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From:becca kieler To:publiccomment Subject:Public Comment against Item 6 B Date:Sunday, May 11, 2025 3:35:21 PM You don't often get email from becca.iocsmc@gmail.com. Learn why this is important Mayor Martínez Saballos, Vice Mayor Eakin, and Council members: We are writing on behalf of In Our Care San Mateo County, to ask you to remove Item 6B from the agenda and instead schedule a study session at a later date. In this study session we request that you look at whether it is appropriate for the Police Department to use Tasers at all and as well look more deeply into much needed de- escalation training. In Our Care San Mateo County is dedicated to ensuring that youth (and all county residents) are treated with equality and dignity, and the acquisition of upgraded Tasers falls below the standard of decency that our youth and all residents deserve and demand. Tasers are of particular concern in encounters between law enforcement and young people. Last fiscal year, Redwood City had the second- largest number of youth arrested in San Mateo County and 90+% of those youth were youth of Color. That is similar in adults. Every arrest of a youth has the potential to cause physical and psychological harm, and we urge that a study session include consideration of the unique dangers of using Tasers on children. Approximately 64,400 of Redwood City's residents are people of color. That number represents the 64,400 of Redwood City’s residents who will be at greater risk of being tased and potentially murdered by these deadly weapons. These are not “non-lethal” tools, as the manufacturer claims. Of all the intermediate weapons that Redwood City has at their disposal, Tasers are the deadliest of them all. Redwood City police deployed Tasers 91 times between 2015–2020, representing over a quarter of all use-of-force incidents. In 2018, Tasers caused the deaths of three men of color in the county. Chinedu Okobi was one of those men; he was tased to death by sheriff’s deputies in Millbrae. That death cost the county 4.5 million taxpayer dollars and his family irreparable harm that will impact that lineage forever. Another of those men was Ramzi Saad. Redwood City police officers deployed Tasers against the 55-year old, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was killed. Warren Ragudo of Daly City also died from Taser injuries that year. Last summer Redwood City projected a budget gap of $3.9 Million over the next decade, and the Taser upgrade proposal would cost an additional $1.6 Million. This