As you know, on July 8, the SCAR Platform for Change and Smart Justice Spokane coalitions held a Joint Policy Retreat. During that retreat we collectively agreed upon six policy priorities for the next year which we’ve previously shared. Now we want to update you on what SCAR has specifically done to contribute to these goals, and offer the opportunity for our community to evaluate our work and help us course correct if necessary. We want to remain accountable to you.

 

  1. Decriminalizing Poverty and Houselessness (LFOs/Cash Bail/Stop the Sweeps/nuisance citations) SCAR is supporting the work of other organizations to support our local houseless population through donations and message amplification. The Research and Data Team is also processing various types of local policing data to help us better understand these issues in Spokane. SCAR is hosting regular Know Your Rights events to help keep the public informed of their rights when interacting with police, regardless of their housing status. Dates for the new round of trainings will be announced next week.

  2. Investing in Mental Health/Appropriate Response and Dispatch Reform — Movement toward this has been made by the state legislature, and a policing sub-group made up of SCAR and SJS members meets weekly to strategize and gather dispatch and policing data. The Research and Data Team is also processing various types of local policing data to help us better understand these issues in Spokane.

  3. Electing and Targeting Elected Officials – judges, county commissioners, sheriff, prosecutor — SCAR received a data dump from Spokane County that included sentencing and judge assignments. The Research and Data Team (RAD Team) is helping process this data.

  4. Local parity of WA State police accountability bills — This was the primary aim of the August 5 Community Press Conference and is the goal of the subsequent email action.

  5. End school to Prison Pipeline — Critical race theory has become a catch-all phrase for anti-racist education measures that supporters of the status quo want to squelch. SCAR has convened a stakeholder group to strategize actions to counter propaganda against critical race theory (CRT). Keep an eye out for local press on this issue.

  6. End Unwarranted Subjugation of Personhood — We’ve received feedback that we need more education around this idea, and the Writer’s room will begin working on producing materials around this idea, so that the SCAR community can discuss this idea with a clear and unified voice.

 

If you have questions, concerns, or comments on any of these policy priorities, please send them to jac@scarspokane.org.

Please us the subject line: SCAR Policy Priorities Feedback