Letter to the Editor: Abolish TUPD
November 12, 2020
To all Tulane students in New Orleans,
First, an introduction — we are writing as members of Abolish TUPD, a non-Tulane affiliated group organizing with the intent of defunding, disarming, dismantling and ultimately abolishing the Tulane University Police Department. We are POC-, queer-, and BIPOC-led. We are committed to centering and amplifying Black and Indigenous voices in our movement and adhering to all core principles of abolitionist theory.
As abolitionists, we recognize that modern police and prison systems do not keep us safe; they instead create and perpetuate cycles of violence. We dream of a world where these systems do not exist. We believe that the journey toward abolition begins in our own community, which is why our efforts are focused on the eradication of our campus police department and collectively building new ways to care for each other.
We hope that your radical imagination will be enlivened by our work and that you decide to bring your energy, self and skills to the cause. Part of our struggle is demonstrating to the administration that students demand abolition, and we are determined to build a critical mass that understands and supports this. If you, reader, are not already conspiring with us, you are the very person we are trying to reach.
Our purpose in this letter is to state our demands and to ask for your aid in their dispersal. If you are attending classes in person, it is likely you have already seen our demands flyers or the totally, 100% non-affiliated banners hanging around campus. The flyer you have likely seen is attached to this letter because we need your help. We ask that you please download, print out and hang up our demands flyers everywhere you can.
If you would like to see the full version of our demands, they are available under the ‘DEMANDS’ tab of our Linktree, included below. Our demands fall into four categories:
First, accountability from the administration in the abolition process to the BIPOC community in the form of a Citizen Police Accountability Committee. Tulane administration will commit to being held accountable to the CPAC, not the other way around. The CPAC, which will be made up of those communities most marginalized by police, will be tasked with imagining new safety measures on campus that operate outside of white supremacist notions of community well-being.
Second, we demand that all white supremacist institutions on campus are dismantled. This means no more cops on campus in any form and severing all ties with white supremacist institutions such as the NOPD, Louisiana State Police and ICE.
Third, we demand that the money allocated to fund TUPD — nine million dollars — is reinvested directly back into the BIPOC community.
Fourth, we demand that the Tulane administration comply with the demands released by the Tulane Black Student Union and all other Black organizations this summer.
This list of demands is a living, community-minded document, open to any and all feedback. As such, we encourage you to look over the demands and suggest additions, removals and general edits. The more eyes we have on it, the better. If you wish to get involved beyond feedback or flyering –– we hope you do! –– or even want to ask questions, find us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook @AbolishTUPD. We look forward to hearing from you and collectively building a liberated future free from violence, white supremacy and policing.
Towards a better world,
Abolish TUPD
https://linktr.ee/abolishtupd
Uma • Nov 20, 2020 at 11:23 am
YES ABOLISH TUPD! i really didn’t expect to see straight up racism in the comments section but i’m honestly not surprised. y’all need to read the information on abolish tupd’s social media pages and actually go through the demands before making uneducated statements about the efficacy of tupd. they DON’T keep us safe.
concerned student • Nov 16, 2020 at 2:47 pm
The efforts to stop police brutality and racism within police departments nationwide are laudable and good. But they are not needed at Tulane. Abolish TUPD appears to be a misguided attempt to bring the national “abolish the police” movement to Tulane. If this movement has grievances against TUPD, there are plenty of channels to voice them. USG has a Student Safety Committee that used to hold a weekly or biweekly dialogue with TUPD leadership and other safety-related entities at Tulane. Articles can be written in the Hullabaloo. Reach out to the President’s office. If all else fails, write something on the Tulane parents page. That’s where the real change at Tulane comes from anyway.
The fact of the matter is that TUPD exists to keep Tulane students safe. Due to the surrounding environment of New Orleans, this is a necessary part of life at Tulane. Cases of abuse are present but rare.
ben • Nov 16, 2020 at 11:24 am
Respectfully this is a terrible idea and not at all well thought out. The Tulane Police Department is there to protect you. If you don’t think they are doing a good job then request administrative reviews of the force. That is reasonable. To demand that local and federal law enforcement not be allowed on campus is unsafe, unlawful (neither you nor the school has the authority to keep them off) and unwelcome by 99% of the students, parents and faculty. Most of the country (liberals included) have backed away from the defund the police mantra and the exit poll results from the recent Presidential election clearly showed that this concept is very unpopular.
Lastly I am sure you don’t mean it like this but your demand to shift TUPD money to BIPOC sounds like a money grab.
Student • Nov 16, 2020 at 8:02 am
“ As abolitionists, we recognize that modern police and prison systems do not keep us safe; they instead create and perpetuate cycles of violence.”
Want to stay safe? Don’t commit a crime simple as that. Why do BIPOC people participate in the criminal justice system at greater rates? Because on average they commit for crimes. Simple as that. Disrespectfully, screw your demands.