This Sunday, local organization Defund413 Amherst plans to host a remote event to educate Amherst residents on defunding the local police force. The group explained through a recent Instagram post that the event will serve as a community forum for those interested in the topic who want to learn more about what defunding the police means, and what resources would be created for town residents in the absence of a robust police force.

Defund413 Amherst is a chapter of the larger umbrella organization. The organization was first created in 2020 as a regional movement for western Massachusetts to begin mobilizing around defunding the police. While the overarching mission of the organization has not changed since then, different chapters have adjusted their goals to fit local contexts to account for wins and losses over time.

For example, while the Amherst group has not managed to achieve its initial goal of cutting the police force in half, they have been able to push for the Community Responders for Equity, Safety, and Service (CRESS), a town department aimed at ensuring nonviolent issues are resolved by nonpolice actors.

Zoë Crabtree, an organizer with Defund413, emphasized that the group intends to use this event to connect with the community and hopefully convince new members to join. “We’re trying to create more opportunities for people who are curious, supportive and interested,” Crabtree says.

The date of the event was intentional as well. Crabtree explained that November and December are the optimal months for people to get involved because that’s when town residents have the opportunities to influence the writing of the next year’s budget. This is because a town hearing occurs in early November where residents can voice their opinions on how town funds should be allocated. The Town Council then considers these ideas when putting together the next year’s budget guidelines, which go to the town manager and the finance director at the end of the year.

The town manager, the finance director and the department heads then put together a budget which they propose to the Town Council in the spring. Crabtree emphasized that there isn’t much time between when the first draft of the budget is presented and when the council votes on it, meaning that making changes that late in the process becomes an uphill battle.

Before talking with Crabtree, I held some personal doubts regarding the necessity for defunding the Amherst police force. While I was on board with the national movement condemning the police for the brutality it has inflicted on Black and brown Americans, the Amherst force specifically didn’t seem to be quite as implicated in these killings as other police departments throughout the country.

Crabtree was quick to disavow these doubts though, claiming that, while Amherst certainly hadn’t been home to any of the brutal police shootings, it has its fair share of problems. An example they gave was the incident in Amherst this past July 5 involving nine Amherst high school students. In Crabtree’s opinion, and mine, the police’s behavior in the widely-circulated video shows that a force that can act with such impunity is one that poses a danger to the community. Had this call — a nonviolent complaint — been answered by an unarmed civilian-led group such as CRESS, the night would have no doubt gone differently.

Crabtree specified that influencing the budget is one major way to affect change in the town. Speaking to past challenges the group has faced in affecting the budget process, they explained that residents often wait to get involved when the first draft has already been proposed, rather than when the draft is first being written. To avoid this, the group scheduled the event for the Nov. 6, before this year’s budget hearing, hoping that attendees will leave the event feeling empowered and confident in their abilities to discuss defunding and alternatives to policing at the town hearing.

“In the past, we’ve gotten around 40 people to show up for a budget hearing, which is pretty unheard of around here … your voice matters,” they said.

The group urges local residents to attend the event to learn more, asking that people register via the link on their Instagram page, @defund413amherst.

Shira Sadeh writes about local issues and events in the Amherst area.