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squeezing the rest of us. For this city to once and for all get its house in order, it must kick the SAPD habit and begin making amends to the communities that have paid for it so dearly. We’re in a racial justice, health, and budget crisis. Your own projections anticipate the city will be running a deficit of $20 million next year, growing to a $35 million annual deficit in just two years. All of this coming right after we passed Measure X to fix a decade of budget shortfalls. This mess can’t be blamed on Covid or shutdowns, it’s a matter of misplaced priorities and principles. Cutting social programs, tapping reserves, raising fees and taxes, and hoping for federal or state bailouts won’t get us through this and set the stage for a real recovery. It didn’t work ten years ago and it’s the wrong path now. The best tool to dig us out of this ongoing manmade disaster and to build a better Santa Ana is to defund the Police Department -- the primary driver of this deficit. Just returning the SAPD budget to its 2018 (pre- Measure X) levels would be an instant savings of nearly $25 million -- enough to fill this year’s budget gap with enough left over to adequately fund alternative community safety measures such as youth programming. Santa Ana needs to establish an effective Civilian Review Board with the authority to exercise proper oversight and accountability of the Police Department and its officers. In order to have meaningful oversight, it needs to have subpoena power; investigatory authority; disciplinary authority; and the ability to hire and fire officers, including the Chief of Police. Even then, the creation of such an oversight body is the bare minimum the city can do and needs to be part of other efforts to approach public safety by divesting from enforcement and investing in positive community programs that address residents’ needs. Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) is one of the deadliest police departments in the country, and has the highest number of fatal shootings by police officers in Orange County, with 27 fatal shootings in the period between 2006 and 2016. What’s more, From 2016 to 2018, Santa Ana had 13 deadly use of force incidents, 70% higher than all other California Police Departments. In most of these cases, officers did not attempt to address the situation without lethal force. Use of force incidents have cost the city millions in settlements. These settlements are another example of the city’s subsidizing of a failed tough on crime approach to public safety at odds with real community safety which would require robust investment in social services, including mental health, youth programs, housing, and education. The establishment for a police oversight commission has been long overdue. The first demand for police oversight was presented by the Orange County Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) 1965. It's been 55 years since then and the police department has continued to operate without basic oversight and accountability, all while receiving the largest share of our tax dollars. It is time you listen to the decades long demand for effective police oversight, and the current demand to redefine what safety looks like by investing in robust social services, not more policing and suppression. As a resident of Santa Ana I demand you take action. Thank you. Lucy Dale 2