These charts break down the difference between
reformist reforms which continue or expand the reach ofpolicing, and abolitionist steps that work to chip away
and reduce its overall impact. As we struggle todecrease the power of policing there are also positiveand pro-active investments we can make in community
health and well-being.

challenge the notion thatpolice increase safety?

reduce tools / tactics /technology police haveat their disposal?

BODY
CAMERAS Equipping
police officers with body
cameras will require
more money goingtoward police budgets.

 Body cameras are
pitched as making police
more accountable,increasing the idea thatpolicing, done "right,"
makes people safe.

Bodycameras provide the policewith another tool, increasing
surveillance and increasing
police budgets to acquire
more gadgets.

COMMUNITY
POLICING

 Advocates ofcommunity policing argue
that departments will haveto hire more cops to be inneighborhoods and in thecommunity.

This is based on thebelief that policing isfocused on keeping people
safe, and the violence ofpolicing is caused by a"breakdown of trust" withthe community.

MORETRAINING

 More training will
require more funding andresources going to police
to develop and run
trainings.

This furthers the belief
that better training would
ensure that we can rely onpolice for safety, and that
instances of police harm andviolence occur because oflack of training.

 all of these.

This will increase thescope of policing, given the typeof training. For instance, someadvocate for police to be trainedon how to respond to mental
health crises, furthering the ideathat police are the go to for every
kind of problem.

 In some cases, therewould be an increase infunding, whereas in othercases, there would be nochange.

 Overseeing the police
through a board presumes thatcases of excessive force, killing,lying, planting false information,etc. are exceptional occurences
rather than part of the daily
violence of policing.

 Some argue for Civilian
Review Boards "with teeth," thepower to make decisions and takeaway policing tools and tactics.
However, a board with that level ofpower has never existed despite
50+ years of organizing for them.

This further entrenches
policing as a legitimate,reformable system, with a"community" mandate. Someboards, tasked with overseeing
them, become structurally
invested in their existence.

"JAIL KILLER
COPS":PROSECUTEPOLICE WHO HAVEKILLED
AND ABUSEDCIVILIANS.

 Prosecuting police
does not lead to changes
in funding or resourcing
police.

 Individualizing police
violence creates a false distinction
between "good police" (who keep ussafe), and "bad police" (who are
unusual cases), rather thanchallenging the assumption thatpolicing creates safety or examining
policing as systemic violence.

 Often, media attention
in high profile cases leads
to more resources andtechnology, including body
cameras and "training."

DOES THIS...

reduce fundingto police?

challenge the notion thatpolice increase safety?

SUSPEND THE
USE OF PAIDADMINISTRATIVELEAVE FOR COPSUNDER
INVESTIGATION

 This can INCREASE
community-based
budgets as municipalities
no longer pay forpolicing's harm against
community members.

 It challenges the notionthat policing violence, andthe administrative costs it
incurrs, are essential risks ofcreating "safety." Access to paid
administrative leave lessens
the consequences of use offorce, and presumes theright of police to use
violence at all.

 The less financial
support for police
undergoinginvestigation for killingand exessive use offorce, the less supportfor policing.

WITHHOLDPENSIONS AND
DON'T REHIRE
COPS INVOLVED INEXCESSIVE
FORCE This can INCREASE
community-based
budgets as municipalities
no longer pay forpolicing's harm against
community members.

 It challenges thenotion that killings andexcessive force areexceptions, rather thanthe rule.

 It reduces the abilityof police forces to movearound or re-engage cops
known for their use ofviolence.

REQUIRECOPS TO BE
LIABLE FORMISCONDUCTSETTLEMENTS This can INCREASE
community-based
budgets as municipalities
no longer pay forpolicing's harm against
community members.

 It challenges thenotion that policing and allits costs are essential
components of safety.
Community members
should not pay for its
inevitable violence.

 It creates pressure forpolice to account for theiractions, at least financially,and limits legitimacy ofpolicing violence as
inevitable.

CAPOVERTIMEACCRUAL+ OT PAY FORMILITARY
EXERCISES

This can INCREASE
community-based budgets
since we won't have to pay
for cops learning how tobetter make war on ourcommunities.

 It challenges the notionthat we need police to be
trained for "counterterrorism"
and other military-style action
and surveillance in the guiseof increasing "safety." Weapons trainings
and expos are used to scale
up policing infrastructureand shape goals for futuretools, tactics, technology.

WITHDRAWPARTICIPATION
IN POLICEMILITARIZATIONPROGRAMSThis can INCREASE
community-based budgets
since we won't have to pay
for cops learning how tobetter make war on ourcommunities.

 It challenges the notionthat we need police to be
trained for "counterterrorism"
and other military-style action
and surveillance in the guiseof increasing "safety." Weapons trainings
and expos are used to scale
up policing infrastructureand shape goals for futuretools, tactics, technology.

 If we decrease
funding for policing, thiswill decrease its
resources.

 Prioritizing funding
resources also creates space
to imagine, learn about, andmake resources that actuallycreate well-being.

 If we decrease
funding for policing, thiswill decrease theexpansion of tools andtechnology.



DOES THIS...

CIVILIAN REVIEW /OVERSIGHT
BOARDSPRIORITIZE
SPENDING
ON COMMUNITYHEALTH,EDUCATION,
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING

REDUCE THE
SIZE OF THE
POLICE FORCE

reduce fundingto police?

Cops aretrained in additional
tactics and approaches.

reduce the scaleof policing?
 Body cameras are
based on the idea that police who
do not use "excessive force" areless threatening. But police canturn off body cameras and, whenused, footage often doesn't havethe impact that communitymembers want, or is used forsurveillance.

 More community policemeans that the scale ofpolicing will increase,particularly in Black, Brown,poor neighborhoods, where
there is perceived "mistrust." This reinforces the prison
industrial complex byportraying killer/ corrupt cops as'bad apples" rather than part of aregular system of violence,
andreinforces the idea thatprosecution and prison serve
real justice.

reduce tools / tactics /technology police haveat their disposal?

reduce the scaleof policing?

 This stops police
from increasing theirlegitimacy, capacity, andskills as "the blue line" inorder to expand their reachover our daily lives andcommunity spaces.
 This stops police
from increasing theirlegitimacy, capacity, andskills as "the blue line" inorder to expand their reachover our daily lives andcommunity spaces.
 If we decrease
funding for policing, thiswill decrease the size,
scope and capacity ofsystems of policing.

CRITICAL RESISTANCE * 510.444.0484 * criticalresistance.org

Reformist reforms vs.
abolitionist steps in policing