In the wake of protests against police violence and calls to defund the police, a major obstacle opposing any and all reform or even criticism, are police unions. How do police operate as political actors? What is the role of police unions in preventing reform? How can we address policing when police and their unions wield such power? In this session, we will discuss these questions, situate them within the idea of racial capitalism and abolition, and connect the fight against policing to the broader struggle for socialism and left movements more generally. We will also discuss how you can get involved in the fight against the DC Police Union and the push to Defund the MPD.

This session will be led by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and a DSA member, Stuart Schrader, the Associate Director of the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship and Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, and Nell Geiser, a member of the Metro DC DSA Defund MPD Working Group.

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