Why defund?

Our Goal

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Our History

In June of 2020, a group of Black and Latinx leaders came together with white allies/accomplices to form the coalition that is Defund The GRPD.  Our initial focus was to get the City Commission to cut the police budget from approx. 38% of the 2020-2021 city budget down to 32%.  We knew that a city charter amendment from 1995 required that the city budget allot at least 32% to the GRPD, so that was a good place to start.

Why Defund

We believe it's not too much to ask for a world where everybody in Grand Rapids has their basic and complex needs met, as they see fit: where people all have access to comfortable housing, a wide variety of food, healing and supportive healthcare and all sorts of individual and family supports, from child care to mental health counseling.

In this world, we keep each other safe by keeping each other whole. ​

And as the rare harm occurs, we practice accountability for true healing and change, rather than using the tactics that have failed for hundreds of years to keep us safe: imprisonment and criminalization. ​

Want to get involved?

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