For Immediate Release: August 3, 2021
Contact: media@colorofchange.org
COLOR OF CHANGE ANNOUNCES “SAFETY NOT FEAR” CAMPAIGN IN MINNEAPOLIS TO REDEFINE PUBLIC SAFETY, INVEST IN COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVES TO POLICING
MINNEAPOLIS — Today, Color Of Change announced the launch of “Safety Not Fear,” a people-powered campaign in Minneapolis to improve public safety for all and invest in community-based alternatives to public safety beyond a one-size-fits-all, police-only model. The campaign, which launched this weekend with a Night Out for Safety and Liberation Block Party at Moon Palace Books, will lift up demands from Minneapolis residents to invest in community solutions to promote public safety. As part of the announcement, Color Of Change launched the Safety Not Fear website, an online resource outlining the community’s vision for public safety and sharing ways for community members to get involved, as well as radio and digital ads.
“Minneapolis residents have mapped out a clear vision for public safety in their communities, but for years, local officials have continued to rely on a dangerous, ineffective police-only approach,” said Scott Roberts, Senior Director of Criminal Justice and Democracy Campaigns at Color Of Change. “As a result, community violence, police brutality, and aggressive police surveillance are on the rise, particularly in Black communities that are already disproportionately targeted by police. The people of Minneapolis understand that community-backed solutions are crucial to promoting public safety, and that we cannot continue to solve social problems with more policing, arrests, and incarceration.
“We’re launching Safety Not Fear to urge policymakers to reject fear-mongering from police departments and police unions, political moderates, and conservative media, and choose community-based, effective solutions to advance public safety.”
As communities in Minneapolis experience a rise in community violence, local, state, and federal lawmakers have suggested increasing police budgets to address violent crime. This approach wrongly assumes that increased police spending makes communities safer and threatens to exacerbate the ongoing policing and community violence crises — particularly in Black neighborhoods that are already unjustly targeted by police.
Safety Not Fear advocates for forward-thinking, community-backed solutions to advance public safety without expanding the current police-only approach to public safety. The campaign urges lawmakers at every level of government to invest in the programs and resources that help communities thrive — like housing, education, mental health care, alternative first firsponders and violence interruption programming — instead of racist, violent police departments.
Safety Not Fear is one of several Color Of Change campaigns to redefine public safety and reduce the size and scope of policing nationwide. It has recently launched petitions urging local, state, and federal officials to divest from local police departments; distance themselves from police unions, police foundations, and other police organizations; and invest in communities. Color Of Change has also supported the People’s Response Act, a transformative proposal introduced by Representative Cori Bush and cosponsored by Representatives Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum to treat public safety as a public health issue.
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Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and governments to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org