Racial Justice Group Responds to Killing of Dijon Kizzee by L.A. Sheriff Deputies

In response to news that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies killed a Black man Sunday named Dijon Kizzee, spurring protests across the city, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) released the following statement:

“The tragic police killing of Dijon Kizzee is yet another painful reminder that police do not keep us safe and it is not possible to reform them,” said Tracey Corder, Policing Campaign Coordinator at Action Center on Race and the Economy.

“Dijon was reportedly killed by an officer of color, and left in the streets for hours after his murder. Reformists often tout diversifying the police force as a solution to curing the police institution that is rooted in slave patrols, but this continues to be proven untrue. The answer is to defund and abolish the police.

"Similarly to Jacob Blake being chained to his hospital bed in Milwaukee after being partially paralyzed, the system has no regard for the lives and physical safety of victims of police violence. Policing is part of a system that exists to protect capital while enacting violence and oppression towards communities of color. The safest communities do not have more police, they have more resources. We need to defund and abolish the police and invest in true public safety that meets the needs of all of our neighbors.”

ACRE recently published an open letter in response to 8 Can’t Wait and other Democratic led police reform proposals: “It is not possible to reform the police”.

The Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) is a campaign hub for organizations working at the intersection of racial justice and corporate accountability.