Below is the full text of a leaflet that will be distributed before and during the action, as there is too much text to share via alt text features on social media.
The leaflet has black text and a bright yellow background. The event information is listed in the bottom right, in stretched font. It reads:
- International Day Against Police Brutality
- 15 March 2023
- 5-6 PM
- Corner of Donald & Graham outside Millennium Library
- Winnipeg, MB
- aboli.sh/brutality
In the bottom left is three circular graphics with star-like edges. Each contains a statement summarizing the leaflet. They read:
- The most effective way to end police brutality is to reduce reliance on the police
- This requires defunding the police & re-funding evidence-based community safety
- Every dollar spent on policing is a missed opportunity to invest in community supports that make communities safer!
The remainder of the text is information categorized into two categories and columns. The first, on the left, is titled "What is happening with police spending in Winnipeg?" The facts underneath that read:
- Winnipeg’s police budget = $327M in 2023
- $281.3M comes from direct city funding (up $8.3M from 2022)
- More than ¼ of operating budget goes to policing: highest of major cities in Canada
- More than 1,200 officers makes over $100k a year
- The police get as much direct city funding as public transit, recreation, parks/trees, snow removal, libraries, and arts/culture COMBINED
- Meanwhile, many city services are dangerously understaffed and unable to do vital jobs effectively
- Decades of police budget increases haven’t reduced violence or crime
- Increased policing has made the lives of many less safe, especially people who are most likely to be victims of violence
- Across Canada, police-involved deaths are on the rise. Top dispatched event is for “well-being checks.”
- If we invested in people’s well-being, we wouldn’t have to pay cops to check on them
The second category and column is on the right. Its title is "What could we fund if we defunded the police?" The facts underneath that read:
- Building safety through community investment means empowering people to respond to problems in ways of their choosing by expanding access to resources and services.
- Rather than only responding and punishing after the fact, we can prevent violence and harm and avert crises by supporting people
- Free, reliable, and expanded public transit (being able to easily move from one place to another is a safety issue)
- Libraries with expanded hours, staffed at levels that make workers and users feel safe and supported
- Safe and equitable drug consumption, supply, and treatment access (many more lives are saved by access to safe drugs and drug-taking supplies than are saved by police)
- Food security through city-run and subsidized kitchens, fridges, and grocery stores
- Community centers and community programming adequately staffed & open all the time
- Safe public housing - instead of investing in the destruction of homeless encampments, the city could invest in housing.
- Expanded non-carceral mental health crisis response services