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Orozco, Norma <br />From: Janine Maria <brokensouvenir@msn.com> <br />Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2020 2:04 PM <br />To: BudgetOffice <br />Subject: FY 2020-21 Budget Comments <br />I would like to see a more balanced public safety budget that moves money away from policing in favor of <br />addressing the root causes of crime - poverty, lack of access to resources (real or perceived), not investing in <br />youth, and social and financial inequity. <br />We should invest heavily in services that lift families out of generational poverty, and address a real or <br />perceived generational lack of access to opportunities, including services around education <br />1 hear the youth asking for better school guidance counselors, better access to actual counseling, and <br />better access to programs that meet them where they are (not programs we think they need) - let's <br />listen and help the youth leaders <br />We should invest in programs that speak to the unique needs of the residents of Santa Ana and make a <br />greater effort to make the public aware of the services available <br />Additionally, regarding calls for service, many calls are responded to by a uniformed officer with a badge and a <br />gun when this is not the appropriate response. Sending a uniformed officer to a homelessness call can be <br />traumatizing to the individuals involved - send a social worker and a case manager. Officers are not adequately <br />trained to address mental health calls; without years of experience working specifically with people impacted <br />by mental illness they can't possibly be qualified - send a therapist and a social worker to these calls. The list <br />goes on. Pull these types of calls out of the police setting and form an entirely separate department called <br />Public Safety. Over the years our police departments have been asked to respond to more and more types of <br />calls for which they are not qualified, while other services like education and public health have been <br />defunded. It is time to defund the police in favor of actual public safety. <br />Thank you, <br />Janine Stallings <br />Resident, Ward 1 <br />