PITTSBURGH — The Coalition to Reimagine Public Safety has released a report that explains why they are urging the city and county to decrease police funding and increase community investments.
Through a series of working sessions, town hall meetings and input opportunities, coalition members devised a plan to build safe, healthy and thriving neighborhoods.
The model centers on community members and their needs, and further develops strategies to eliminate the use of police force, overcriminalization and overincarceration.
“Police in Pittsburgh, police in the world aren’t fighting crime, they are fighting Black and brown people,” explained Jesse Wozniak with the Alliance for Police Accountability.
They say they have data that backs up their reasons to decrease police funding and increase community investments.
Some of their recommendations in the report include:
- Immediately firing all officers with more than two complaints against them.
- Immediately reducing the size of the police force from 31 to 19 officers per 10,000 residents.
- Transferring duties that do not require police officer certification and training to civilian employees outside of the bargaining unit.
“We’re committed to making sure that our plan is implemented. We are committed to working with whoever we need to work with to ensure that Allegheny County is a safe place to live for all people, including Black and brown people,” explained Brandi Fisher, CEO and founder of the Alliance for Police Accountability.
Their next step in this process is to begin actually implementing the change they want to see.
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