Dear Friend,

Dianne Morales was the first mayoral candidate to call to defund the police, and she continues to stand by that call. For too long, police officers have been allowed to abuse and harm our Black and brown New Yorkers with impunity while those in power look the other way or offer platitudes, but no accountability.

It’s long past time we change that. 

Last night, Dianne reiterated her call to divest $3 billion from NYPD’s budget and invest it in our communities, recognizing that policing is not the same thing as public safety and that the safest neighborhoods are in fact the ones with real resources.

We know defunding the police doesn’t mean giving up on public safety; in fact, it means the opposite. Removing funding from an overly militarized, abusive agency founded on white supremacy and upheld by the status quo — and then investing in things like mental healthcare, housing, education, green spaces and public transit — makes us more safe, not less. 

People need to know that when they call for help, they'll get what they need. That's why Dianne has also called for a new Community First Responders Department (CFRD), which would respond to calls about homelessness, mental health, substance abuse, emotional distress and other behavioral health issues, which make up the actual majority of 911 calls. 

And that’s only part of the puzzle. We need to remove police from our schools and traffic enforcement, implement an Early Intervention System to hold police accountable, and finally end the failed war on drugs. It’s time to ultimately move away from a racist culture of criminalization to a higher form of justice and grace. Are you with us? Donate $10 tonight to the candidate ready to make sure our budget aligns with our morals.