Orange Hats are lay-people helping activists and the unhoused and under-housed navigate the carceral system1.
Our most commonly recognized role is as legal observers at protests, but, we do a great deal more.
At protests:
- Provide a quick KYR Training;
- Watch and document cops’ behaviour;
- Arrange for legal support if there are arrests.
At Police Stations
- Facilitate Arrest/Jail Support for comrades who have been arrested at actions (functioning as the point of contact between legal team and those awaiting for arrestees to be released);
- Accompany people when they need to get fingerprints and photos taken, or to do turn-ins;
- Accompany people when they have to file a report.
At the Courthouse
We attend court or just accompany people to the courthouse, typically during the self-rep stages, to manage expectations and provide moral support, as well as to help navigate the system where appropriate.
Other
- We facilitate a variety of customized workshops around police and the broader carceral system, particularly for youth and marginalized communities (e.g. Know Your Rights, CopWatch, encampment support, and train people as legal observers);
- We provide one-on-one information about what to expect in various encounters with the carceral system;
- We connect people to supports;
- We track trends in police behaviour vis-à-vis activists and protest;
- We track police brutality and police-caused injuries.
Contacting Us.
Contact us to find out how we can support your community or affinity group: orangehats[at]fastmail.com
When to reach out?
- If you are writing a news item or response to a political debate and require statistics or anecdotes on police (mis)behaviour at protests, we are definitely your people.
- If you have been injured by police at an encampment or protest.
- If you have witnessed police misconduct at a protest or encampment, send it to us for our records.
- The carceral system is a comprehensive, interconnected network of institutions—including prisons, jails, police, courts, immigration detention, and surveillance technologies—that uses state-sanctioned violence, confinement, and regulation to manage populations and maintain social order. It extends beyond physical walls into daily life, deeply impacting marginalized communities through racial and economic disparities. ↩︎
