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From: Kendra Lechtenberg <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 3:33:42 PM <br />Dear City Council, <br />My name is Kendra Lechtenberg and I am a resident of Redwood City. I urge you to <br />reject the proposed budget because it allocates $49M toward an outdated and <br />punitive policing system that makes many residents feel unsafe. Instead, in the name <br />of public safety, I ask that you defund the police and reallocate their funds into <br />programs that prevent crime such as affordable housing, community services and <br />non -police response teams. <br />Though it may seem counterintuitive, many residents in our city do not feel <br />safer with a large police presence. This follows a long local and national history <br />of unequal treatment of residents by the police - with respect to which <br />neighborhoods they patrol, which crimes they enforce, and against whom and <br />how severely they use force. In particular, many people of color, people <br />experiencing homelessness, and people struggling with mental illness do not <br />feel safe around police. <br />Many similar -size cities, including San Leandro, and Eugene, OR, have <br />redirected funds to non -police response teams that can cover a large <br />percentage of 911 calls with little need for backup and for a fraction of the cost <br />(sources here and here). Redwood City should adopt these common-sense, <br />cost-effective, and safer alternatives to policing. <br />I am deeply concerned that the City Council is only discussing long-term <br />reform when the data suggests that reforms do not work. Police body cameras <br />do not prevent violence. In fact, the murder of Rayshard Brooks last week <br />occurred by an officer wearing a body camera. Bias and diversity training have <br />not been shown to work. For example, see Harvard Professor Dobbin's <br />research here. Bans on chokeholds do not work, as the police killing of Eric <br />Garner reminds us - he was killed by an illegal chokehold. Rather than slow- <br />moving reforms that often increase police budgets, we need to redirect the <br />funds immediately. <br />I want a city that is safe for everyone. That is why I urge you to defund the police and <br />divert their funds into services that prevent crime. We cannot wait to take meaningful <br />action until October: how many more people will be arrested, harassed, or killed by <br />the police by then? The future of public safety is a future of prevention, by community <br />