Backlash against police has a historical precedent, most notably in the cases of young Black men who were unarmed at the times of their deaths. Opposing police brutality is the core platform of the high-profile Black Lives Matter movement, founded in 2013 after the acquittal of the officer who killed Trayvon Martin. In the past few months, such criticism and calls for reform have been at the forefront of American racial politics. Along with demands for justice for the hundreds of Black civilians shot to death by police in recent years, opponents of policing in general have called for defunding various police forces across the United States, arguing that stripping the police of their resources is a more effective tool in combating police violence than reform to the system.
Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick announced the creation of a task force to reform the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) in June. This “Reinvent Public Safety” committee was assembled in response to the national and local protests against racially-charged police brutality, where activists fight for those brutalized by the IPD as well as budget cuts. Myrick plans to consult with the public by holding town halls and door-to-door canvassing among other approaches to gather a list of recommendations that will be proposed to the Ithaca Common Council by April 2021. However, some say this course of action doesn’t go far enough.
Such local activists, recalling the harassment and brutality suffered by Black and homeless communities in Ithaca over the past 10 years, have compiled their demands into a letter spread online, with links and QR codes featured on flyers across town. The campaign is a collaborative effort of several Tompkins County organizations, including the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America, Immigrants Rights Coalition, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Their demands, listed in the Google Form where supporters may sign the letter, center on cutting funding for the IPD and demilitarizing the force by eliminating weapons and militarization programs. Redirecting city funds from the police department will allocate more resources to local organizations that serve marginalized communities, replacing a major one that put them at risk.
The demands are timely as well. A budget of 13 million dollars immune to COVID-related cuts can be downsized not only for the purpose of demilitarizing the police, but also for providing aid to Ithacans affected by the pandemic as well. Local governments can work with organizations to subsidize childcare, education, social services, and shelters. In response to advocaters for police reform and claims that defunding IPD is the wrong move, the depolicing campaign argues that reforms are not effective—police brutality occurs, locally and nationally, despite implicit bias training and the use of body cameras.
According to the demands letter, the policing system itself, not only the actions of particular officers or police forces, “criminalizes Black and Brown, poor, and working class people everywhere.” Similar to Myrick’s initiative, the campaign to defund the IPD reimagines public safety, but its idea of public safety is contrary to the institution of policing. Instead, the campaign posits that community programs and affordable housing will “actually keep us safe.”
Another key difference between Myrick’s plan and the defunding coalition is the latter’s mention of the housing crisis. The demands include ending police harassment and displacement of homeless people, prohibiting police participation in eviction proceedings, and a continued suspension of rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. While a statement on the City of Ithaca website identifies funding public safety alternatives as a goal of the task force, it does not include any specific programs, nor does it identify housing as a community need competitive with law enforcement.
When asked in a June 2020 Ithaca Times poll, about a third of respondents said they believed that Ithaca and Tompkins County police should retain their budgets, while 29 percent voted for reducing the budget by half. Made clear by Mayor Myrick’s effort and the people’s movement for depolicing, there is a concerted effort to reimagine the IPD that will likely reach the Common Council early next year. Whether Myrick’s attempt at community-based reform will take precedence over a systemic approach at defunding remains to be seen.