Montclair Beyond Policing is a Montclair, NJ-based police/prison abolitionist group looking to create and establish alternatives to policing in Montclair. Founded in 2020, the group is still in preliminary phases but has established itself in town. They have already builts coalitions with organizations such as the Skate Essex Group, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, and with our very own Pressman Internship. They are also working to target Montclair’s elected officials to defund The Montclair Police Department, which currently has a budget of over 16 million dollars. They were active participants in Montclair’s Town Hall discussing the MPD's budget and role in town.

 

Our pod had the honor of meeting with Lily, a member of Montclair Beyond Policing and teacher in Montclair, to talk about police/prison abolition, the future of the organization, and what it means to be a teacher in today’s political climate. It was one of the most enlightening conversations we’ve had the privilege of partaking in. When we asked Lily, “Why Montclair?” What is the purpose of an abolition group in our progressive town? Lily’s answer was fairly simple: “All politics are local.” To create a better and more ethical world, we must start where we live. However progressive Montclair may be, we are still part of a larger white supremacist practice that is state sanctioned violence through policing. We must reckon with this. It is really important to organize where you live and have a say in the place where you have a material stake. Montclair Beyond Policing is beginning to do just this, not only by targeting electing officials to rethink the MPD’s budget, but in alternatives to policing as well.

 

Montclair Beyond Policing is hoping to create a Montclair-based transformative justice base. Additionally, they are working to put together a newsletter, educate people and bring abolition into the public consciousness, organizing a screening of a short film, asking people to take a pledge not to call the cops, and so much more. They are ambitious for a newly founded group, but with the right support, they can transform Montclair and establish in it the progressive ideals so many claim already exist. To learn more and get involved, see below!