Correspondence - #15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orozco, Norma From: Karen Hernandez <karenghernandez@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2022 2:22 PM To: eComment Cc: Sarmiento, Vicente; Bacerra, Phil; Phan, Thai; Penaloza, David; Lopez, Jessie; Hernandez, Johnathan; Mendoza, Nelida; The People's Budget OC Subject: Agenda Item 15: PBOC Support for Police Oversight Ordinance November 1, 2022 Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 ecomment(o)-santa-ana.org Via Email RE: Santa Ana Police Oversight Commission Ordinance and Agenda Item 15 Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers, People's Budget Orange County (PBOC) is committed to economic and racial justice. We fight for a participatory county budget that is transparent, invests in the community, is in alignment with community values, and divests from carceral responses to social justice issues. Our mission is to advocate for a participatory public budget that allows marginalized communities to be involved in decision-making through public education, directly engaging representatives, and listening to and uplifting the voices and needs of marginalized communities. We believe this work includes responding to and creating community-led police oversight activities and policies throughout all cities in Orange County. People's Budget Orange County is writing to express our strong support for a robust police oversight Commission for the City of Santa Ana. We commend the City Council and the City Attorney for reviewing and incorporating amendments provided by Chispa, ACLU SoCal, and other community-based organizations on Exhibit 1 to strengthen and create a strong effective police oversight commission. We commend the council for adopting much of the community's policy framework in to craft this ordinance. As the Council approaches the first reading of the draft ordinance, we urge the City Council to support this draft ordinance and introduce the following amendments that will clarify and refine the scope and powers of the commission. We urge the City Council to introduce these amendments to establish an effective police oversight commission. Amending the following sections of the ordinance: Establishment and Purpose • Remove the language that provides the commission and independent director "to assist in reviewing the police complaint process, and provide a forum to review, evaluate and make recommendations." Instead, add language that includes the purpose of the commission and independent oversight director to provide investigative authority over police practices, police misconduct, officer-involved shootings, and other serious use of force. The Commission must have a clearly defined purpose: to conduct independent, community-led investigations and deliver recommendations. The purpose of this edit is to ensure the Commission is not an entity to review IA investigations or to review the PD 1