| Dear Friend, Seventeen people lost their lives to California police in January, many unarmed.(1) Los Angeles police officers killed three people in the first week of 2023 alone.(2) And it’s likely that those responsible may never be held to account. The state legislature has slashed the budget of the department in charge of investigating police shootings. Laws that would put stricter regulations around police shootings have been voted down. And our legislators have taken more than $38.5 million from police unions since 2012, the most of any state.(3,4) In the wake of the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, the nation is finally showing the political will needed to rein in violent police forces. And the people of California need to know how those in charge of holding killer cops to account are shirking their duty. We are planning to run Facebook ads calling out California legislators who have taken police union money, and we need to raise $10,000 to target every district. Will you donate to Courage California and help hold killer cops accountable?
In 2020, a law was passed requiring the Justice Department to investigate all incidents in which an unarmed person died from a police shooting.(5) But the department’s budget was cut in half shortly after the legislation went into effect, and while it has opened 31 investigations, it has opted out of 17 more -- and of the open investigations, only two have been closed.(6) Moreover, other bills meant to rein in police violence, from stripping bad cops of their badges to allowing public access to use-of-force records, have failed over and over in the legislature.(7) Police union lobbyists have swarmed the California legislature to ensure that police forces across the state remain powerful and untouchable, to the tune of nearly $40 million in donations -- four times more than the state that has the second-most donations.(8) California’s legislators need to be held accountable for not ending the scourge of police deaths in our state. We are going to call out our representatives for taking big bucks from the police unions while not standing up for the people they hurt. Will you chip in? Yes, I’ll donate to Courage California today. Thanks for your critical support. –Irene, along with Angela, Annie, Isidra, Lindsay, Mai, Mai, and Scottie (the Courage team)
PS: Courage California is fighting for equity and justice across the state and country. Will you become a monthly donor and help sustain our work? Donations go to support all of Courage California's work for a more progressive California and country. Follow us now on Facebook or Twitter! Footnotes:  |
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