Progress Is Always Possible

Today reminds us that progress might be slow. It might take decades. But no matter what things might look like today, it’s always possible. Happy Pride month, everybody. pic.twitter.com/ey7p2TgEEf

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 16, 2020

#DefundThePolice: Follow The Money

So I was talking with my mom about #DefundThePolice. And she asked me a question: how could what happened to Rayshard Brooks happen, at this moment, in this uprising? How could police keep...doing this?

So this is what I said.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

Killings--murders--have continued, and will continue, because the police lack all accountability. It's not just qualified immunity, which protects them from being found liable for things that would bankrupt/jail the rest of us. It's the money.

Follow the money.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

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Derek Chauvin, the cop who murdered George Floyd, could *still get his million dollar pension* even if he is getting those checks while serving a sentence for homicide.https://t.co/6RsxbD23JV

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

Police pensions are...generous. Many are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, even if they've been dismissed for the kind of misconduct that would throw you or me into a cell.https://t.co/Z756f1cDzF

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

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So you can't get sued, you won't lose your $ no matter what you do, and, what's more, you're living in a culture where morality is upside down, bullies rule, and everyone is trained to be both extremely violent and extremely terrified all the time.https://t.co/oFwky447u6

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

A lot of this has been said in a lot of places by a lot of people BUT what one years less about is that this insulation from consequences isn't just toxic on a macro (murder) level, but toxic every damn day.

Let's talk about overtime.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

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Inevitably--seriously, ask, like, any defense attorney about this--when you got a really stupid arrest, it would be within an hour or so of the end of the cop's scheduled shift.

Shift ends at 6pm? This really bad arrest would be at, like, 5:30.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

Why? Well, because processing an arrest takes time, but it's also really easy. So you can make time-and-a-half for sitting in the precinct typing up some papers and waiting to talk to a DA.

This REALLY adds up.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

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Let's not forget that the end-of-shift arrest isn't just an inconvenience--arrests cost people jobs, homes, family unity, sometimes unraveling entire lives.

Some of these cops are making close to half a million dollars a year on the backs of the poor and innocent.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

So when you hear "defund the police" and you get worried about a world where there's no one protecting the public, please remember that EVERY MODEL for doing this envisions a world where someone is on the other end of the phone when you call 911.

— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) June 14, 2020

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More here

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NEWS: The Supreme Court has refused to hear several cases involving a legal doctrine known as "qualified immunity," which makes it difficult to sue police for serious misconduct. https://t.co/O92eVUA8aM

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) June 15, 2020