Lansing General Defense Committee has launched Pull Over Prevention, a monthly repair clinic to help drivers avoid interactions with police. The free program is hosted by community volunteers who assist participants by fixing broken headlights, tail lights, and turn signals. Broken auto lights can be used by police to target motorists for a citation (called a “mechanical violation”), which puts a financial burden on motorists who must now pay a citation in addition to the cost of repairing the light. Additionally, these police interactions can escalate into dangerous or unpredictable situations. In particular, police target Black and brown members of our community.
By repairing these minor issues for free, Pull Over Prevention volunteers proactively can offer some protection for motorists. Police citations are one tool by which the capitalist class traps people in poverty. If a motorist is unable to pay the citation, they can end up enmeshed in a costly cycle of interaction with the court system, and potentially face jail time.
I repeat: realistic, day-to-day needs should be the basis of organizing people and making them conscious of revolution– that the world, the universe, must revolve– that it will stop, stagnate, and die for no man’s privilege.
George Jackson: “Blood in My Eye”
Lansing Pull Over Prevention is modeled after Southeast Pull Over Prevention, a similar program that has been ongoing since August 2020. Volunteers include people of varying experience levels, from professional mechanics to auto enthusiasts. Additionally, GDC and friends bring food, music, and political literature to every event. Local nonprofits Lansing Syringe Access (LSA) and Punks With Lunch (PWL) attend some events with supplies for safer drug use such as Narcan, clean needles, and Fentanyl test strips.
If you are interested in volunteering, email or message us on Facebook or Instagram. Financial donations can be made on Venmo to @washtenawGDC with the subject “Lansing POP”.
Lansing Pull Over Prevention is hosted on the first Sunday of every month from 12 pm to 4 pm in the parking lot of The Village community center (3525 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Lansing, MI 48910).
Originally published in:
Lansing GDC ejecuta un programa mensual de prevención de paradas policiales