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Hall, Jennifer <br />From: pjl < <br />Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2023 7:57 PM <br />To: eComment <br />Subject: BUDGET WORKSHOP <br />BUDGET FY2024 <br />The largest item in the Santa Ana budget is for public safety. It stands to reason that this is the one single item that <br />being addressed, has the greatest potential for cost containment. The pension and retirement benefits in Santa Ana are <br />the single largest liability component. <br />https://www.auditor.ca.gov/local high risk/at-a-glance-csa <br />FILTER M <br />0MALL 1167: <br />L1 00 <br />�.® <br />aa!���ar.L�uno-r�scYmx "-wx•••"r .i �. � � � �, � � <br />acre Au77MW <br />Lv� Y� YYYYYYY �r Y� WYYYIIIW <br />These two items are obviously interrelated. <br />Santa Ana historically has one of highest, if not the highest, crime rates in the County. <br />https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Santa-Ana-California.html <br />Santa Ana 251 <br />Costa Mesa 247 <br />Westminster 226 <br />Anaheim 219 <br />Garden Grove 207 <br />Tustin 180 <br />Huntington Beach 160 <br />Orange 121 <br />Fountain Valley 127 <br />Irvine 87 <br />The Santa Ana Police Department has not been staffed to the authorized complement for years; even with money <br />allocated and available in the budget. This is again obviously interrelated. <br />So. Santa Ana has high public safety costs. Santa Ana has high pension liabilities. Santa Ana has high crime rates. Santa <br />Ana cannot fully staff the police department. <br />Regardless of the genesis of this situation, the current Council has the obligation to address these issues. We all want to <br />feel safe in our community. We all want to know that our money is being spent well and productively. We all want to <br />know that we're not passing debt on to our kids. <br />There is an opportunity to address all of these issues simultaneously. <br />OPPORTUNITY ONE <br />Increase the use of dogs in the police force. Recently there was a stand-off / suspect search in a South Santa Ana <br />neighborhood. Several police cars. A helicopter circled for well over an hour. What brought the suspect out? The <br />1 <br />