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structures of protection, their small places of part-time comfort, and throw them away. The police force is treating the homeless as if they are not human. As if they are not entitled to property they way the police just throw away and sometimes steal their belongings. Historically and especially in these unprecedented times it has been critical to reanalyze the purpose of the police in this country, especially our individual communities. With more cities taking steps to disempowering the too strong police unions, the police department in general, like the city of Santa Ana has: developing a police oversight committee, we can slowly, but surely attain a future with no police. Having no police in a community may sound daunting at fast, but consider a future where social programs meant to help keep us safe thrive because they're funded, where more people have jobs, where people are paid a living wage, where our community is supported by those elected to lead it, it is until we access that future, will we then have a community that thrives to its fullest capacity where there is little to no crime, and where the police is no longer needed. According to the ACLU, there are millions of children in schools in the U.S where there are no counselors, nurses, school psychologists, or social workers. There are too many Americans dying or suffering from mental health issues that begin earlier in life —predominantly in adolescence. With that said, crime is not random. Most of the time, crimes happen because someone has been unable to meet their basic needs through other means. In order to proactively fight crime we do not need an increasingly funded police force —we do not need police in totality at all. What we need is more jobs, more educational opportunities, more arts programs, more community centers, more mental health resources and more of a say in how our communities function. The community knows elected officials whom I shall not refer to by name are sponsored by the police union for their re-election campaign, that the OC District Attorney drops charges on police officers, but most importantly where our tax dollars are going. I urge you brothers and sisters- fellow Santaneros to let the community help you help us come up with a plan for the future for us as a county and as every individual city as well. The first step is to acknowledge that we need to defund the police in our communities and reallocate funds towards community services. THE SANTA ANA POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION deferring the salary increase that should not have been implemented in the first place, scheduled for July 1, 2020 is NOT enough. As an underprivileged member of our community, as a foster kid who was taken away from her family as a result of being impacted by drug addiction, as a low-income first generation college student, a person who has been homeless in this city before, as a Santanera who is among the many people in our community who wish to have the privilege of being born, raised, and live in our beautiful city for as long as we live like many of you have, as a student of UC Berkeley one of the most regarded privileges that I do have and that I feel guilty of having because there is no reason more students that come from Santa Ana should not have likewise, I urge you to please listen, to me, to us. We are asking you to invest in us ---especially our youth, but only as a result from defunding the police. The police take up almost half of the city's general fund. The following is taken from the Voice of OC article by Tsears "The vote, Measure X, pushed Santa Ana's sales tax to 9.25 percent, the highest in Orange County. And over the next ten years the new tax is projected to increase the city's general fund by about $6o million a year. Now, some members of a resident committee tracking Measure X say the money isn't being spent as promised. For example, they say, the biggest chunk of the money — about $43 million a year — is being used to pay down city debts." If this city is using our tax dollars to pay down city debt --it's time this city reinvests in the community with resources we have too long been indebted of. This city would rather take from the pockets of its constituents rather than take from the $i4o.8 million that is invested into the police department aka "public safety."