Scribe – this is good news. I should have known you’d be in the thick of things.
Politicians and the prison industry turned rural America into an effing colony. Since I am a rural American, I love the country as much as you love your city. For more than 30 years, I’ve been helping fight prison expansion out here – in the middle of dumb fuck nowhere. 26 years Scribe. We stopped eleven expansions and new prisons in our region, but the state just moved them to another “colony” further away.
Between 1970 and 2000, state tax dollars were transferred out of education budgets and straight into prisons. For the first 25 years, it was a straight, dollar for dollar transfer from the public school system to the prison system. For the next 25 years, “tough of crime” politicians raised taxes to fund prison expansion. There are some seriously sick people in politics.
Anyways, I posted this comment somewhere else, but am pasting it here, just in case it might help your fight.
Please know, that my tone of voice is directed at the other writer – not you.
Our annual POLICE REFORM budget is $196-Billion. This is the annual total for state and local government operating costs for policing ($115-Billion) plus prisons ($81-Billion).
America’s total annual “criminal justice” system costs taxpayers around $750-Billion (including local, state and federal courts, policing, prisons, jails, holding centers, police, prison guards, administrators, paper pushers, border patrol and drug enforcement agents, salaries, pensions, benefits and facility construction and maintenance costs).
To put all these numbers in perspective, the 2020 military budget is $686-Billion.
American taxpayers currently employ 800,000 police officers and 400,000 corrections officers (1.2-Million people).
To maintain perspective, there are 1.3-Million active duty military personnel –only 193,442 of which, are stationed overseas (in 150 different countries).
In 1970, 338,000 Americans were in prison. Today, 2.3-million Americans are in prison. That’s one million more Americans in prison today, than our entire military! Worse yet, on average, we pay our soldiers less than a third as much as police officers and prison guards. Even worse, Americans spend three times as much to keep one inmate in prison, than we pay our soldiers. WTF is wrong with us?
Wait. I am not done. You’ve heard of Oakland. Remember Fruitvale Station? Let’s look at Oakland. While resident’s average income is $32,566. and 23.61% of the population is black, hundreds of Oakland police officers earn… wait for it…. over $320,000. a year. Can someone please give me something to say, besides WTF?
While the national median salary for police officers is $60, 270., when overtime pay, other pay, benefits and pensions are included it is close to double.
Policing is a dangerous job – right? How dangerous is it? Remember, in police shootings, officers claim they “feared for their lives”. Now, how many of those 800,000 police officers on duty do you think are shot and killed each year? Just guess. Give me a number.
Answer: in 2020 Covid has killed three times as many officers as gunfire (120 to date). As of October 10, 2020, 37 officers died from gunfire this year. In 2017, it was 45. In 2018, it was 52. In 2019, it was 48. Again, there are 1, 200,000 armed and trained police officers and prison guards in America.
The Officer Down Memorial Page tracks the death of police, prison guards, fish and game wardens, border patrol agents and even one officer overseas – https://www.odmp.org/search/year/2020 Please read every story to learn the details of these deaths.
For example, one officer cut down a tree, then went to work and had a heart attack. Four officers were killed by other officers. Officers died in car accidents on their way to work. A boiler burst in a prison and killed a guard. 9/11 illness related deaths are included. Police officers’ poor physical condition cause a troubling number of heart attacks, asthma and obesity related deaths. Red Flags are waving over deaths occurring during physical fitness tests and training exercises. Every police officer I’ve known has said the exact same thing. Domestic Violence are the most dangerous calls police officers respond to – ever.
To sum up, 800,000 officers are policing Americans, while 194,000 American soldiers are protecting us – from the world.
American policing is a clear and tragic failure. One of the first steps in police reform are publicly accessible data bases for every police and prison guard in every state – like this one - https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2018/compton/
Policing is a local issue. We elect our city council members and county supervisors, and they control, direct and hold responsibility for the police. Get in your car, drive to city hall and ask your council members for their police reform plan. Ask your city manager to put police reform on the council’s agenda, then show up and demand answers from the whole council - in public and make sure you have the media there.
Learn how local government works, then run for city council or supervisor. You have a good chance of getting elected. Over 75% of Americans can’t name even one of their city council members or county supervisors.
People - we have work to do.
Take care of yourself, Scribe.
