Contacting Elected Officials

General Template for Calling and Emailing  your senators and local officials 

  • How to Write a Letter to Elected Officials (ACLU)
  • Phone Script: Hello, my name is ______ and I am a constituent from the ____ District. I am contacting you because I want to know what you will do to protect black lives and prevent further instances of police brutality. I am calling to urge you to condemn police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive force by police.
  • Email Script: Dear [Representative], My name is [Your Name] and I am constituent from the [District Name] District. I am contacting you because I want to know what you will do to protect black lives and prevent further instances of police brutality. I am calling to urge you to condemn police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive force by police. Sincerely, [Your Name] (Source: Framingham Source)
  • Here is a Great tool created by Kavin Lam and Sonia Appasamy which auto-generates emails for you to send to your local officials re: Defund the Police (contains emails for other national actions as well)
  • ***IMPORTANT NOTE: There have been reports that some auto-generated emails are being deleted or go directly to spam. Make sure to add in a few personalized edits to any auto-generated email before sending.

New York Actions (City and State)

  • Defund NYPD (NYC): 
    • Email your council member (look up your council member and their contact info here). 
      • Be sure to check out this spreadsheet tracking the current positions of all city council members, as well as other info such as total cop $ taken since 2009 (as of June 4, only 4 NYC council members have voted NO on a budget that doesn’t significantly decrease funding for the NYPD). 
      • Another tool that allows you to email all the council members at once (and includes other cities as well)
    • Contact Mayor Bill de Blasio via webform or call 311 or for outside NYC: 212-NEW-YORK. You can also tweet at @NYCMayor
    • Contact City Council Speaker Corey Johnson via email (SpeakerJohnson@council.nyc.gov) or call 212-788-7210 (legislative office) or 212-564-7757 (district office). You can also tweet at @NYCSpeakerCoJo. 
    • Contact NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer via email (action@comptroller.nyc.gov) or call 212-669-3916. You can also tweet at @NYCComptroller. 
    • Script for Calling/Emailing: Hello/Dear [NAME], my name is [YOUR NAME] and am a [BOROUGH NAME] resident. I am [CALLING/WRITING] to oppose Mayor De Blasio’s budget for the fiscal year 2021.  There is no excuse for maintaining the NYPD's disproportionate budget while slashing the critical education, health, and social service funds that support the communities most affected by Covid-19. Let me be clear: The hardship and injustice that so many are facing within New York is not inevitable, but is a choice created by the city’s policies that actively devalue the lives of New Yorkers. As an elected official, you have a decision: invest and support the most vulnerable populations or bolster the militant police officers that keep them suppressed. You have the power to enact change, and failure to act is a decision to oppress millions of New Yorkers. Best, [NAME/BOROUGH/CONTACT INFO]
    • Want more info on Defund PD movements in New York and nationwide? Check out this great google doc with info/scripts/more contact info for national Defund PD movements across the country (including New York)
  • Suspension of Habeas Corpus: New York City suspended habeas corpus which means that you can be arrested and detained indefinitely. 
    • Email your council members (click here for template) to demand that they revoke the suspension of Habeas Corpus (template source:  Bobby LeMaire)
  • Remember to Vote
  • University Police Contracts
    • Call and email your local university/alma mater’s Chancellors and Student Affairs departments and ask them to regulate their relationships with the local police force

 

Other Local Actions

Don’t see your area below? Check out Defund12 to auto-generate an email to your local officials demanding that they defund the police and reallocate resources towards the community. *Remember to personalize auto-generated emails so they don’t automatically go to spam*

  • California: Urge the CA Judicial Council to Extend and Expand the $0 Bail Order: Gives an overview of the Judicial Council’s failure to act to decarcerate jails, reduce arrest, and mitigate the virus by lowering bail amounts in a meaningful way and provides info on how you can take action, whether you live in California or not. 
  • Canada: Check out this email auto-generator to send emails demanding that local officials defund the police ( includes Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Victoria, and Vancouver). 
  • Atlanta: The proposed FY2021 budget is calling for the hiring of 221 new cops.  A number of organizations laid out specific policy actions via a press release, which is a good resource to use in writing an email to the Atlanta Financial Division (source: Defund12). You can also click here to sign the petition to close the jail. 
  • Berkeley: A new budget will likely be decided at the end of June 2020. Sign a petition from People of Berkeley to Defund the Police or click here to auto-generate an email to the mayor or city council (source: Defund12)
  • Boston: Defund Boston Cops Toolkit (Week of June 8-14): Provides immediate actions you can take, talking points, and updates on any recent legislative progress 
  • Durham: The Durham City Council recently voted to increase the annual police budget by $3 million. Email council@durhamnc.gov to let them know they let you down (source: Bull City DSA). 
  • Los Angeles: The People’s Budget LA Toolkit: Puts together a series of daily actions that you can undertake every day including contacting local legislators. Justice LA has also put together a thrice-weekly email subscription list with ways to take quick daily actions. 
  • Louisville: Send an email to District Attorney Thomas B. Wine and Assistant Police Chief Robert Schroeder demanding that the officers responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death are arrested and prosecuted. Send an email to Mayor Greg Fisher with the same call to action. 
  • Oakland: While the Oakland City Council has no planned budgetary meetings until next year, you can still provide public input into the budget process by emailing BudgetSuggestions@oaklandca.gov. Click here for a great data visualization of the current Oakland budget from Open Budget Oakland. 
  • Orlando: Orlando City Council will hold a budget hearing on September 8, 2020. The budget from 2019 included funds to hire 80 additional police officers. Click here to auto-generate an email asking Orlando City Council Members to defund the Orlando Police Department (source: Defund12). 
  • Philadelphia: While Mayor Kenney and the City Council recently agreed to cut $19 million from the police budget, you can still demand that they defund the police further by emailing individual council members or the entire city council. Philly We Rise provides instructions here. 
  • Seattle: Keep pressure on the Seattle City Council as they consider defunding the police. Email the Seattle City Council by clicking here. 
  • Washington, DC: DC’s Judiciary Committee is accepting public testimony on the DC Metro PD budget. Submit in the form of video, email (judiciary@dccouncil.us) or leave a voicemail at (202) 350-1362. Check out this helpful Budget Testimony Talking Points.