FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2018
Contact: Emily Phelps | press@indivisible.org
Sacramento, CA—The Indivisible Project’s State & Local Policy Manager and co-founder of Indivisible CA: StateStrong Jiggy Athilingam released the following statement in response to the California state Senate’s vote on the police demilitarization bill, AB 3131:
“Today, the California Senate took a critical step forward in protecting our communities by voting to pass AB 3131, which will bring much needed transparency into the acquisition of military equipment by local law enforcement agencies.
“Our neighborhoods are not war zones and police should not need military grade weapons to carry out their duties. Those who suffer the most from police militarization are members of our community, and in particular persons of color. AB 3131 simply gives the community its deserved seat at the table, an important and necessary first step toward ending police violence.
“Indivisible groups in California have been proud to join a coalition of organizations such as the ACLU of California, Anti-Police Terror Project, and American Friends Service Committee who have been working to fight police brutality for decades. AB 3131 is one small step forward and we look forward to continuing in the fight against police militarization with these partners.”
Indivisible CA: StateStrong, a statewide coalition of Indivisible groups that is focused on state legislative advocacy in California, co-sponsored this bill in collaboration with the ACLU of California, Friends Committee on Legislation, Anti-Police Terror Project, and the American Friends Service Committee. The Indivisible Project’s State and Local Policy program has been supporting their efforts.
Thirty-three California Indivisible groups submitted letters of support for this bill and Indivisible members have attended committee hearings to speak in support during public comment. The coalition held two lobby days for the bill in May and August with activists visiting over 60 member offices in Sacramento and in districts across the state from the Bay Area to Riverside to San Diego.
AB 3131 has passed both the Assembly and Senate floor votes and only needs to go back to the Assembly for concurrence before heading to the Governor for a signature.
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