In addition to having information about positive alternatives for framing a community-centered police reform agenda, local communities must have access to strategies and tools for implementation. Toward this end, in February 2004, PolicyLink released Organized for Change: The Activist’s Guide to Police Reform. The manual reflects a comprehensive search of manuals, guides and online web resources, and advocacy strategies covering a range of social justice issues with the aim to strengthen the capacity of communities to engage their local police departments and have a voice at decision-making tables relating to policing issues. The manual contains strategies used by advocates in cities across the nation to move their police departments closer to a vision of community-centered policing.
Organized for Change covers five main sections:
Recognizing that police reform advocacy often emerges in response to an incident of police misconduct that attracts the public’s attention, Seizing the Moment: Urgent, Unified Community Response provides tips for developing an immediate response, while beginning to lay the foundation for a broader advocacy action.
Getting Specific: Know Your Police Department. Before launching an advocacy agenda there are a range of topics and policies to consider including knowing the structure of your local police department as you begin to develop a roadmap to where you want to take your advocacy action.
Getting People Together and Making Your Case is a comprehensive review of four advocacy strategies: organizing and coalition building; conducting research; working with the media; harnessing the power of the Internet. You will need one-if not all-of these strategies, to help build support for your advocacy agenda.
Getting What You Want looks at the traditional forums advocates can pursue their agendas for change; the courts, the legislature, the ballot, and administrative agencies.
Getting Started: Tips to consider in Moving an Agenda describes the myriad of issues to take into account before you launch your advocacy agenda.
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