Database for Police Abolition (D4PA) is a database that tracks proposals and policies under consideration by lawmakers that intend to defund police departments, disarm police officers, limit the amount of policing in neighborhoods, and fund “alternative visions” for law enforcement. Its operators are left-of-center politically and support police abolition. They collect this information to benefit activists and left-leaning policymakers. ¹

Background

Database for Police Abolition was launched in June 2020 at its own (now defunct) URL, “d4pa.org.” It was led by volunteers who organized the original list and created an interface for it. ²

In June 2021, ownership of the database was transferred to Defund the Police, a left-of-center activist organization. In January 2021, D4PA’s database became integrated with Defund the Police’s website. ³ Database for Police Abolition’s prior website subsequently shut down. ⁴

Defund the Police is a “comprehensive web resource” designed to help organizers get connected with other campaigns in the police abolition movement, acquire tools for their organizations and activist work, and track legislation related to their causes. It is housed and staffed by the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability, an activist group that puts pressure on local governments to reduce funding for police departments. ⁵

The MPD150 project, a police abolition group, mentioned the Database for Police Abolition on its “Resources” page alongside figures and organizations like Angela Davis, Patrisse Cullors, and the Zinn Education Project. ⁶

The Database

The database formerly was designed as a series of pie charts, maps, and menus which broke down groups by type and location. ⁷ Now the database is integrated into the search function of Defund the Police’s website and split into three categories: “Organizing Resources,” “Legislative Resources,” and “Training and Events.” ⁸

Users can search by organizations’ budget advocacy, reports, videos, curricula, infographics, and research, among other items. They can also search by topics, such as “demilitarization,” “reinvestment,” “technology/surveillance,” “police free schools,” “police free public spaces,” “ICE,” and “gang policing.” ⁹ Some listed items include a petition against banks and police departments from receiving COVID relief funds, campaigns to reduce the amount of police in schools, efforts to abolish police unions and associations, and general police-defunding initiatives. ¹⁰

Events and Legislative Resources are grouped by similar subcategories, but users can also filter legislative resources for legislation that is or was “community backed,” “under consideration,” “proposed,” “passed,” “passed with caveat(s),” “stalemate/blocked,” or “failed.” ¹¹ The event list features “practice spaces” for preventing the “criminalization” of mental health, lectures on “data criminalization,” “building community alternatives to police response,” and a bootcamp on police-free schools. ¹² The legislative list includes legislation on protecting illegal immigrants, diverting police funds to “community-based organizations,” and police budget cuts. ¹³

1. “Database for Police Abolition (d4pa).” Community Resource Hub. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://communityresourcehub.org/resources/database-for-police-abolition/.
2. “About.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/about/.
3. “About.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/about/.
4. “Database for Police Abolition (d4pa).” Community Resource Hub. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://communityresourcehub.org/resources/database-for-police-abolition/.
5. “About.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/about/.
6. “Resources.” MPD150. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://www.mpd150.com/resources/.
7. “Database for Police Abolition (d4pa).” Community Resource Hub. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://communityresourcehub.org/resources/database-for-police-abolition/.
8. Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/.
9. “Organizing Resources.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/organizing-resources/.
10. “Organizing Resources.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/organizing-resources/.
11. “Legislative Resources.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/legislation-resources/.
12. “Training & Events.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/trainings/.
13. “Legislative Resources.” Defund the Police. Accessed 19 February 2022. https://defundpolice.org/legislation-resources/.