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t <br /> April 4, 2022 <br /> Santa Ana Mayor and City Council <br /> 20 Civic Center Plaza <br /> Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> ecomment&santa-ana.org <br /> Via Email <br /> RE: Agenda Item 38 "Police Oversight Ad Hoc Committee Informational Report" <br /> Dear Mayor and City Council, <br /> I write on behalf of the Rise Up Willowick Coalition to express our strong support for a robust <br /> Police Oversight model in the City of Santa Ana. <br /> The Rise Up Willowick Coalition is a community led group advocating for the creation and <br /> preservation of open space in the City of Santa Ana. Since 2019, RUW has focused on protecting <br /> the Willowick golf course site, 102 acres of precious publicly-owned open space, from being <br /> disposed of without community input and sold off to developers without regard to the <br /> generational environmental and social impact. RUW supports intentional policies that not only <br /> protect the community but also help empower us by sharing the decision making power over <br /> institutions that directly interact and affect our daily lives. <br /> The core purposes of civilian-led oversight of law enforcement are to increase transparency, <br /> ensure accountability for misconduct, and expand public safety. Given the nationwide and local <br /> civic engagement for racial justice and the reimagining of the role of police, the City of Santa <br /> Ana's effort to examine police oversight models is an important step forward. Since 2017, Santa <br /> Ana community-based organizations have advocated for a police oversight model that is <br /> independent of law enforcement, community-led, transparent, fully funded, and empowered with <br /> auditing, investigative, and disciplinary authority. We believe the City Council Ad Hoc <br /> Committee's majority recommendation for a hybrid investigation-focused and <br />