Posted on 11/29/2021 11:07:37 AM PST by TigerClaws
This country has a long history of racist violence against Black churches by white vigilantes. It is not only important to situate our responses in our values, but also within that historical context and current reality.
Below, find a series of questions to think through before contacting the police in situations of vandalism. We hope they are useful in a time when fear, anxiety, urgency, and anger can make it harder to make safe and responsible decisions.
For more in-depth resources on resolving a wider variety of issues without police involvement, you can read this community-compiled online guide What to Do Instead of Calling the Police. There are many resources, organizations, and tools guiding us away from punitive solutions into restoration and transformation. Whether or not your congregation has faced vandalism, familiarize yourself with these resources in advance.
Let’s talk about why you’re calling the police...
Are you hoping the police will keep watch on your church to prevent further vandalism? If so, consider how increased surveillance may make the church less welcoming to targeted communities like People of Color, people who live on the street, trans, gender non-conforming and disabled folks, immigrants, and Muslims.
Also, consider developing a “Community Protection Plan” that involves other ways you can help your congregation feel safer after an incident. For example, you can try the following: If your church is in a gentrifying neighborhood, consider how calling the police will contribute to existing harm, surveillance, and targeting happening in the area. Buddy system for closing up the church.
Keeping doors locked when staff or others are alone or spread out in the building. Widely shared phone tree for who to communicate with. De-escalation or self-defense training in case of meeting an angry or hateful person on the property. Do you want an official record of what happened? You can use other methods of keeping records, such as photos, written and signed testimony, and emails to the Board or to the Region or UUA. Ask yourselves: How would having the incident on the police’s records benefit your community? Are there other ways to meet those needs? Do you want to press criminal charges? It is understandable to feel hurt, furious, and betrayed by vandalism. It is completely reasonable to fear that a person who defaces a Black Lives Matter sign or spray paints a slur might be violent toward People of Color, queer people, Jewish people, Muslim people or whoever was the target of the hateful behavior. However, we think it’s important to consider these options—many of which have long-term benefits for the congregation and community —before calling the police: Find restorative justice resources and mediators Implement your Community Protection Plan Funnel energy around the incident toward bystander intervention trainings or creating a community defense zone
Here’s an example of bystander intervention without calling the police: Don’t Be a Bystander: 6 Tips for Responding to Violent Attacks Do you need to file for insurance purposes? Take time to understand the policy. Ask yourself: What is required and for what purposes?
What will be the outcomes if you do not file with the police? Are you hoping for financial reimbursement for damages made? Consider the potential harm of police presence, and weigh that against the financial impact of the vandalism that’s occurred. This may need to be considered in a community protection plan and/or with Board members, minister, and other interested parties. Say you decide you need to interact with police. Let’s discuss how you can minimize harm.
Can you go to the police station with photos instead of bringing the police to your neighborhood? Inviting police into your community may be putting people in your neighborhood at risk. This approach is recommended in tip #2 of this zine 12 Things to do Instead of Calling the Cops. Can you include framing around police in your communication about the incident?
When you communicate with your members about the event, explain why you chose to utilize the police. Acknowledge that some folks (often white) feel safer when police are around and involved, and others (often Black, Indigenous, People of Color or poor) feel less safe and even in danger when police are around or involved. Be transparent about the challenges of engaging in social justice work when the majority of UU congregants are white, while People of Color are most at risk of experiencing the violence we all fear. It is possible that People of Color, particularly Black and Native folks, may not understand or find any feasible reason to call the police. If necessary, offer space to talk through priorities and safety when these events occur.
Can you proactively pursue transformative justice? What transformative justice resources are available in your community? Try and find others who have gone through similar situations. The UU congregation in Arlington has done this. You can also read this much longer moving story about Muslims asking for mercy within the criminal justice system after a hate crime at their mosque.
Not Christian. A Stalinazi Secularist/Humanist cult (that hates Whitey).
unitarians (unitarian universalist) have been well known to be a cult type group
unitarian church - LOL!! That’s where we went in our early 20s to pick up what are now called cougars.
How about calling the Church Police, a la Monty Python?
Unitarians are everything BUT Christian.
What rubbish.
Were you successful?
Some of my friends (gus) went to NOW meetings in NYC near Battery Park for the same reason.
Justice, yes.
“Transformative justice” — BS!
A friend used to rent out their church for small concerts that got too big for his house. They’re an interesting bunch for sure. I wouldn’t argue against your point.
yes ... usually took about 10 minutes or so ... they approached and suggested some fresh air ... that’s the only reason some of them went ... recent divorcees ...
Stopped reading right there. How CRT of you.
There was a man I believe it was last year who was robbed AT GUNPOINT and called 9-1-1 and basically apologized when asked about it. “I guess I didn’t think through what could happen to the man when the police showed up.”
These folks are lunatic ideologues. They’ll have us living in a Hobbesian hell if they’re allowed to control things.
“Been thinking more about it,” Erickson wrote in a text to a Times reporter. “I regret calling the police. It was my instinct but I wish it hadn’t been. I put those boys in danger of death by calling the cops.”
Why did he call the police?
One of the boys reportedly pointed a gun at Erickson and demanded he give them his car keys. He gave them his house keys instead, and they became frustrated and ran off before allegedly stealing another car.
I went to a Unitarian Church a few times with my sister and her husband.
I remember the kids art showing every sort of religious symbol except a cross. I remember a truly awful sermon about “How to Greet the Sun.” It was especially interesting because it mentioned an Aztec priest (but not not his human sacrifice).
I would not go back under any circumstances.
I attended a Unitarian funeral years ago. I couldn’t tell who the preacher was, who the mourners were, who died, etc...
ST Coleridge and TS Eliot started out as Unitarians. So poets with initials as first names gravitate away from Unitarianism and eventually towards some other church that believes in the Trinity. Just an observation.
On that note, regarding the Aztec priest:
https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/087/397/987/original/3d0ffb68e57d459a.png
There was a man I believe it was last year who was robbed AT GUNPOINT and called 9-1-1 and basically apologized when asked about it.
= = =
I would suggest that cooperating with robbers makes you aid and abet that crime.
I agree. I’ll take of the problem myself, and then I’ll call the medical examiner to haul away the bodies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
