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From: June Lee <br />To: PublicComment; GRP -City Council; Council -Diane Howard; Council -Shelly Masur; Council -Alicia Aguirre; Council - <br />Ian Bain; Council -Janet Borgens; Council-Giselle Hale; Council -Diana Reddy <br />Subject: Item 9.A: Redwood City Resident for Defunding the RCPD <br />Date: Monday, June 22, 2020 1:01:35 PM <br />Dear City Council, <br />My name is June, and I have been a resident in Redwood City for three years. I urge you to <br />reject the proposed budget because it allocates $49M toward an outdated and punitive <br />policing system that makes many residents feel unsafe. Instead, in the name of public <br />safety, I ask that you defund the police and reallocate their funds into programs that prevent <br />crime such as affordable housing, community services, and non -police response teams. <br />Many similar -size cities, including San Leandro, and Eugene, OR, have redirected funds to <br />non -police response teams that can cover a large percentage of 911 calls with little need <br />for backup and for a fraction of the cost (sources here and here). Redwood City should <br />adopt these common-sense, cost-effective, and safer alternatives to policing. <br />I want a city that is safe for everyone. That is why I urge you to defund the police and divert <br />their funds into services that prevent crime. We cannot wait to take meaningful action until <br />October: how many more people will be arrested, harassed, or killed by the police by then? <br />The future of public safety is a future of prevention, by community services and unarmed <br />specialists, rather than punishment backed by armed force and incarceration. I implore you, <br />for our sake, to reorient our city to this future. <br />Thank you for your time, <br />June Lee <br />Hopkins Avenue Resident <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br />