The Board of Directors of the West Side Community Organization calls for funding what we need to thrive and divesting from the Saint Paul Police Department

Summary

• No matter what we look like or where we live, we want our families to be well and our communities vibrant. But the people entrusted to serve and protect us continue to target, detain, and end the lives of Black, brown, and Indigenous people in our communities. 
• Rather than pouring millions into a police force that is undermining our safety, our city must invest in the programs and systems that affirm our lives including accessible, safe, and affordable housing; public schools; healthcare; job creation; and other community initiatives that protect our health and enable us to make ends meet. We know mental, physical, and economic wellbeing are fundamental to safety in our communities.
• Year after year, the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) exerts immense pressure on elected officials to ensure police get a giant, outsized portion of the budget, leveraging racialized fears about crime to distract us, divide us, and divert money from the community programs and investments that actually promote safety.
• While some people advocate for reform, the murder of George Floyd – and too many others – at the hands of police underscores the fact that the institution of policing is steeped in racism and white supremacy. It’s beyond reform. Therefore, the Board of Directors of the West Side Community Organization calls for ongoing divestment from SPPD.
• Divestment from SPPD is not immediate abolition. It’s long-term, well-thought-out, systematic planning to fund our lives and implement public safety strategies developed by and for the community.
• For years, WSCO has created spaces for community members to speak out on issues of community safety. Because we value and prioritize community knowledge and expertise to share concerns, create solutions, and build capacity for care-based interventions to crisis, we’re committed to continue hosting community conversations where we envision public safety strategies that affirm our lives, our families, our communities, and our dreams.

We ask you all, the community, how should we invest our resources to affirm the lives of West Siders and the City of Saint Paul as a whole? 

Interested in getting involved with WSCO and your neighbors to envision life-affirming public safety? Reach out to us at [email protected] or 651-293-1708

Download the summary, statement, and additional data as a PDF.

Full statement

West Side Community Organization (WSCO) believes public safety means affirming lives – not taking them. To affirm lives – especially those of Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities (BIPOC) most affected by racism, economic injustice, and police violence – our city must redirect resources from the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) to increase funding for accessible, safe, affordable, and public housing; community services; public education; healthcare; jobs; and other programs that enable us to be well, make ends meet, and create a vibrant community.

Despite the best efforts of reform advocates, the institution of policing remains rooted in white supremacy and racism. Police continue to target, detain, and end the lives of BIPOC community members, making it clear that police reform is ineffective. Therefore, the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) Board of Directors believes that we can only achieve public safety by investing in the programs and systems that affirm our lives while divesting from SPPD. Divestment is not immediate abolition. It’s long-term, well-thought-out, systematic planning to implement public safety strategies developed by and for the community.

Right now, we’re pouring millions into an institution that’s undermining our safety. Year after year, SPPD’s leadership and union exert immense pressure on elected officials and in our communities to ensure they get a giant, out-sized portion of the budget. Take the City of Saint Paul’s 2020 budget, for example. The total budget is approximately $715 million. Of that, $126 million – or nearly 18 percent – goes to SPPD. Between 2015 and 2020, SPPD’s budget ballooned by $23 million – while funding for other community programs increased only marginally each year.

For decades, at all levels of government, people with power have exploited racialized fears about crime to divide us and divert funding from the community programs that keep us safe to police departments that threaten the lives of BIPOC community members. Instead of funding programs that create wealth and wellbeing in BIPOC communities, people with power continue to prioritize investments in sports stadiums, luxury development, and corporate tax breaks over programs that enable working people to build wealth and achieve their dreams.

These choices have consequences, and racist policies like redlining and racial covenants ensure BIPOC communities contend with the most challenging ones – from under-resourced public schools, chronic health issues, and economic distress, to homelessness and mental health crises. Rather than addressing the root cause of these issues, elected leaders deploy police officers who are not adequately trained nor emotionally equipped to provide the care-based, life-affirming crisis response our communities need.

We can and must do better.

Rather than neglecting and criminalizing emergency mental health situations, homelessness, and other non-violent crises, it’s time to create infrastructure for prevention, community care, and situation-specific crisis response. Let’s invest in social workers, medics, youth mentors, crisis counselors, and other solutions that foster safety and wellbeing instead of violence and harm. 

At the same time, we must address the root causes of challenges that face our communities. By diverting funding from SPPD, we can invest in life-affirming programs that enable us to make ends meet and create a vibrant community. We know mental, physical, and economic wellbeing are fundamental to safety in our communities.

As we grapple with the murders of George Floyd and too many other Black, brown, and Indigienous people at the hands of the police, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wrought the most harm in BIPOC communities, we must reckon with the fact that white supremacy, racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination threaten lives. WSCO is committed to racial justice and life-affirming public safety. We’re determined to use our resources and relationships to reach out to neighbors and develop solutions of, by, and for the community. We’re capable of sharing concerns and creating solutions together.

For decades, WSCO has been a trusted messenger in the community, including regarding issues of safety and policing. In 2007, we hosted community forums on the "Cradle to Prison Pipeline" and a legislative report card grading the racial impacts of policies. We have hosted several community forums since then, where we have discussed police reform, and re-imagined public safety in ways that are rooted in the community. Going forward, WSCO will create more spaces to envision public safety strategies that affirm our lives, our families, our communities, and our dreams. 

We ask you all, the community, how should we invest our resources to affirm the lives of West Siders and the City of Saint Paul as a whole? 

Interested in getting involved with WSCO and your neighbors to envision life-affirming public safety? Reach out to us at [email protected] or 651-293-1708

Download the summary, statement, and additional data as a PDF.

Resources

WSCO board members grappled with the resources below, which informed the board’s collective statement and conviction to work for life-affirming public safety. 

• MPD 150
• WSCO’s research on police violence with the ACLU and the U of M’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) (report forthcoming).
• Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered
• We Keep Us Safe by Zach Norris
• The work of local community group Root and Restore Saint Paul

Be part of the movement for life-affirming public safety.

Join us for upcoming events and trainings

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 12-4PM

*Please note the time and date change*

Recreation as Resistance

Joy is a form of resistance. That’s why we’re joining together at Lake Pickerel (Lily Regional Park, 550 Lilydale Rd) this Saturday. Lilydale is a place with a long history of police violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of color communities on the West Side. We’re reclaiming that space through recreation and joy because we believe the outdoors should be a safe space for all West Siders – no matter what we look like or where we come from.

Our Recreation as Resistance event will include free mini-workshops and activities, including fishing, birding, kayaking, a nature walk, a community mural, a “Poetree,” and more. This is a family-friendly event. All people are welcome. The event will center people most impacted by police violence. Please email Ellie Leonardsmith with questions, [email protected]. Snacks and port-o-potty provided. Masks required and social distancing expected.

SEPTEMBER 23 and 30

Crisis response in St. Paul: A two-part series

In partnership with Root and Restore Saint Paul and CAHOOTS, join WSCO for a two-part, online series where we'll explore our crisis response system in Saint Paul, as it currently exists and as it could be, with a focus on non-violent crises: mental health, homelessness, substance use and poverty. CAHOOTS is a mobile crisis intervention team based in Eugene, Oregon, designed as an alternative to police response for non-violent crises. The series includes a Teach-in on September 23 from 7-8:30pm and a De-Escalation Training on September 30 from 7-8:30pm. Learn more about the series on WSCO’s blog. Register below to save your spot. At each event, half of the seats are reserved for Twin Cities residents who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color (BIPOC).

REGISTER HERE

Join our Community Care Circle

As part of our monthly West Side Voices forum, interested West Siders have an opportunity to meet and organize together for community care, life-affirming investments, and divesting from police. Stay tuned to our newsletter and social media for information on the next West Side Voices forum.

Healing our whole selves through nature

Reclaiming the outdoors as a safe space for ALL

Resisting violence against Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities (BIPOC) through restorative recreation

EVENT DETAILS

Saturday, September 19th, 12pm to 4pm at Lake Pickerel (Lilydale Regional Park, 550 Lilydale Rd.)

Event schedule

• 12 pm Dakota Honor Song

• 12, 1, & 2 pm Stations: fishing, birding, kayaking, art & poetry, nature walk & meditation

• 3 pm Healing Circle 

Event description

We know that joy is a form of resistance. In the midst of the uprisings against racial injustice, we’re coming together in Lilydale – a place with a long history of police violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities on the West Side – to spend time outdoors in community and reclaim a space that has been used for harm through joy and recreation.

The natural world should be a safe space for all West Siders. Time outside is critical to our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Our Recreation as Resistance event will include free mini-workshops and activities, including fishing, birding, kayaking, a nature walk, a community mural, a "Poetree", and more. We'll finish our restorative morning with a Healing Circle, led by Dr. raj and with testimony from community members.

This event is open to all people, including families. We will be centering the voices, experiences, and stories of those most harmed. Coffee, juice, and snacks will be provided. Masks and social distancing are required. A port-o-potty will be on site. Please email Ellie Leonardsmith with questions, [email protected].

On the West Side, we look out for each other. That's why we're learning about the evictions process. We know many of our neighbors could lose their homes when the eviction moratorium lifts in mid-September, and we want to be there to provide support. And, we want families at risk of eviction to know their rights and understand what might be coming.

This week, West Siders joined together for a virtual training to understand how evictions work – from getting an eviction filed, to going to court, to removing an eviction from your record. At the upcoming West Side Voices meeting on Tuesday, September 8, we’ll debrief the training and discuss how to support West Siders navigating the process – whether it’s providing child care or tech support for online hearings, or connecting neighbors to resources, and more. Register for the West Side Voices meeting here to make sure you get the Zoom link!

Click here to watch a recording of our training on how evictions work.

Click here for the presentation slides. 

Thanks to everyone who attended the August 23 meeting on Evictions Defense!

Court Support is the next step in our ongoing work to defend against evictions and displacement on the West Side. Thanks to everyone who attended our August 23 meeting on eviction defense at Parque Castillo. Here’s a recap of what we discussed while munching on burritos (thanks, El Burrito!):

• Lifelong West Sider and community advocate Marcus Troy shared his experience standing up to his landlord and fighting for housing stability. He said, “Keep locals local.” We agree. Fighting displacement is critical to making #WestSideStrong.
• Many tenants talked about the challenge of paying rent. It was hard before COVID-19 hit and thousands of people nationwide lost their jobs. Now, the pandemic continues on with no end in sight, the economic recovery is a long way off, and people are worried about what’s coming this winter. While the situation feels dire, speakers underscored the importance of staying persistent in our housing justice efforts on the West Side and beyond.
• Vanessa del Campo Chacon, a leader from Inquilinxs Unidxs tenants’ rights group, shared the story of tenants who, with collective action, successfully fought against notorious Minneapolis landlord Steve Frenz – and won. With incredible tenacity, grit, and hope, she and her neighbors bought their apartment building to form the Sky Without Limits Housing Cooperative. When tenants come together, we can shift the paradigm and build community wealth!

Whatever our color, origin or zip code, our vote is our power. This election season, we will vote in record numbers to swear in a government of, by, and for the people. Now is the time to confirm you're registered to vote – and get registered if you're not. 

A friend is experiencing a mental health crisis and you're worried they may hurt themselves. What do you do? You think a child on your block needs support meeting basic needs. Who do you call? A couple is arguing next door, and it sounds heated.  Do you step in?

Every day, people in our community are faced with crises like these. For many people, the answer is singular: “call 911.” But crisis response in the Twin Cities is far from perfect: it can lead to more harm rather than resolving it, and can have deadly outcomes – especially for Black and Indigenous people, and people of color. This leads to the question, who can we call besides 911? Does anyone “else” exist?

On the West Side, we look out for each other. That’s why, when COVID hit, we immediately organized a fund to support West Siders most impacted by the pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. Thanks to neighbors and foundation partners, we raised $38,000 that we distributed to 90 renter families. Many of these families are led by women of color; work in industries hardest hit by the pandemic such as house cleaning, restaurants, or construction; and are undocomented or otherwise do not have access to state or federal funds. 

We did it! 

The S.A.F.E. Housing Tenant Protection Ordinance passed City Council with unanimous support this Wednesday, making St. Paul home to the strongest renter rights in Minnesota. This ordinance is the result of community efforts- so thank you to all you West Siders who came out to support this issue by giving our Council member Rebecca Noecker a call! 

Starting March 1st of 2021, this ordinance will change five points of tenant-landlord law: 

• capping security deposits at one month’s rent
• reforming tenant screening criteria (with regards to credit scores and criminal history)
• forbidding landlords from terminating leases without a “Just Cause” in writing
• requiring landlords of affordable housing to give advance notice of sale and
• requiring landlords to provide tenants with a manuel on their rights and responsibilities

Book Club- We Keep Us Safe (author Zach Norris)

Click here for book club registration! 

WSCO, in partnership with Root & Restore, will host this book club. You will be contacted with more information once your registration is filled out.

To build community power and a shared vision of what real community safety is, Root & Restore St Paul is hosting a book club this summer to read and discuss Zach Norris's We Keep Us Safe. Norris presents a compelling argument for why our current system of policing and punishment doesn't work and why we need to transition to a care-based model for building safer, healthier communities.

Let's get this party started and pin down a date for us to meet online to talk about the book!

More about Zach Norris

As Board directors for the West Side Community Organization (WSCO), the district planning council for Saint Paul’s mulit-ethnic enclave across the Mississippi River from downtown, our work has long been involved with housing justice. Injustice and displacement have impacted the West Side for generations and the  Covid-19 pandemic has only aggravated the already precarious housing conditions of many long-term West Side residents. But that is not all. 

  The social unrest that has erupted in the Twin Cities is not only a response to the murder of George Floyd and others at the hands of the police. It is a response to other racial injustices, against Black and Brown communities, with housing injustice as just one of them. Community has spoken at a magnitude and collective clarity few of us have ever witnessed in our lifetime. The listening has happened and now is the time to act. We will not stand for injustice, we will not make excuses for inaction, and we are pressing elected officials to make meaningful change that protects the basic needs of every individual and family.

That’s why WSCO so strongly supports the S.A.F.E renter protection ordinances coming before the Saint Paul City Council on June 24th for a public hearing and final vote.

WSCO is hosting a pop-up food drive this weekend. Donations of items will be accepted at Villa del Sol - 88 Cesar Chavez from 8 am to 4pm on Friday, June 5th.  Please see requested donation items below. Give away times will be: