Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the July 26, 2022 flip book. 

After seeing APD recruitment efforts around Austin, UT student Andie Flores said she wanted to create her own campaign pushing for police “decruitment.” It all started when Flores changed one letter in the website name.

“What would happen if a website was available that was very similar to (APD Recruitment) that could be mistakenly typed in with one wrong or different letter?” said Flores, a Mexican American and Latina/o studies graduate student. 

Over the spring, Flores said she developed the visual gag of changing the beginning ‘r’ in ‘recruitment’ to a ‘d’ with the hope of starting conversations about the ineffectiveness of police forces. Later, she created a decruitment website that includes information on the harmful effects of policing, reading suggestions and a rewards program for officers who quit the force.

Sam Lavigne, who helped develop the campaign, said the goal of creating the APD Decruitment project was to bring more awareness to the historically racist nature of policing, which targets marginalized individuals while protecting the best interest of the wealthy.

Flores said she enlisted the help of Lavigne, an assistant professor in the School of Design and Creative Technologies, after she took his undergraduate course titled Experimenting with the Internet as Form. During the class, Lavigne said students learned strategies for online campaigns that helped Flores develop the project’s idea.

In April, Flores debuted her project through an installation at the Fusebox Festival entitled “The APD Decruitment Initiative,” which included prints, video and a tent sculpture made by Flores showing the project’s vision. Flores and Lavigne decided to keep the campaign going after the festival by launching the APD Decruitment website around the beginning of July. 

“Help solve the problem,” the APD decruitment website reads. “If you’re a cop, defund yourself and quit today! And if you’re thinking about joining up, don’t. A brand new life awaits you. Still want to help your community? There are many jobs you might consider doing instead. For example: EMT, firefighter, teacher, or web developer.”

The team works with people who want to decrease Austin’s police budget, although resistance to defunding the police from the state’s legislature has been a challenge, Flores said.

In June 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1900, which threatens cities that defund the police by freezing their property tax revenues. According to previous Daily Texan reporting, the city’s police budget has significantly increased this current fiscal year from past fiscal years in order to comply with Abbott’s directive. 

As a creative approach to abolition, Flores said the team is taking decruitment a step further by providing a supportive space and incentives for those who quit the police force. Incentives include discounts and free admissions to participating businesses listed on the APD Decruitment website. 

The APD Decruitment team said they are also working towards providing avenues to different careers and mental health resources for those who choose against policing.

“We’re looking at the project … as a starting place,” Lavigne said. “We’re hoping to eventually gain the resources to provide real, material support for people.”