Troy Democratic Socialists of America

Template:TOCnestleft Troy Democratic Socialists of America is a New York affiliate of Democratic Socialists of America.

De-funding the police

A day before the city council plans to vote on the proposed 2021 city budget, community activists gathered at Barker Park to urge city officials to freeze funds allocated for Troy police.

Mayor Patrick Madden proposed over $21 million to fund the police department, a roughly $700,000 increase from the adopted budget for 2020; that accounts for over a quarter of the city’s overall budget.

Activists said that such healthy funding for the police department takes away resources for other services that are much more critical to providing community safety, such as affordable housing, schools, health and mental health services and more.

“We know that police are not the solution to what we’re trying to achieve,” said Kiani Conley-Wilson of Troy Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “We’re not only trying to defund the police, but we’re trying to put systems in place that are going to replace the police and make sure we have healthy, joyous lives that aren’t ruled by oppression or capitalism.”

Troy DSA has a list of 10 demands for how to defund the police that it says are rooted in divestment, accountability and transparency. Those demands include removing police officers from public schools, creating a new civilian police review board “with teeth” and immediately releasing all disciplinary records of Troy police officers.

“We spend over $20 million a year on an occupying force in Troy that operates without accountability,” said Caroline Nagy, another Troy DSA member.

Many of the speakers referenced the police shootings of civilians Dahmeek McDonald and Edson Thevenin. In Edson's killing, an internal investigation by the police department found Sgt. Randall French had lied about the moments leading up to the fatal shooting. Activists also voiced frustration with the lack of response from the city in releasing disciplinary records they have repeatedly requested since June.

“When we’re talking about defunding the police, what we’re talking about is what actually makes our community safe?” Damaris Miller from Troy 4 Black Lives asked, referencing access to resources that some studies show provide stability and deter violence.^[1]