Emergency services do not need to be connected to police or work with police. In many areas, police are emphasized and funded to the point where it can be hard to find services that are not affiliated with them. But it’s important to know that people everywhere are working toward justice in ways that do not involve police, and anyone working in good faith who wants to find such options should have support in doing so.
History and acknowledgment are crucial, as white activists sometimes forge ahead with things that have already been done and deserve respect. Traditional cultures and social movements often rely on emergency services and security protocols that are community-based. For example, in Minneapolis in 1968, the American Indian Movement began AIM patrols. They were a patrol to directly confront and address the brutal attacks by police against Native American communities in Minneapolis.
In Syria, Kurdish women created Women’s Protection Units that successfully fought ISIS (also called ISIL, IS, and Daesh). They are widely renowned for their clear protocols and effectiveness in protecting their communities.
Efforts are underway in many cities to decenter or defund police and strengthen community-based alternatives. Cities can make budget and legislative changes so that they can allocate more funds toward non-police resources for helping the community when a crisis arises. They can gradually move resources allocated to police to services that support community safety such as crisis response teams, deescalation, and mental health services.
In the Twin Cities after police murdered George Floyd, there was a surge of interest in emergency services that do not rely on police. Revolutionary Emergency Partners (REP) was established to do just that. The group has a hotline to call when a situation arises and emergency help is needed, but police involvement is not desired. Their website is a great resource to find out what kinds of calls they specialize in, and any other information you might want to know before calling. REP also holds trainings and reading groups to strengthen transformative justice practices in the community in order to work toward the long-term goal of the abolition of police.
Other cities have projects similar to REP in some ways but with their own local differences. Here is a list of alternative (non-police) local crisis response programs across the United States.