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From: <br />To: <br />Subject: <br />Date: <br />Ann Myers <br />GRP -City Council <br />Data needed to further conversations on policing and equity <br />Monday, October 5, 2020 9:26:06 PM <br />Dear City Council members, <br />Thank you for the study session this evening on the city's Ad Hoc Committee on Policing's <br />report. I was one of the many attendees who support descoping and/or defunding the police, <br />specifically looking at ways we can effectively reduce interactions between armed police <br />officers and the public. <br />I was struck that several council members mentioned that the PCRC listening sessions were <br />not their only source of feedback, and that they had also received feedback via email from <br />people who did not feel comfortable attending the PCRC sessions and whose views do not <br />match those expressed in the PCRC session. I hope all of us share the desire for transparent <br />communication that includes all points of view, and as these conversations move forward, I <br />think it would benefit all of us to be more aware of the full variety of opinions in our <br />community. To that end, I wonder if it would be possible to gather and report publicly on data <br />from the feedback received by other means. This data could be presented in a similar format to <br />the PCRC report so that no names or specific comments are shared, but rather the general <br />themes of the messages, with a count of how many people expressed views in line with those <br />themes. I think having those numbers to counterbalance the PCRC report could be helpful for <br />all of us to move forward with the same context and the same information. Otherwise it feels <br />like some council members are holding up a convenient foil to counter the vocal majority, <br />with no evidence for their claims. <br />I also hope that moving forward we can find forums that invite multiple viewpoints, and <br />perhaps allow for anonymous contributions if some people feel more comfortable sharing in <br />that way. It does not serve anyone's interests if certain viewpoints remain hidden from the <br />public. <br />Thank you again for beginning this discussion, and for all of the work you all have done so <br />far. I hope to see many more small steps towards significant change. <br />Sincerely, <br />--Ann Myers <br />resident of Redwood City District 3 <br />