NCSPAN is a statewide Alliance of North Carolina organizations who agree to work together collectively to amplify the voices and the work happening in our local communities.

History of NCSPAN

The call to start a NC Statewide Police Accountability network was launched in November of 2016. In February 2017, 30 of the 40 organizations who signed on to be a part of the network convened and worked to develop the frame of NCSPAN. We are a project/network within the BLACK LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZING COLLECTIVE.

Vision of NCSPAN

We will have a strong statewide alliance that will build inter-sectional people power that seeks to move from a police state and dismantle police departments power by creating more police accountability, police free zones, and by build community, education, and alternate systems. This will be accomplished in the following ways:

  • Rapid Response: By developing a tight Rapid Response system to protect our communities and advance the initiatives that center or communities needs.
  • Capacity Building: Develop tools and process to keep our beloved communities safe, develop local leaders, and strengthen local organizations.
  • Research: Gather Data and information that accurately tells the stories of our beloved
    communities lives, support and amplifies our narrative on issues, and to politically educate our communities on what’s happening in politics.

Values / Points of Unity

  • Safety is beyond policing: We believe that our communities are safer when we make greater investments in the futures of black & brown and LGBTQ youth, rather than police officers with military-grade equipment. Our communities deserve safety in the form of mental health resources, strong public schools, job training, affordable housing, rec centers.
  • Representation is not accountability: We believe that representation of people of color in the leadership or ranks of North Carolina’s police departments is not a substitute for policy that creates an accountability infrastructure, transparency, and equity in policing.
  • Counselors not cops: We believe that all students can succeed when surrounded by supportive counselors and school staff, options to resolve conflict with their peers, restorative justice practices, and a fulfilling curriculum rather than police officers who choose suspension and handcuffs.
  • Sanctuary for all: We believe that our local elected officials have a unique responsibility to establish real protections for city residents targeted by aggressive law enforcement tactics — especially protocol advanced under the banner of “public safety” and federal cooperation.
  • Transparency in action: We believe that as public officials with tremendous power,
    responsibility, and interaction with the public, North Carolina law enforcement agencies should operate publicly — from body camera footage to policing data.
  • Our struggles are one: We know that neighborhoods that are disproportionately policed have higher crime rates reported. We know that this self-fulfilling cycle of over-policing and over-hyped crime statistics justify publicly-funded “revitalization” processes that push-out low-income communities from our historic homes. We believe that our struggle for affordable housing is deeply connected to our struggle for safety, equitable policing, and liberation.
  • Community control: We believe that there’s an inherent conflict of interest when police
    investigate and discipline themselves. We believe that participatory democracy and accountability means investing in the ability of our community to meaningfully oversee their local law enforcement departments.