GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — A northeast Wisconsin group has asked Green Bay City Council members to defund the Green Bay Police Department.
Among the list of demands made by a group called The Community Change Team for Dismantling Racism, are for the Green Bay Police Department to stop recruiting and hiring new police officers and to bar police from cultural festivals.
Alderman Chris Wery had an clear response to those demands.
“Go pound sand,” he said. “To use a phrase from a century ago.”
The group sent out an email detailing what they referred to as demands Thursday night.
“Black people in our own community live in persistent fear of being killed by police or by white racists who are emboldened by the violent actions of authorities,” Dr. Amy Zirbel wrote in the letter. “However, our community, like most others, allocates a disproportionate amount of the local budget toward police departments…It is time to defund the police in our city.”
The group also demanded the formation of a different group of first responders who would respond to violence, mental health, and sexual assault calls. Dr. Zirbel framed it in a more reconciliatory manner when we spoke to her on Friday.
“When a crime is being committed we need [police] to respond,” she told WTAQ. “But police are there to respond after something already happened. What we’re talking about is preventing crime.”
Wery said he isn’t against alleviating the burden of police to some degree.
“You know with everything there might be a kernel of something you can work on together,” Wery said. “And that might be something, with the county and the health department, that could be worked on.”
Still, he criticized the overall tone of the letter.
“They just cast this disparaging light on [Green Bay Police] like they’re always out trying to kill somebody,” said Wery.
Zirbel, however, doesn’t see it that way.
“I think people hear ‘defund’ and think that we mean get rid of all of the police officers,” said Zirbel. “That is not what our letter was intending to do. Our letter just talks about how there’s ways that we can help the police.”
The full list of demands went outside the scope of police work, demanding a shift to “community ownership” of local housing and the formation of a grant specifically for black-owned or black-serving businesses and organizations.
The full text of the letter has been republished below:
Dear Members of the Green Bay City Council:
Black people in our own community live in persistent fear of being killed by police or by white racists who are emboldened by the violent actions of authorities. However, our community, like most others, allocates a disproportionate amount of the local budget toward police departments. This leaves the communities no safer and Black people vulnerable to continued racial trauma.
It is time to defund the police in our city.
The horrific murder of George Floyd and countless others at the hands of their own police departments, have elicited unprecedented action across the country and the world. Before continuing with this letter, we ask that you first say out loud the following names of those killed by law enforcement and whose families lead the cry for justice:
George Floyd
Breonna Taylor
Ahmaud Arbery
Tony McDade
Nina Pop
Alitania Jefferson
Aura Rosser
Stephon Clark
Botham John
Alton Sterling
Freddie Gray
Janisha Fonville
Eric Garner
Akai Gurley
Gabriella Navarez
Tamir Rice
Michael Brown
Tanisha Anderson
Philandro Castille
And those in our own state:
Jonathon Tubby (Green Bay)
Jimmy Sanders (Appleton, WI)
Justin Fields (Milwaulee)
Larry. Fields (Milwaukee)
Tony Bean (Milwaukee)
Derek Williams (Milwaukee)
Dontre Hamilton (Milwaukee)
Jay Anderson, Jr. (Wauwautosa)
Sylville Smith (Milwaukee)
Terry Williams (Milwaukee)
Adam Trammell (Milwaukee)
Ty’Rese West (Milwaukee)
Alvin Cole (Milwaulkee)
Joel Acevedo (Milwaulkee)
Samuel Rodriquez (Milwaukee)
Edward Pundsack (Milwaukee)
Justin Fields (Milwaukee)
Michael Bell (Kenosha)
Joseph Bauschek (UW-Milwaukee)
Tony Robinson (Madison)
Donte Shannon (Racine)
This is far from a complete list of Black lives taken by law enforcement. In the memories of those killed, we, the Community Change Team for Dismantling Racism and all who have called for Black Lives Matter, submit this letter demanding the defunding and reorganization of the Green Bay police department.
We have united to find strength through tragedy, to call for an end to police violence, to replace lethal police functions with community responses and to disarm and demilitarize the police force. As well-known abolitionist Angela Davis recently quoted, “We have never experienced this kind of global challenge to racism and the consequences of slavery.” Through decades of police violence directed toward black and brown communities, police reform has failed. General police funding has de-prioritized health needs, housing, social services and education. The budget allocations have perpetuated the systemic racism which is upheld by elected city officials.
Now, Green Bay has an opportunity to move to the right side of history. The community has an urgent need for you to be responsive to these demands that have been generations in the making, and will benefit all future generations to come. We have separated these demands into the categories of “Defund,” and “Reallocate:”
DEFUND:
1. Do not allocate any new funding to the police department.
2. Do not recruit or hire new police officers, or allocate funds for additional police cruisers.
3. Eliminate any funding for the defense of officers who may be involved in litigation for using undue violence. Police officers should carry their own insurance and be held liable for their own misconduct.
4. Eliminate the police liaison positions from schools.
5. Restrict funding of the CARES act from going to the police department. This act was passed by Congress to aid families and businesses during the Coronavirus pandemic. These funds should not be used to fill perceived deficits in the police department, as policing is a lesser needed service during this time of extreme public health and economic crisis. Instead, these funds should go toward rents for tenants who face eviction.
6. Disarm the police by cutting the equipment budget, with recognition that it pays for unnecessary and harmful equipment and supplies that go beyond weapons (for example, rubber bullets and tear gas, which have recently caused serious injuries to civilians). This is in the interest of preventing future dangerous actions by the police department against community members.
7. Demilitarize the police department by restricting them from receiving funding for equipment from the State and Federal government. We demand that the council enforce cutting of police ties with programs that provide military supplies and equipment to civilian police departments. There is no need for such dangerous weapons, as they are usually used only against its own community members.
8. Eliminate funding for partnerships between the police department and cultural events and festivals which would support a police presence at those events.
9. Eliminate paid administrative leave for any officers facing misconduct allegations. If officers are to be temporarily removed from services, they should not be paid for that time.
REALLOCATE:
1. Allocate funds specifically toward a grant that is only accessible to Black-owned and Black-serving entities. These entities include, but are not limited to, small businesses, independent contractors, community-based organizations and non-profits. These funds should target racial equity and harm-reducing initiatives and the provision of economic opportunity. The funding should be decided by the Black-led community.
2. Allocate funding for a new sector of first responders to respond to 911 calls. These responders should replace police in calls relating to, but not limited to: Mental health, violence, sexual assault, gender-based violence, and substance abuse. Police officers are often not the appropriate responders to deal with certain emergencies. Responders should be trained in de-escalation practices, restorative justice and trauma-informed crisis response. They should particularly be informed on addressing emergencies experienced by black and brown individuals, women, youth, LGBTQIA+ individuals and all those whose identities intersect these marginalized communities.
3. Fund long-term mental health resources to ensure that individuals and families who most need the support can access it without threat of law enforcement. There are many resources already in place in the community which provide mental health support, whose resources should be supplemented by city funding.
4. Provide long-term funding to support housing needs. These funds should be allocated to prevent eviction, ensure everyone is housed and shift toward community ownership of housing, similar to models provided by black and brown community led land trusts. The goal of these is trusts is to steward property for the benefit of the community and to keep housing affordable in the long term.
5. Use the CARES act funding to relieve the rent of those unable to pay their rent during the shelter in place orders. Eviction moratoriums are insufficient to protect tenants from being evicted in the long term and the CARES funding should be used for its intended purpose, which is public health. Keeping families housed during the current pandemic is a public health issue, as is homelessness.
6. Reallocate any funding that goes toward a youth gang task force or similar, to youth community programs, organizations and resources targeted toward racially marginalized groups. These may include new or expanded community centers to provide meals, tutoring, job training, computer and financial literacy and sports and art-related events. Funding should also go toward on-site mental health specialists. There should be absolutely no funding for police presence at the community centers.
7. Provide additional funding to schools to bring in training programs in Dismantling Racism for both faculty and students.
8. Provide funding for additional school district social workers to replace the police liaison positions
The above demands represent a reassignment of resources to match the needs and values of our community. We will not tolerate any more murders that are made possible through public dollars. This demand to refund and reallocate is practical and forward-thinking. It is the first critical step toward creating a community that is safe and supports the well-being of all citizens. We call on you as elected officials to fulfill this responsibility.
Sincerely,
The Community Change Team for Dismantling Racism
Amy Zirbel, Psy.D., We All Rise: African American Resource Center
Samantha Oscar, Ph.D., We All Rise: African American Resource Center
Kadihjia Kelly, Ph.D., Appleton, WI
Marikathryn Nooe, LPC, CCTP, Nooe Counseling & Consulting, LLC
Leah McSorley, Ed.D., Appleton, WI
Erin Buenzli, Appleton, WI
Dena Williams, Advocate, We All Rise: African American Resource Center
