Raheem

Raheem is the independent service for reporting police in the United States, working to end police terror against Black people. 

Last year, Raheem helped thousands of people across the country report police and get connected to resources for justice and healing. Their reports tied more than 275 officers to cases of police misconduct nationwide. Organizations like Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Anti Police-Terror Project leveraged our data to advance policy, including passing the most progressive use of force policy in Oakland’s history.

We’re at an exciting point in our story, ready to throw everything we have at ambitious, groundbreaking plans to build the infrastructure for a world without police. 

Raheem began as a reporting service to help victims of police by connecting them with resources for justice and healing. But, as with any crisis, prevention is the best medicine. This is why we are leveraging the infrastructure and network we’ve built to prevent police harm in the first place, by meeting the needs of people during limited acute crises while reducing the need for police intervention.

If selected, the prize will fund two new, senior-level positions: Organizing Director and Data & Policy Director. 

Our story began when the police killed my life partner during a routine traffic stop. His love was radical, unapologetic, and it changed my life. In 2017, in memory of him, I founded Raheem — the independent service for reporting police in the United States. 

Today, Raheem is known for two things:

First, we run a website that’s easy and safe for victims to report police then get resources for justice and healing. The resources include connecting them to a free lawyer; helping them file a complaint; and uniting them with a local advocacy organization. 

Second, the reports to Raheem are producing a national dataset on how police behave, now in more than 200 U.S. cities. Partner organizations use the data to advance narratives and policy that shrink the role of the police. That data is also teaching us what leads police to be involved (or called), and what goes wrong precisely.

This has helped us understand the need for building alternative systems rather than reshaping violent, anti-black systems. That’s why we’re building an alternative dispatching system to 911 (referred to here as Mutual Aid).

Police terror is the consequence of decades of unrelenting state-sanctioned violence levied, especially against Black people by militarized police forces, resulting in high rates of Black death and extreme fear within the Black psyche.

Couple this with the ongoing fact that the police are rarely held accountable for killing Black people, and the presence of police becomes a looming, inescapable threat to Black bodies everywhere. Any use of the police is a use of force.

Mutual Aid meets the needs of people during limited acute crises while reducing the need for police intervention. It’s a service—accessed by app, phone number, or both—which connects people in urgent need to non-police resources best suited to help them. Instead of calling 911 for common scenarios and risking police violence, people can use Mutual Aid to request caring help for their particular situation.

We’ll prioritize responding to situations that most often result in the police being called and for which there are clearly better alternatives: mental health crises; noise disturbances; going to the bathroom in public; public intoxication; and drug use. It can also include responding to domestic disputes, assisting someone afraid to report sexual assault to police, and more.

Mutual Aid is not simply an exhaustive list of service providers. It is a curated + vetted network of high-quality, community-focused, non-police responders. Supported by Mutual Aid’s thoughtful people-first design and backend infrastructure, responders in the MA Network are able to provide a better user experience to more people than they could otherwise, given limited time, staffing, technical expertise, and budget.

We know little about the 50M interactions people in the US have with police every year. Under 5% of victims report police violence, according to USDOJ. Victims don’t get justice or healing nor does their experience influence legislation meant to curb police abuse. 

Raheem.org has generated thousands of reports nationwide and connected people to resources such as lawyers and community organizations. But policing is a massive public health issue, the sixth leading cause of death for young Black men in America. As always, prevention is more effective than treatment.

So Raheem is creating infrastructure for a world without police, replacing violent, centuries-old systems that endanger the lives and security of more than 46 million Black Americans.

Our datasets show what leads police to be involved and how they behave. We’re using this data to advance narratives and policy that (a) shrink the role of the police and (b) replace police with long-term solutions that respond to conflict with care. Our 911 alternative will prioritize situations that most often result in the police being called and for which there are clear alternatives, including mental health crises, noise disturbances, substance use, domestic disputes, and many more instances that require care and compassion.