Changing Cuffs to Care: A Rally to Defund the Police Department

Metro Atlanta residents are taking advocacy for defunding the police department to the next level. 

The Communities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign is a ground breaking, local campaign dedicated to divesting from Atlanta’s unjust criminal legal system and investing in our communities by closing the extra City Jail (ACDC), repurposing the facility into a Center for Wellness & Freedom, and reallocating the $32.5 million dollars spent annually to services and supports which help our people thrive.

Do you have a child? Grandchild? Brother? Sister? Loved one? Co worker, family member of loved one who has unjustly been pulled over or harassed by police officers? If so, you should join the rally!

Organizers are asking supporters to join them for a rally on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 12 noon - 3:00 p.m. to lift our voices in efforts to take the necessary steps of defunding the police department.  

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY: https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/tell-atlanta-to-move-18-million-from-cuffs-to-care

What does defunding the police mean?

Defunding the police' does not mean getting rid of the officers, but rather taking some money away from the police budget and putting it back into the community.

Take Action! 

• 1. March with us as we demand Atlanta City Council-members to move $18 Million from Cuffs to Care! We can not allow for the extra jail. 
• 2. SIGN THE PETITION NOW TO MOVE $18 MILLION FROM CUFFS TO CARE! https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/tell-atlanta-to-move-18-million-from-cuffs-to-care
• 3. Close the damn jail and re-purpose it for community empowerment. 

Background:

The City of Atlanta, a city too busy to hate, has allocated $18 million dollars in the proposed 2021 city budget to the Atlanta City Detention Center. Yet, we have schools that have mold, leaking ceiling and lack of technology resources. 

The detention center is mostly empty and is slated for closure. 

Repurposing the building into a center for wellness (i.e. mental health/substance abuse/domestic abuse) and freedom (financial freedom, home ownership, credit recovery). 

This work to empower communities over cages (prison system) was done with the Close the Jail ATL Campaign, Alliance Partners and Reimaging ACDC Initiative.  

Results We're Seeking

1.We demand a FY2021 budget for the Atlanta Department of Corrections of $0. We support a city budget that reflects the $18 million dollars going to the Department of Equity. 

2.We demand the city walk its talk and close the 

jail for good.We demand that the employees and workers of ACDC get a leg up, not a lay off in desperate economic times. 

3. We support a budget that reflects current ACDC staff being moved to the Department of Equity 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CLOSE THE JAIL ATL CAMPAIGN, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CLOSETHEJAILATL.ORG 

Share this on your social media platforms using the hashtags #CLOSETHEJAILATL and 

#COMMUNITIESOVERCAGES .