The Portland DSA Steering Committee urges the National Political Committee to take up Resolution 11 from the 2019 Convention. The resolution reads: “Therefore be it resolved employment as a Law Enforcement Officer is in opposition to the principles of the organization as outlined by the DSA Constitution Article II. Persons employed as Law Enforcement Officers are therefore excluded from membership in DSA.” Due to time constraints the resolution was not able to be voted on last summer, but it is within the NPC’s power to pass any resolution that did not make it to the floor.
Our chapter implemented a similar ban on law enforcement officers last year. It was written in collaboration with members of our Racial Justice Working Group and Safety Working Group. We recognize that we keep us safe — not the police. We saw this when the Portland Police shot an antifascist protestor in the head with a flash bang while protecting Patriot Prayer members like Joey Gibson. We see this today in Minneapolis, the same way we have seen this in Ferguson, and Charlottesville. We recognize that the police serve and protect the interests of capital and the reactionary white supremacist state.
We recognize that we keep us safe — not the police.
If we are to take seriously our task of becoming a mass movement of the working class, we must make our organization safe: for undocumented immigrants, for sex workers, for black and brown workers who disproportionately face the violence of the police. Preventing law enforcement from being members reasserts our commitment to anti oppression and working toward a truly liberatory world.
We urge the NPC to reaffirm the commitment made at the 2017 Convention, that DSA would commit to being a prison and police abolitionist organization, and approve Resolution 11.
In solidarity,
The Portland DSA Steering Committee