Practical Abolition: Alternatives to Prisons and Police Animated Series
Sending people armed with guns to respond to mental health crises and public nuisance complaints is dangerous. It is often counterproductive and sometimes fatal. But what could take the place of policing? And in response to an epidemic of homicide, what are ways that we can keep our communities safer? In collaboration with artist Erik Ruin, Amistad Law Project staked out a creative path in lifting up alternatives to policing and prisons. In this four part series, we explore ideas for programs that could both reduce reliance on police and prisons and reduce street violence as well.
The first video highlights the need to mobilize emergency resources for communities hardest hit by gun violence. The second in the installment explores ‘violence interrupter’ programs that employ people with street credibility to interrupt cycles of gun violence and stop retaliation. In the third, we explore how both mass incarceration and the interpersonal violence of the drug economy could be undermined with jobs programs and drug decriminalization. The fourth and final installment explains how we could create countywide restorative justice programs as an alternative to incarceration and help get crime survivors what they need to heal.
We need to harness our creative energies to imagine the policies and programs which can replace policing and prisons and make us safer. And we need to harness our creativity to communicate those ideas too. Check out the videos below and share them with friends, family and co-workers!