunity.

City Council and the Maryland Legislature have begun the process to approve CopCityBaltimore. The State spent $450,000 tax dollars on the design of Cop City. With historic lows in crime and Trump budget cuts, we ask what is the justification to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a Cop City?

Tortuguita, an Indigenous queer and non-binary environmental activist and community organizer, was shot and killed by Georgia state troopers in Atlanta, Georgia on January 2023 while protesting against Atlanta's Cop City.

He realized that policing does not make our communities safter, resources do.

Black solidarity with Palestine has a long history in the US. Both the occupation of Gaza and the occupation of our cities are funded by the same politicians who use the language of 'safety' and 'democracy' to fund private militaries, prisons, and weapons purchases with tax dollars.

There are over 80 Cop City projects in the United States. These facilities became popular as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

#StopCopCityBaltimore is not just against a specific training facility - it is a part of the fight against systemic racism and police brutality.

Part 2 '5 Ways Police Militarization Affects Policing Culture'

#StopCopCityBaltimore and let's spend $330 million dollars in housing, youth programs, and infrastructure.

Safe communities are not policed communities; they are places that have resources. Let's invest in our people.

Part 1 '5 Ways Police Militarization Affects Policing Culture'
Cop cities are the epitome of police militarization. When police are given military grade weapons and trained as warriors fighting against the very people they are supposed to protect, the result is devastating.

Baltimore spends more on policing than it claims. The BPD budget line is $614 million but the city hides police funding throughout the budget. Helicopters, tens of millions in insurance/retirement, $2.87 million in police legal affairs, and $8.1 million in HVAC are police costs in other categories.

Police militarization results in violence. This is not an intellectual exercise, it's our neighbors' lives. Yearly the US spends BILLIONS to militarize police. This "investment" doesn't make us safer. It enriches investors in mass incarceration. What if invested money into our people instead?

Baltimore plans to spend $330 million to build a cop city on Coppin State's campus in West Baltimore. Cop cities are expensive 'training' ground where police learn urban warfare tactics to deploy against city residents. If we organize now, we can STOP COP CITY BALTIMORE.