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From: Mag_aie Rumfelt <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: RWC BUDGET <br />Date: Monday, June 22, 2020 9:14:54 AM <br />Dear City Council, <br />My name is Maggie Rumfelt and I am a resident of Redwood City. I urge you to reject <br />the proposed budget because it allocates $49M toward an outdated and punitive 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 <br />prevent crime such as affordable housing, community services and non -police response <br />to Though it may seem counterintuitive, many residents in our city do not feel safer with <br />a large police presence. This follows a long local and national history of unequal <br />treatment of residents by the police - with respect to which neighborhoods they patrol, <br />which crimes they enforce, and against whom and how severely they use force. In <br />particular, many people of color, people experiencing homelessness, and people <br />struggling with mental illness do not feel safe around police. <br />Redwood City has increased its funds for police by <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 reform <br />when the data suggests that reforms do not work. Police body cameras do not <br />prevent violence. In fact, the murder of Rayshard Brooks last week occurred by <br />an officer wearing a body camera. Bias and diversity training have not been <br />shown to work. For example, see Harvard Professor Dobbin's research here. <br />Bans on chokeholds do not work, as the police killing of Eric Garner reminds us - <br />he was killed by an illegal chokehold. Rather than slow-moving reforms that <br />often increase police budgets, we need to redirect the 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 the <br />police by then? The future of public safety is a future of prevention, by community <br />services and unarmed specialists, rather than punishment backed by armed force and <br />incarceration. I implore you, for our sake, to reorient our city to this future. <br />Thank you for your time, <br />