Cart
0
$0.00
Police-Free Schools Campaign
12/04/2020
Headquartered in a multi-million-dollar command center that opened in 2011, Detroit Public Schools Community District is the only district in the state and one of the few districts in the country with their own Police Department. DPSCD also serves predominantly Black and Brown youth.
The same police that are killing Black people in the streets and that continue to harass Black youth in the community, are the same police that are in our schools. We cannot continue to put our youth in harms way! We demand POLICE FREE SCHOOLS! We demand an end to the school-to-prison pipeline. It is simple: divest from police in our schools and invest in the social-emotional health and well-being of youth!
IS THIS TYPE OF SCHOOL SAFETY POSSIBLE? YES!!
I.E.: With respect to student safety, there are other options too: The Toronto District School Board, for instance, ended its school resource officer program in 2017, and replaced it with unarmed school safety monitors, who resolve student conflict and patrol the school grounds for intruders, according to Chalkbeat. In some cases, these school safety monitors might be coaches or community members, and no law enforcement background is required.
We Demand:
A permanent removal of police from all DPSCD schools.
Replace school police with community members trained in de-escalation, transformative justice and other community safety skills.
DPSCD must, with youth and community leadership, initiate the creation of vested youth-led and community-based decision bodies, or councils, that are appointed by and representative of Black and Brown youth and community members. These councils shall address safety, accountability, justice, and healing at schools and have ongoing, direct leadership and guidance over racial and social justice initiatives district and school-wide
An investment for the expansion of school-based mental health programs and to strengthen the broader mental health infrastructure in Detroit Schools.
An investment to expand the use of community violence interrupters within schools and the broader community.
An investment in the continued training of DPSCD educators to practice social-emotional learning and transformative justice approaches.
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather police experiences and abuse in The Detroit Public Schools Community District. By doing this, the sheer amount of people coming forward will highlight the gravity of the situation and the lack of action done in the past decade. This time, you will be heard. We will make sure of this.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Mission: For too long the abuses at the hands of police, at the largest school district in Michigan, has been allowed to be swept under the rug. Abuse at the hand of police result in little to no action taken and accountability abandoned. It is vital to not only hold DPSCD accountable but create a safe environment for all students, especially BIPOC students.
Vision: This initiative's purpose is for DPSCD to be an education system that embodies safety, growth, well being, and unprecedented justice for all students. The creation of #PoliceoutofDPSCD is to see through a permanent change. Detroit students deserve an environment in which they know that abuses and discrimination they are subject to will be dealt with appropriately and their well-being will be prioritized.
****Identifying information in this form will stay confidential. The only people who will see these forms are Detroit Heals Detroit core team organizers unless you state otherwise.
