50 signatures reached
To: Mayor Jane Castor and the Tampa City Council
Tell the City of Tampa to implement a People's Budget instead of a Police Budget
Adopt a People's Budget and spend the city's money on #CareNotCops!
The city of Tampa has already been asking its citizens what they want the budget to look like and with that information we need to create a people's budget to serve the people.
Demand that Tampa adopt a People’s Budget, not more funding for police.
This petition is inspired by the People's budget of LA but it needs to be enacted immediately in Tampa.
Why is this important?
This petition is inspired by the People's budget of LA but it needs to be enacted in Tampa.
LA People's Budget History:
For five years now, Los Angeles activists have been fighting to adopt a city budget that will provide care and resources for the people. And for just as long, Mayor Garcetti has increased the budget for LAPD, sacrificing funding for vital programs that actually create safe communities. With the coronavirus pandemic’s outsized impact on Black people, and the recent uprisings that echo demands to #DefundThePolice across the country, it has become nothing less than imperative that the City of Los Angeles decrease funding for police and increase investment in services that provide for our people: housing, mental health care, rent suspension and cancellation, funding for youth programs, and investments that directly benefit Black communities.
As we experience the Covid-19 pandemic, Mass Unemployment, Black Lives Matter uprisings, and the upcoming eviction crisis we need to call for our city to re-invest in our communities.
37% of Tampa's 2020 General Fund Budget is spent on the Tampa Police Department.
The city of Tampa spends 162,695,004 on its Police Department. We Demand that they reallocate this budget with the actual needs of citizens in mind.
Under Chief Brian Dugan and previous police chief and current mayor Jane Castor's leadership there has been a 24% increase in use of force and a 223% increase in chemical agents like tear gas and pepper spray.
This budget needs to be reallocated to support our community in crisis.
We also call on Mayor Jane Castor to Fire Chief Brian Dugan for his complete lack of transparency surrounding less than lethal force and chemical warfare used on peaceful protestors.
#JusticeForJonasJoseph
#JusticeforJosiah
#BlackLivesMatter