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From: Zoe Sharkey To: PublicComment; GRP -City Council; Council -Diane Howard; Council -Shelly Masur; Council -Alicia Aguirre; Council - Ian Bain; Council -Janet Borgens; Council-Giselle Hale; Council -Diana Reddy Subject: Item 9.A: Redwood City Resident for Defunding the RCPD Date: Monday, June 22, 2020 4:31:54 PM Dear City Council, My name is Zoe Sharkey and I am a resident of Redwood City. I urge you to reject the proposed budget because it allocates $49M toward an outdated and punitive policing system that makes many residents feel unsafe. Instead, in the name of public safety, I ask that you defund the police and reallocate their funds into programs that prevent crime such as affordable housing, community services and non -police response teams. Though it may seem counterintuitive, many residents in our city do not feel safer with a large police presence. This follows a long local and national history of unequal treatment of residents by the police - with respect to which neighborhoods they patrol, which crimes they enforce, and against whom and how severely they use force. In particular, many people of color, people experiencing homelessness, and people struggling with mental illness do not feel safe around police. Redwood City has increased its funds for police by 79% since 2010 (source). Moreover, Redwood City allocates a higher portion of its general fund to police than most of its peers - including Mountain View, Milpitas, Santa Clara, South San Francisco, and Palo Alto (source). I urge you to reverse these trends for the safety of our residents. Many similar -size cities, including San Leandro, and Eugene, OR, have redirected funds to non -police response teams that can cover a large percentage of 911 calls with little need for backup and for a fraction of the cost (sources here and here). Redwood City should adopt these common-sense, cost-effective, and safer alternatives to policing. I am deeply concerned that the City Council is only discussing long-term reform when the data suggests that reforms do not work. Police body cameras do not prevent violence. In fact, the murder of Rayshard Brooks last week occurred by an officer wearing a body camera. Bias and diversity training have not been shown to work. For example, see Harvard Professor Dobbin's research here. Bans on chokeholds do not work, as the police killing of Eric Garner reminds us - he was killed by an illegal chokehold. Rather than slow-moving reforms that often increase police budgets, we need to redirect the funds immediately. I want a city that is safe for everyone. That is why I urge you to defund the police and divert their funds into services that prevent crime. We cannot wait to take meaningful action until