On July 6th 2024, Sonya Massey was killed by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy, while fervently asking for HELP. It seems she was experiencing a mental health crisis. Sonya was met with bullets instead of empathy, kindness, compassion, or care.

We have all witnessed the pressing sociopolitical climate and many have been personally affected by the current state of our emergency services. There is a growing need to redefine public safety's function and expand our sense of security. Thus, we propose the establishment of independent emergency services tailored explicitly to meet the community's needs while conscientiously defunding the police.

Police departments nationwide received $115 billion in funding in the previous fiscal year alone (Center for American Progress, 2020). It's essential to investigate if this immense expenditure has proportionately translated into safer communities or just ballooned our police departments' operational capacity.

The call to defund does not mean an abolition of safety measures; rather it is a plea for a transition towards more effective, just, and humane alternatives that better represent our society's fabric. Community programs focusing on mental health services, addiction recovery centers, housing assistance and other social services could significantly benefit from reallocation of those funds, thereby decreasing the burdens placed on our police force.

Join us in honoring Sonya Massey, to benefit all others who believe in creating a safer, more inclusive, and more societally sensitive emergency network that correctly prioritizes assistance over enforcement. Let us strive for a restructuring that acknowledges our varying public safety needs. Sign this petition today.

Join the petition and help us structure a private and separate emergency service hotline that people who look like us will be safe to call! No more calling 911! We have been hunted and killed for 400 years.

If you call for help, you should get it. Let Sonya’s call, be the LAST call misinterpreted! Thank you.