SURJ TO Supports Call to Defund Hamilton Police
Toronto, ON - Showing Up for Racial Justice Toronto (SURJ TO) supports the community action to defund Hamilton Police Service (HPS). We call upon Hamilton City Council to reallocate tax dollars to invest in vital initiatives for residents, including addressing food insecurity, affordable housing, and expanding access to other public social services.
SURJ TO works to undermine and dismantle white supremacist systems and institutions, including the police, in the Greater Toronto Area. We send our solidarity to the Defund Hamilton Police (Defund HPS) organizers who began their action on November 23 and were subject to fines and detainment from HPS. We denounce this state intervention and attempt to intimidate, stifle, and silence community members.
Hamilton City Council must respond to residents and meet community needs instead of continuing to support massive increases to police services. The 2020 HPS budget is $171 million and accounts for 17% of the total City budget. There has been a $40-million increase to this budget over the past nine years. In the middle of a pandemic, it is unacceptable to increase funding to police services while community members face uncertainty, income and job loss, and families struggle to survive. It is unconscionable for a government to prioritize policing.
Police forces in Toronto and Hamilton are both under the jurisdiction of the Province of Ontario, and have a history of targeting Black, Indigenous and racialized people. Defund Hamilton Police has documented instances of police protecting property over people, surveilling Black, Indigenous and racialized students in schools, ticketing unhoused community members, carding, harming and killing Black, Indigenous, and racialized people experiencing mental health crises. We do not accept this biased, racist surveillance and targeted punitive actions towards our community members and friends.
Here are three ways to support the campaign to Defund HPS!
Get involved and learn more. Follow @DefundHPS on Twitter and visit the defundhps.com website for more info and updates.
Sign the petition to defund the Hamilton Police Service and email the Hamilton Police Services Board and the Hamilton Mayor to tell them why you believe in defunding the Hamilton Police.
Send financial support by e-transfer to info@defundhps.com.
SURJ TO encourages all residents, specifically white people, community groups, and trade unions in Hamilton and the GTA to support the demands of Defund HPS (https://www.defundhps.com/demands) and act in solidarity by urging Hamilton city councillors to defund police services. To learn more, visit defundhps.com.
Image via DefundHPS Twitter.
