Defund. Re-Envision. Transform

A grassroots campaign that sought to defund SLMPD, re-envision public safety, and transform St. Louis

 
 

A Message from the
DRT Campaign

Dear Defund. Re-Envision. Transform. (DRT) Community, 

We have bittersweet news to share: the organizations that convene the DRT coalition will be sunsetting this campaign at the end of 2024. 

First and foremost, we would like to thank you for the dedication, imagination, and hard work you’ve put into the difficult project of envisioning and fighting for a St. Louis without oppressive systems of policing and incarceration. Your commitment, advocacy, and passion have not only inspired us within the DRT movement, but also those who are new to the idea of re-envisioning public safety. Every hard conversation had in the Monthly Movement Meeting, every impassioned voice raised during Board of Aldermen committee hearings, and every conversation shared with your friends, family, and neighbors has shaped the landscape for what is to come—a St. Louis liberated from the violence of police and prisons, where we can thrive in communities that have robust access to life-giving resources. 

When the DRT campaign started in April of 2021, we aimed to continue the political education and advocacy efforts of the Close the Workhouse campaign while taking the additional and necessary step of expanding the conversation to include policing.

And we have. 

Over the past four years, the DRT campaign has shaped the terrain of St. Louis in numerous ways:

  • DRT has provided a political home for people to have a safe and inclusive place to learn and grow in abolition in the form of Monthly Movement Meetings. 

  • We have created and implemented political education in the form of Abolition 101, STL Civics, and STL Budget 101 trainings, which elevated the political consciousness and analysis of hundreds of people. 

  • In 2021, the DRT campaign successfully organized for a $4 million cut to the budget of SLMPD, with those funds reallocated to affordable housing, homeless services, direct victim support, and civil rights enforcement.

  • DRT created, published, and distributed annual budget toolkits, a Defund ShotSpotter toolkit, and a “create your own budget” tool to empower everyday people to radically re-envision the distribution of public dollars.

  • We held dozens of community canvasses, engaging thousands of St. Louis residents in conversations about policing, public safety, and surveillance.

  • We created opportunities for routine advocacy through the budget process by demanding that the Budget Committee shift from having one public community hearing to at least three during the budget season. We’ve watched on with pride over the past four years as hundreds of people have shown up and made their voices heard with the tools we have created.

  • DRT and a coalition of community partners successfully organized to pass Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) legislation, demanding transparency and giving residents a voice in the technologies used in their communities.

And the DRT campaign did all of this against a backdrop of fear-mongering, demonization, and threats of state control. We believe the legacy and momentum of DRT will be long-lasting and we know that together, we will win.

Why is the Campaign Sunsetting?

The truth is that there is no simple answer to this question and this decision was not made lightly; it comes from a place of deep reflection on our ability to effectively carry forward our mission, both as organizations and as a campaign team. This reflection requires us to consider both internal factors of people, time, and resources, and external factors shaping the conditions in which we organize and fight together—considerations that range from practical to strategic. Effective movements require flexibility, reflection, and a willingness to adapt as the landscape shifts. We have done good work here together and will continue to do good work together in many spaces. Make no mistake: we will continue to fight for the abolition of prisons, jails, police, and prosecution. This is not the end of our work but a continuation through new forms, guided by the same commitment to building power and advancing our shared goals.

In fact, this is a moment of pride and hope as we consider where we have been, what we have done, and where we are going next. Movements that seek transformative change must evolve, learning from the past and anchored in a vision for the future.

This shift reflects our dedication to that larger vision, ensuring that our strategies are rooted in purpose and aligned with the grassroots momentum we’ve cultivated. Together, we will continue to move forward, united in the belief that justice and liberation are within reach.

What Lessons Have We Learned?

Throughout this campaign, we have faced challenges and shared successes. We can draw upon lessons from the wins we have accomplished and the barriers we’ve experienced together over the past four years. These lessons remind us that our work is far from over:

Abolition now!

Borrowing from the wisdom of Critical Resistance, the work of prison-industrial complex abolition continues today and every day. In the course of this campaign, we have learned that abolition is not only a dream for the future, it is a reality that is possible in our lifetimes. The DRT Campaign, born in the wake of the 2021 grassroots-led campaign to close the Workhouse, propelled that momentum into securing $4 million from the SLMPD budget to invest into what we know truly makes our community safer: affordable housing, accessible social resources, and more. We know that we can win, and we DO win when our collective people power is harnessed into actions that bring us closer to the world we desire for our people.

People are moveable.

Through the movement-building work of this campaign we also learned that people are moveable. Not everyone who joined DRT arrived at their first event as an abolitionist. However, through community education and relationship-building, we’ve seen how people from all walks of life and identities can arrive at a shared political analysis for liberation to ground our work. It is critical that we continue to invest in one another at this scale because we know that none of us is free until all of us are free.

Coalitions require time, energy, commitment, and patience.

Working in coalition with other organizations, community groups, and diverse individuals comes with unique challenges that require deep relationship, unwavering commitment, and radical compassion. Despite these unique challenges, or perhaps because of them, coalition building is absolutely essential to creating meaningful systems-level change, and we must continue to develop our muscle for collective strategizing and decision-making, strengthening our ability to work across differences of all kinds. This is the meaning of principled struggle—for conflict to be generative, we have to remember that we are committed to one another’s humanity in a common cause and operate from our shared analysis and values. 

Expect change.

Finally, we have learned firsthand that the only constant in our work is change. Over the course of this campaign, we have witnessed shifts in our climate on local, national, and global levels. We understand that our goals and tactics must adapt in response to these changes, all while staying aligned with our collective vision of an abolitionist future. As we move into the next chapter of this work, we will remain agile, planning thoughtfully and responsively in the evolving landscape for whatever new challenges emerge ahead.

What’s Next on the Horizon?

The DRT campaign has prepared fertile ground for the seeds of revolution to continue to grow, and we will remember that it is our duty to advance our vision of a just, equitable, and liberated St. Louis region. 

We encourage you to continue to engage in the work of re-imagining public safety in the following spaces:

In solidarity and gratitude,

The DRT Coalition Team

 

Anchor Organizations

 

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