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Salas, Diana From: Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmaiI.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 10:51 AM To: eComment Subject: Item 75A Mayor and City Council Members, I am not in favor of an increase in police spending. ask that when you all reconsider the financial directions of the budget for the fiscal year. We need to retract the excessive funding that has been invested into our police department for years and reinvest that back into our community. We have witnessed first hand how COVID-19 has ravaged our community, leaving many without a job forcefully putting them into a position where they are not able to pay their rent and purchase essential necessities. We know that these will be long-term effects, and now more than ever, we need to ensure our community's wellbeing. We have been defending critical resources, like public education and educational resources, parks, and recreational resources, for years and they managed to overcome these difficulties. It is time to redirect the excessive funds given to the police departments to education, community wellbeing (including mental health resources), parks and recreation, and rental assistance. We need to defund the police. We need to envision a future in which we begin truly caring for our community, instead of continuously investing our limited funds into an institution that terrorizes our youth, separates families, and continuously surveils our community. I am saying this not only as an academic but as a person who has first- hand knowledge of the cruelties of the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD). I not only witnessed my friends' aggressive encounters with SAPD but my father, my uncle, my brother, and my sister. This affects those being terrorized by SAPD, as well as their loved ones who carry this weight with them. We need to end this domestic terrorism. I will once again repeat the theme of my demand, defund SAPD. Thank you, Maria Ceja