A fiercely argued, deeply informed examination of why defunding the police is the only way to support a model of security and protection that increases public safety overall

Time and again we see police respond to minor calls with escalation, wrongful arrests, even murder. Reform programs are often poorly implemented and their impacts short-lived. Calls to “defund” the police have rung out across the nation, yet the actual meaning of the phrase remains unclear. In Defund, longtime activist and the founder of Black Lives Matter Canada, Sandy Hudson, elucidates what defunding the police actually means and why it matters, by exploring today’s criminal landscape and the patterns and structures that result in safer, well-resourced communities.

Hudson explores the origins of commonly held ideas about police and safety to show how police-related social policies are based more on a sensationalized idea of safety than on outcomes and data. Through interviews and sociological research, she demonstrates that law enforcement solves only a small number of the crimes that police are tasked to investigate, and even the process of assigning cases depends more on optics than on large-scale crime reduction. Conversely, safe neighbourhoods, rather than featuring an increased police presence, are rich in resources and social programs.

After laying out the history and data behind our broken policing system, Hudson explores how communities can save lives as well as money by investing in themselves rather than in policing. She shows how simple changes to educational resources, community centres and civic engagement can not only make communities safer, but also better able to provide for their citizens in countless ways. Clear-eyed and hopeful yet pragmatic, Defund is the key to understanding why a future without police is not only entirely possible, but necessary.

SANDY HUDSON is a multidisciplinary creator, writer and activist, and the founder of Black Lives Matter Canada. She also co-founded the Black Legal Action Centre, a specialty legal aid clinic, which provides direct legal services and test-case litigation for Black communities in Ontario. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Toronto Star and the Huffington Post, among other publications. She holds a JD from the UCLA School of Law and a master of arts in social justice education from the University of Toronto. A co-host of the podcast Sandy and Nora Talk Politics, she is also co-author of the bestselling anthology Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada. Currently based in Los Angeles, Hudson is co-executive producer of the CBC documentary series Black Life: Untold Stories, an official selection of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Sandy Hudson's profile page