Community Protection Campaign

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What is the Community Protection Campaign?

The Community Protection Campaign is a community based effort to stop profiling and other forms of violence in our communities.  Historically, racial profiling and police violence drastically increase over the summer months.  The month of July commemorates the deaths of Paul Childs, Marvin Booker, Alonzo Ashley, the beatings at Denver Diner, and other incidents at the hands of Denver law enforcement. 

The Community Protection Campaign is an effort by Colorado Progressive Coalition and other grassroots groups to build power and organizing capacity in our communities and work towards communities free of violence.  Colorado Progressive Coalition's focus will be on stopping racial profiling and police brutality, while partner organizations will focus on a variety of issues including immigrant rights, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBGTQ) communities, youth issues, homelessness and more.  Collectively, we will be organizing and building power in our communities in addition to watching law enforcement for abusive practices.  These community based responses will include the following as well as many other efforts organized by partner organizations:

Racial Justice Hotline

Community members who have been racially profiled, harassed or assaulted by law enforcement can call our statewide hotline to receive help filing formal complaints against law enforcement and to document the abuse for our year-end report on police accountability.

The Blue Line

Law enforcement traditionally operates under a code of silence.  If officers see something wrong with the behavior of their fellow officers, they usually stay silent or keep it amongst themselves.  This culture is often referred to as the "blue line", an imaginary line that law enforcement officials rarely cross.  This approach becomes dysfunctional and dangerous, allowing some law enforcement officials to habitually abuse their authority. 

Our innovative pilot project, The Blue Line, will provide a way for law enforcement officials to anonymously file complaints against fellow law enforcement and to make complaints about institutional problems.  The Blue Line will serve to disrupt the code of silence, will serve as a tool to hold law enforcement accountable, and will be a deterrent for abuse and misconduct. 

Fight Back with Your Rights Workshops

These Know Your Rights Workshops are designed to provide tools to community members so that they can better navigate their encounters with law enforcement.  Too often, people are needlessly stopped, arrested and prosecuted because they do not know simple phrases, like "Have I done anything wrong?" or "Am I free to go?".  We have already begun training community members to organize and facilitate these trainings. CPC and partner organizations will offer these trainings in Northeast Denver, West Denver, Aurora, Greeley, and other locations.

When: 

The campaign started in late May, will continue in June and will be focused on the month of July. Take a look at our schedule of events and google calendar for a our workshops, events, and actions for this campaign:
http://progressivecoalition.org/protection-calendar-schedule
http://progressivecoalition.org/community-protection-campaign-calendar

Scope: 

The campaign is intended to continue the fight for Racial Justice and Civil Rights, build power and organizing capacity in our communities, and work towards communities free of violence.  Colorado Progressive Coalition's focus will be on stopping racial profiling and police brutality.  Partner organizations will focus on a variety of issues including immigrant rights, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBGTQ) communities, youth issues, homelessness, and more.