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<br />Orozco, Norma <br />From:Houston, Nicole <br />Sent:Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:02 PM <br />To:eComment_Forwarding <br />Subject:FW: Listen to voters' voices <br /> <br /> <br />From: Adolfo M Ochoa \[mailto:doffo@live.com\] <br />Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:39 AM <br />To: Pulido, Miguel <MPulido@santa-ana.org>; Sarmiento, Vicente <VSarmiento@santa-ana.org>; Penaloza, David <br /><DPenaloza@santa-ana.org>; Solorio, Jose <JSolorio@santa-ana.org>; Bacerra, Phil <pbacerra@santa-ana.org>; <br />Mendoza, Nelida <nmendoza@santa-ana.org> <br />Subject: Listen to voters' voices <br /> <br />Hello, <br /> <br />I'm writing in support of divesting the Santa Ana Police Department in order to invest those funds into the <br />community and to release the SAPD's hold on Santa Ana's elected officials. <br /> <br />As you very well know, Santa Ana is inundated in deficits and the handling of the budget has not changed <br />much except for the granting of more and more funds to the SAPD and that's the central cause of the never- <br />ending shortages. The simplest way to get the city out of this debacle is to withdraw these funds from the <br />Police Department. Simply returning the SAPD budget to the amount from 2018 would instantly save almost <br />$25 million(!!) which would not only fill this year's gap but also sufficiently fund alternative community safety <br />measures such as youth programming. <br /> <br />In addition, I'm writing to voice my support for creating an effective civilian oversight of the Police <br />Department. <br />You can no longer ignore the constant demand for effective police oversight, the demand to redefine what <br />safety looks like by investing in strong social services, and not simply increasing policing and suppression. The <br />first demand for police oversight was presented by the Orange County Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) 1965, <br />55 years ago, and the police department has continued to operate without basic oversight and accountability, <br />all while receiving the largest share of our tax dollars. <br /> <br />Santa Ana needs to establish an effective Civilian Review Board with the authority to exercise proper oversight <br />and accountability of the Police Department and its officers. To have meaningful oversight, it needs to have <br />subpoena power, investigatory authority, disciplinary authority, and the ability to hire and fire officers, <br />including the Chief of Police. Even then, the creation of such an oversight body is the bare minimum our city <br />can do and needs to be part of other efforts to approach public safety by divesting from enforcement and <br />investing in positive community programs that address residents’ needs. <br /> <br />Thank you for your time. <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />