Media Release: Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition rally to #DefundThePolice; #FundHousing

HAMILTON, ON, Nov. 23, 2020 /CNW/ - The Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition are holding a socially-distanced rally in front of Hamilton City Hall opposing the Hamilton Police Services' (HPS) request for a four-million-dollar budgetary increase. In the past few months, Hamilton police have engaged violently with houseless people brutally tearing down their encampments. People in poverty are over-policed and under-housed in our communities, with very little response from public officials.  Choosing to invest in policing over housing will lead to deaths this winter.

"There are now over 20 encampments of homeless people that consistently get taken apart and harassed by City officials and the Hamilton Police," said xxx, an organizer with the Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition. "Winter is here and houseless people have already lost their lives in the City of Toronto. We refuse to stand by and let governments ignore the housing crisis and continue to use police to harass people who have no options."

HPS receives about 20 percent of the City of Hamilton's taxpayer dollars. Their request for a budget increase is being entertained despite the fact that HPS reported an annual surplus of $567,875 in 2020. Hundreds of houseless people across the City of Hamilton continue to be evicted from public space during this pandemic. Hamilton has a severe housing crisis; in addition to a sizable community experiencing houselessness, many people are facing evictions in this pandemic economy. "The housing crisis is created by a failure of the government to serve the needs of its people during an unprecedented global pandemic," said Sarah Jama, an organizer with Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition. "The City has a choice, here. They can continue to throw away resources by funding the police, which will do nothing to solve our issues, or they can do their jobs, and work in the best interests of those in most urgent need."

The Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition are demanding that:

• police at all levels of government are defunded, and that the money is  re-invested into free, permanent housing across the country.
• The Hamilton police immediately reduce their budget by 50 percent.
• The four million dollar increase requested by the Hamilton Police Services (HPS) is rejected.
• The Hamilton Police Services surplus of $567,875 be reallocated toward free permanent housing locally.

SOURCE Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition

Sarah Jama at [phone] or Sahra Soudi at [phone], Email: [email protected], Twitter: @DefundHPS