It’s time to
invest in public
safety solutions
THAT DON’T CENTER COPS AND CAGES
Voting isn’t the only way to participate in the political process
Through a series of surveys, political education, and People’s Movement Assemblies (PMAs), PCSF worked with those directly impacted by policing and incarceration to collectively draft a bill to replace the 1994 Crime Bill.
This is the people’s process.
How the people’s process works
Recruiting and Survey Design
Recruitment – 21 local organizations from California, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas started this process. All of these organizations work in communities most affected by the 1994 Crime Bill, and are led by formerly incarcerated people or loved ones of incarcerated people.
Survey Design – We built the infrastructure needed to engage communities in our process including drafting and administering a survey for our currently incarcerated comrades to share their input.
Political education
PCSF conducted mass popular education to deepen participants’ understanding of the 1994 Crime Bill, the traditional legislative process, Participatory Democracy, and maintaining safety outside of policing and prisons.
Head over to our Resources page to access political education Materials, including information about the Crime Bill and our Community Teach-In Webinar Series
People’s Movement Assemblies (PMAs), Surveys and Focus Groups
We hosted mass gatherings of community members and the bases of participating organizations across the country to build community, share ideas, and brainstorm what to include in the People’s Bill for Safety and Freedom.
Surveys – We collected 467 responses to our survey, with currently incarcerated individuals comprising 45% of respondents and formerly incarcerated individuals comprising 55% of respondents.
Focus Groups – 4 partner organizations hosted focus groups with their members to provide extended input on what they felt we should include in the People’s Bill for Safety and Freedom.
The 2022 PMAs were held in 5 states to draft the new bill that will replace the ’94 Crime Bill.
2022 PMA Locations
Drafting & Drafting Convening
PCSF, with technical assistance, wrote a draft bill framework based on the demands and ideas gathered during the previous phases.
In October 2022, PCSF hosted a drafting convening with 43 Delegates elected from the communities who participated in the People’s Movement Assemblies, Surveys, and Focus Groups. Delegates provided thorough and thoughtful feedback on the framework draft. Delegates also received political education on the federal legislative process to help analyze the draft and develop our policy priorities.
Feedback Loop
Delegates from the Drafting Convening brought the framework draft back to their communities to collect feedback. This “feedback loop” included a survey to collect this additional feedback and helped the Coalition determine what needed to remain in the framework and ensured the framework fully reflected our communities’ desires and demands.
Ratification
On November 13, 2023, PCSF officially voted to ratify our bill framework. With a quorum met by representatives from each of our participating states and partner organizations, We officially adopted The People’s Bill for Safety and Freedom as our offering to repeal and replace the harmful 1994 Crime Bill with policy proposals created by the people and for the people.
"The only way we can keep ourselves safe is if we accumulate and implement our own power.
We have to shift power from those that for literally decades have been in positions of power into the hands of our communities.”
– Marbre Stahly Butts
