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<br />Salas, Diana <br />From:Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmail.com> <br />Sent:Tuesday, June 16, 2020 11:16 AM <br />To:eComment <br />Subject:Item 85A <br />Mayor and City Council Members, <br /> <br />Although an oversight board may seem ideal at this point, especially because of the growing awareness of the <br />recent and long history of police brutality across the country, I ask that you be critical in your <br />decisionmaking process. From my own research, I have learned that there has not been sufficient research on <br />the effectiveness of a police oversight board. There are certain power dynamics that come into play when <br />speaking of a board within the bureaucratic system of the local city government, especially when the Police <br />Officers' Association seems to have an overwhelming amount of power in our local politics. If an oversight <br />board is what you all consider the goal, I ask that you seek alternatives and think outside of the box. If you all <br />feel you must resort to an oversight board, I ask that it is independent of the police department (i.e. the majority <br />of the members have no connections to the police whatsoever), then it is given the appropriate amount of <br />resources (it is difficult to analyze individual cases with inadequate funding), and that it holds the power to <br />appropriately hold police officers be held accountable. <br />This is just of the tip of the iceberg of requirements that should be part of the process of creating an oversight <br />board. I strongly believe that the ultimate goal should be to defund the police and phase into the ultimate police <br />abolition. I ask that you envision of future without police and a future in which we care for our community and <br />create healthy relationships among all community members. <br /> <br />Thank you, <br />Maria Ceja <br />1 <br />