• Aug. 9, 2021
• • WSOS

Whose Streets? Our Streets! statement following the deaths of Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and too many others, at the hands of police:

Black people deserve public streets that are safe, thriving, community places. No matter whether we are driving, walking, biking, or simply existing, Black Lives Matter. 

For too long, traffic enforcement has been used as an excuse for police to threaten, harass, and murder Black people for simply existing in public space while Black. 

This reality has caused irreparable damage to our Black communities. The rippling effects of  the deaths of loved ones, family, friends, and community members means that Black communities live in fear from the over-policing of Black bodies, severely impacting our quality of life.

Traffic enforcement should not involve police. Using police for traffic enforcement can be dangerous and deadly, and is neither justified nor necessary.

WSOS has drafted a set of recommendations including:

• Removing police from traffic enforcement entirely.
• Prioritizing non-punitive measures for making streets safer.
• Abolishing enforcement of activities that don’t harm other people. 
• Investing in people and communities.

To build trust in communities, we must value people’s lives and safety and build systems of accountability and transparency. We have to change and reform the culture and structures of policing in our country, our state, and our counties and cities.

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