Walking Tour of DC's Policing Landscape

Start: Saturday, January 30, 2021 1:00 PM

End: Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:30 PM

Miss being a tourist? Want to learn more about the organizations that police DC? Put on your walking shoes and join the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America’s Defund MPD Workgroup for a socially distant downtown DC walking tour! We’ll meet downtown near Judiciary Square and then walk as a group to visit sites related to policing in DC. Volunteer tour guides from Defund MPD will provide an overview of the history, architecture, geography, and theory connected to police in the Judiciary Square area. We’ll use original research to connect buildings and institutions in the area such as the Moultrie Courthouse, MPD Headquarters, the Museum for Law Enforcement, the Fraternal Order of Police’s DC Headquarters, and other sites along the way to our fight to defund MPD and build a better world in its place. The tour will cover subjects as varied as freeway construction, the New Deal’s mixed legacy, the architecture of mass incarceration, the ideological roots of “copaganda”, and situate the upcoming political fight on DC’s police union contract in the longer history of policing in DC. The tour will walk a total of around 0.6 of a mile and will require participants to remain standing for at least 60 minutes. You are highly encouraged to register in advance. You must RSVP in advance to receive day-of updates related to weather and logistics. If you need translation, disability accommodations, or have questions about the tour, please make sure you register by Monday, January 18th. In order to attend, you must wear a mask and commit to remaining at an appropriate distance from other attendees.