Alternatives to Calling the Police: Washington, DC

Showing Up for Racial Justice, DC - Policing Team

Updated: 1.22.22

The link to this document is: bit.ly/safetybeyondpolice 

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Here is a printable pdf of the Resource Guide and Flowchart

Make your Own Version : 

Here is a Customizable version of the Flowchart -  so you can make your own version with local resources. (You may need to email us to get editing access, Canva permissions are odd)

Flowcharts created in other cities:

United States

  • Phoenix Union High School District, AZ - coming soon
  • Bay Area, CA

Canada

  • Ottawa, ON - Coming Soon
  • Toronto,  ON  -  Coming Soon

Contact Us : 

Feedback? Please send any feedback, comments, or questions. You can reach us at: alternativestopolicedc@gmail.com. Please email us again if you don’t hear from us after a week.

Plain Text of this DC Resource Guide : 

Steps to Ask Yourself

  1. Is this merely an inconvenience to me? > Can I put up with this and be okay?
  2. No, I need to respond > Can I handle this on my own, is this something I could try to talk-out with the person?
  3. No, I need back-up > Is there a friend, neighbor, or someone whom I could call to help me?  
  4. No, I need a professional > Can we use mediation to talk through what’s happening or is there an emergency response hotline I could call?
  5. No >  If I call the police do I understand how involving the police could impact me and the other person? If police are present do you know what to do?

List of Mediation & Hotlines resources

  • Mediation: Community Mediation DC (240) 766-5311 M-F 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM Mediation offers a chance to listen and to be heard, to build relationships, and to develop your own solutions to your own conflict. Mediation works because when people develop their own solutions, these solutions last longer.  Mediators are professionally trained volunteers who reflect the diversity of your community. Call or email info@communitymediationdc.org.for more information.
  • Runaway and Homeless Youth: National Runaway Safeline 1 (800) RUNAWAY, text 66008 24/7 by telephone, text, or online chat for teens, young adults, parents, and guardians. Offers support, can mediate talks between family members and provide free bus tickets home. If you want to avoid mandatory reporting, avoid giving identifying information.
  • Victim Support:  DC Victim Hotline  (844) 443-5732 24/7 by telephone, text, or online chat. The hotline provides comprehensive information, resources and referrals in D.C. to connect vic        tims of crime to free resources and  help them navigate the physical, financial, legal, and emotional repercussions of crime.
  • Sexual Assault: DC Rape Crisis Center Hotline  (800) 656-4673 24/7 The Center, committed to the belief that all forms of oppression are linked,  helps survivors and their families heal from the aftermath of sexual violence through crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy, community outreach, education, and legal and public policy initiatives. They will connect you to an advocate and other survivor resources.
  • Severe Heat or Cold: Hypothermia Shelter Hotline (800) 535-7252 24/7 They will dispatch a van equipped with water, blankets, gloves and jackets. When it is 32 degrees or below the van can take the person from the street to an emergency shelter or to a hospital if needed. When it is 95 degrees or above the van can transport the person to cooling centers. Transportation is always voluntary.
  • Police Misconduct : Office of Police Complaints (866) 588-0569 24/7 you can initiate misconduct complaints against Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers within 90 days of the incident by calling or filling out an online form.
  • Mental Health Crisis: DBH Community Response Team  (202) 673-6495 24/7 supports adults who are experiencing emotional, psychiatric or substance use vulnerabilities to promote service engagement and overall behavioral health and wellness.

Opportunities to Get Involved Building Alternative Structures to Police in DC:

  • Know your neighborhood: meet your neighbors: learn their names, who they are, their contact information, say hello when you walk by, invest in relationships with them.
  • Learn bystander intervention, de-escalation, and street harassment responses by getting a group of friends, neighbors, or colleagues together and scheduling a training with the Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS). CASS is a local organization that mobilizes the community to end public sexual harassment and assault in the DC.
  • Ask bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and music venues to join the Safe Bar Collective - by training their staff to recognize and respond to harassment and keep communities safe from sexual violence and hate violence using bystander intervention strategies.
  • DC Peace Team can help you identify sources of conflict in your community through circles and form unarmed civilian protection and accompaniment units in your neighborhood as well as learn skills in nonviolent communication, bystander intervention, and restorative circles.
  • Volunteer with Community Mediation D.C. (see above)
  • Join Stop Police Terror Project DC : SPTP works to oppose police abuses and to build community-led peacekeeping efforts to empower oppressed communities to deal with their own security concerns in Washington DC. SPTP has many campaigns including one to support DC’s Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act
  • Join Showing Up for Racial Justice DC - Policing:  SURJ-DC-Policing organizes white people around racial justice and police abuse in the District. Get involved by contacting surjdc+policing@gmail.com, hosting political education house parties, facilitating education events, and fundraising for their partner community organizations.

Alternative Structures We Can Build:

  • Audre Lorde Project’s Safe Outside the System  sought to empower community members to be proactive in preventing anti-LGBTQ violence, intervene when violent situations arise, and build stronger relationships between LGBTQ people of color, our allies and the community as a whole.  (No longer active - but many resources available)

  • Philly’s Pissed & Philly Stands Up, PP provided direct support to survivors of sexual assault and PSU works with folks who have committed sexual assault or partner abuse to take accountability. (No longer active - but many resources available)

  • Community-based approach to ending interpersonal violence  started in 2004 in Oakland as a national resource center to create and promote community-based interventions to interpersonal violence.

  • Incite! is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and our communities through direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing. Stop Law Enforcement Toolkit and Community Accountability Best Practices
  • Cure Violence, based in Chicago, is an evidence-based public health approach to reducing shootings and killings. They use trained street violence interrupters and outreach staff, public education campaigns, and community mobilization to counter  the violence epidemic. Note: this program is now state-sponsored, which some people feel undermines its efficacy and sustainability.

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