7 DEMANDS to Reimagine the Sheriff
Safety that doesn’t depend on sheriffs begins with demanding change. Here’s what that change could look like.
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Thursday, August 14th | 1:30pm CT
WHY THIS PLATFORM?
THE PROBLEM
James Baldwin wrote that the sheriff was created to “keep the Republic white.” Nearly four hundred years after the first sheriff’s offices were founded to suppress worker unrest and hunt escaped enslaved people, they remain a force violently undermining multiracial democracy. We need to reimagine the office of the sheriff and we need a roadmap to get there.
THE VISION
These demands outline steps that sheriffs across the country can take to make their communities more safe, just and free. They are designed as a resource for anyone who wants to advocate for reforms that can curb the harms of sheriffs and move towards a future where safety does not depend on the sheriff at all.
DEMAND 1
Towards Accountability
Sheriffs should improve jail operations and conditions to prevent injuries and deaths.
DEMAND 2
Towards Freedom
Sheriffs should reduce jail populations and oppose jail expansions.
DEMAND 3
Towards Immigrant Justice
Sheriffs should end all voluntary cooperation with any and all immigration enforcement.
DEMAND 4
Sheriffs should end pretextual traffic stops.
Towards Racial Justice
DEMAND 5
Sheriffs should advocate for alternative emergency responses for mental health and substance use crises.
Towards Health
DEMAND 6
Towards Democracy
Sheriffs should not take campaign donations from jail contractors.
DEMAND 7
Sheriffs should act to protect election officials and voters from threats and violence that undermine the right to vote.
Towards Election Integrity
Organizations Leading the Way
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