A police-free campus,
a police-free world.
In June 2020, as an addition to the ongoing community efforts for a police-free future, the Scholars for Black Lives collective started #PoliceFreeCampus as a national call to action for colleges and universities to divest from the institution of policing in exchange for improving campus and community safety through investing in humanizing resources and supports to address issues of harm and accountability. The campaign garnered hundreds of signatures on its initial online petition, generated a series of national opinion and scholarly essays, and informed the efforts of higher education professionals working to reimagine campus safety and security without the presence of law enforcement. Now, #PoliceFreeCampus is moving toward making campus law enforcement and campus safety data more accessible and sharing the stories of campus and community stakeholders on the front lines of the campus abolition movement.
STORYTELLING
Too often the narrative about campus safety and security is determined by legislators, administrators, and law enforcement instead of everyday people affected systemic inequality, harm, and criminalization. For this reason, the #PoliceFreeCampus research project aims to amplify the stories of people and communities directly impacted by college and university policing. The project is especially interested in sharing the experiences of organizers working to imagine and build alternatives to law enforcement that center the well-being of those most vulnerable to police and other forms of state and state-sanctioned violence. Do you have a story you would like to share?
DATA ANALYSIS
Using data from the Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies and Campus Safety Survey, as well as other sources, the project is performing a series of analyses to identify patterns and relationships between college and university spending on campus police, campus safety incident reports, and police interactions with campus and community stakeholders. Findings from these analyses will be published in a first-ever nationally comprehensive report in Spring 2022.
Source: Reaves, B. A. (2015). Campus law enforcement, 2011-12. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bu- reau of Justice Statistics. NCJ 248028.
RESOURCES
A cornerstone of any effective social movement is in its ability to mobilize resources. As an abolitionist project, #PoliceFreeCampus is creating, curating, and sharing educational content, events, information, and other material resources to support abolition efforts for individuals and movement organizations. As a political education effort in alignment with the Scholars for Black Lives commitment to public teaching, these resources are free and accessible to teachers and learners working toward a police-free future.
Contact Us.
Interested in learning more about #PoliceFreeCampus? Are you an organization seeking a collaboration of affiliation with our research team? Drop us a line using the contact form and a member of our team will be in touch at our earliest convenience.
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RT @hfdavis: And as the Nation asks of us yet again to respond to the gross injustice and structural negligence that renders Bla… https://t.co/rvPcsJDQ8t
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RT @hfdavis: This is in conjunction with inept gun control policy that allows for deadly weapons to routinely fall into the hand… https://t.co/P1mlBiP3OK
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RT @hfdavis: Not only can police not prevent racial violence because they perpetuate racial violence, but because they are not d… https://t.co/2Nlv9E8QJi
