Ending Police Militarization
In the United States, systemic racism maintains structural barriers, discriminatory practices, unfair policies, and inequities on every level including policing and the violence associated with law enforcement. Our mission is to engage public health professionals and social justice activists with key understandings and strategies to act!
What We've Done
We shared foundational information about the history of police militarization, how it appears today, and providing a charge for public health to imagine life without the terror of police on BIPOC communities and our collective well-being. The campaign culminated in a virtual event and panel to encourage advocacy for different social structures. You can learn more about each part of the campaign below.
Social Media Education Campaign
Ending Police Militarization: A Call To Action for Health Justice
We invited Kit Amreik and Dr. Rhea Boyd to a discussion about addressing police militarization as a public health crisis and to explore alternatives to policing. Together, panelists and participants engaged in a community visioning of what justice may look like and how we can reach it.
Watch the video of the panel
Contribution to OHCHR Report on Systemic Racism and Police Brutality
After the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police, and in response to many instances of police violence around the world, the United Nations Human Rights Council held an urgent debate on “current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests” on 17 June 2020.
From the urgent debate the Human Rights Council adopted, by consensus, resolution 43/1 requesting a report from the Office of the High Commissioner on "systemic racism, violations of international human rights law against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement agencies, especially those incidents that resulted in the death of George Floyd and other Africans and of people of African descent, to contribute to accountability and redress for victims."
HERE4Justice submitted a stakeholder report on systemic racism and militarization of police in the United States, including the health inequities that Black people experience. Read the submission here.