Defunding the Norwalk Police Department

[rebeccaaporter]

To: "GBURNETT@norwalkct.org" GBURNETT@norwalkct.org, "DJOHNSON@norwalkct.org" DJOHNSON@norwalkct.org, "MLANGELLA@norwalkct.org" MLANGELLA@norwalkct.org, "NPSACCHINELLI@norwalkct.org" NPSACCHINELLI@norwalkct.org, "BSMYTH@norwalkct.org" BSMYTH@norwalkct.org, "DHEUVELMAN@norwalkct.org" DHEUVELMAN@norwalkct.org, "KROBERTS@norwalkct.org" KROBERTS@norwalkct.org, "EDUMAS@norwalkct.org" EDUMAS@norwalkct.org, "COUNCILMEMBERYOUNG@norwalkct.org" COUNCILMEMBERYOUNG@norwalkct.org, "JKYDES@norwalkct.org" JKYDES@norwalkct.org, "GTHEODORIDIS@norwalkct.org" GTHEODORIDIS@norwalkct.org, "TKEEGAN@norwalkct.org" TKEEGAN@norwalkct.org, "GTSIRANIDES@norwalkct.org" GTSIRANIDES@norwalkct.org, "TPLIVINGSTON@norwalkct.org" TPLIVINGSTON@norwalkct.org, "LSHANAHAN@norwalkct.org" LSHANAHAN@norwalkct.org, HRilling@norwalkct.org

Subject: [ INSERT UNIQUE SUBJECT LINE ]

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Dear Mayor Rilling and the Norwalk City Council Members,

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a resident of Norwalk, Connecticut. I am writing to urge you to significantly reduce the Norwalk Police Department’s budget and to reinvest the funds to social service programs in order to better support and protect our community. It has become clear that a radical shift in our concept of policing and community health must take place at the local level. It is unacceptable that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities are living in persistent fear of being killed by state authorities like police, immigration agents or even white vigilantes who are emboldened by state actors.

Despite continued profiling, harassment, terror and killing of Black communities, local and federal decision-makers continue to invest in the police, which leaves Black people vulnerable and our communities no safer. Moreover, this deep lack of trust that the government is breeding by terrorizing its own people, as we have seen across the country in the police’s response to peaceful protests, rather than safeguarding our health, is an alarming risk for future generations to live peacefully and safely with each other.

The time has come to defund the police.

While the Norwalk Police Department concludes in their annual 2018 report that “analysis of the data does not trigger any warning signs or concerns,” I have determined that this is not the case. They reported force was used 231 times in 2018. Use of force split along racial lines as follows: 39% Black, 34% White, 27% Hispanic. While these numbers on the surface level may seem relatively evenly distributed, we have to keep in mind the racial makeup of the city of 14% Black, 74% White, and 28% Hispanic or Latino. This indicates that BIPOC communities are being disproportionately affected by use of force by the police- 6x the rate for Blacks and 2x the rate for Hispanic/Latinx. And this is from just reported incidents. I’m sure we have all seen and read about cell phone video footage taken in cities across the country that reveal how we cannot trust police reports at face value. We cannot be so willfully ignorant to believe these issues do not plague our community as well.

Our city needs to increase funding towards community services and healthcare. We need youth programs, increased mental health services, neighborhood infrastructures, childcare, and community outreach for those who need these services most. We need more funds for rehabilitation and the re-entry process for formerly incarcerated individuals, and to help increase employment and education rates. Norwalk needs to build a society that does not need the level of policing.

I join in solidarity with the protestors in Minneapolis, Louisville, and across the United States. I call for the end to police terror. I call for defunding of police and for those dollars to be rerouted to strengthen our community.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME] [YOUR ADDRESS] [YOUR EMAIL] [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]

[mahrer]

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[wendywx]

Hi @rebeccaaporter ! Thanks for your interest in adding Norwalk to the site. Could you please provide more detail about the city budget to make a more compelling argument, showing the disparities in numbers?

Please see our email style guide for some suggestions and general guidelines.

Thank you!