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<br />Orozco, Norma <br />From:Hannah Getahun <hannah.getahun@gmail.com> <br />Sent:Tuesday, June 16, 2020 3:53 PM <br />To:eComment <br />Subject:Comment for City Council meeting <br />Hello, <br />I am commenting regarding the agenda items 75 A and 85 A for tonight's city council meeting. <br />Santa Ana City Council has the opportunity to undo years of violence done to the community at the hands of the <br />police. According to Mapping Police Violence, Santa Ana PD has one of the most violent records of any city in <br />America. The average yearly murder rate by the police is 7 people according to the site. I know that the city <br />council is entirely made up of POC, so your decision to fund the police so heavily begs the question: Do you <br />care about us? Santa Ana is majority minority and, more specifically, majority Latinx. With the recent BLM <br />police brutality protests and calls to defund the police, I implore the city council to divest these funds to <br />recreation services and youth programs. <br />As an aspiring environmental journalist, I have read study after study that shows that cultivating our youth <br />through education and recreation can help children succeed in life and reduce rates of health issues like <br />diabetes. It can even reduce community crime. In addition, there needs to be more investment on community <br />green spaces. <br />So often, people think the solution is to heavily police communities rather than investing in these communities. <br />We need resources, not policing. <br />In addition, a police oversight commission LED BY CITIZENS with NO TIES TO THE POLICE should be <br />looked into. We need police accountability. The fact that there is no police oversight in the first place makes no <br />sense. <br />As a resident of Santa Ana who has lived here since I was 5 years old, I do not want to see my community <br />suffer any longer at the hands of poor decision making. When you guys vote to pass these exorbitant police <br />budgets, you are not thinking about the citizens of Santa Ana. These decisions affect whole communities and <br />should be taken seriously. <br /> <br /> <br />-- <br />Hannah Getahun <br /> <br />1 <br />