Letter to council of Newark California

[nwk2120]

defund nwk pd.docx defund nwk pd.docx

[skullface]

Thanks so much @nwk2120! your request is now in the queue for review and publishing. We’ll reply here if we have any questions.

I’m copying the content of the message below for our review team.

[skullface]

To: alan.nagy@newark.org, luis.freitas@newark.org, sucy.collazo@newark.org, michael.hannon@newark.org, mike.bucci@newark.org

Subject: Defund Newark PD, (Re)-Fund Newark Residents, Eliminate NPD From NUSD

Message:

Hello,

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a [RESIDENT &/or EMPLOYEE] of Newark, California. I am writing as a concerned constituent that you reconsider the unjust prioritization of public tax money being allocated to the police department over social programs and resources that support housing, jobs, health care, education, child care, recreation and other critical community needs. During this time of national conversation over police brutality and excessive police department spending, much research has shown that policing does not improve the safety and well-being of residents across every type of community of the United States. For example, two recent studies in the city of New York show that living in a neighborhood with heavy policing may affect one’s mental health and when police officers went on strike, crime failed to increase (Sewell et al., 2017; Sullivan & O’Keeffe, 2017). Communities do not thrive because they have the most police officers or the most spending on their police department, but when their residents have sufficient resources and support. In reading the city budget for FY 19-20 and proposed FY 20-21, I am appalled that 42% of the budget goes to police expenditures. This means that $23,357,900 of the city's $55,672,300 budget goes toward police services. Meanwhile, only .3% or $193,000 goes to supporting the Newark Library; $603,600 goes to Licensed Child Care; $520,700 to Senior Activities; $ 247,000 go to Paratransit Services; $834,700 towards Street Repairs, $2 million towards Park & Landscape Maintenance and only $1,164,200 will be shuffled toward General Recreation. Additionally, according to the 2019 CARF report, only $5,790,301 went to Community Development and $965,329 was used for Recreation and Community Services. One of the comparisons that stood out the most to me was that there were $0.00 invested in Art for Public Places. Meanwhile, $180,000 is being used towards 3 patrol vehicles, $30,000 for bullet proof vests and a total of $13,000 for SWAT rifles. The way in which these large sums of money are being allocated to policing sends a very clear message about how our community is viewed and approached. An undertone of “dangerous neighborhood” is being created, distributed, and internalized by Newark community members.

Additionally, the amount of money invested in Newark schools is almost invisible. Instead, part of the budget includes funding for truancy and delinquency programs. Our youth and students' educational needs should be prioritized over policing. Therefore, School Resource Officers should be completely removed from the budget and those funds should be allocated to non-police staff, such as school counselors or therapists, in order to enhance their education and address our youth’s individual needs. There are almost 6,000 students enrolled in Newark’s public schools. Efforts should be put forth for the overall wellbeing of these students.

A phrase that stood out regarding financial objectives for the police department was the goal of "Continu[ing] to aggressively pursue grant opportunities to supplement the current budget.” The current budget is allocating a huge portion of money to the police department as it is, and referring to the primary message of this letter, the council needs to move towards defunding NPD. Going on, the same effort and energy put into funding NPD, via grants and money allocation, should be put forth for community development, wellbeing, and the education of its young people. Those of us who have grown up in the Bay Area have experienced firsthand the rapid increase in the cost of living, particularly with skyrocketing prices in rental housing and home ownership. This impacts the overall wellbeing of Newark residents, considering that housing is one of the biggest basic needs. Within the budget financial objectives, there is no mention of affordable housing projects for our struggling residents who are avoiding being displaced by inaccessible housing. On the contrary, one key objective that was listed in the budget is: “Expand efforts to market the community.” The Newark community should NOT be viewed as a business venture to bring more money. Instead, it should be focusing on serving its residents. One way to offset this need would definitely be to decrease police department expenditures and allocate it to creating affordable housing projects. Newark’s budget tells a story, it tells its residents that we are living in a dangerous environment and that investing in policing is greater than investing in the community and our youth. This message becomes internalized and played out in the actions of our community members. These budget changes that we are demanding will move Newark’s narrative to showing its residents we care about their overall wellbeing. We demand a budget that adequately and effectively meets the needs of at-risk Newark residents during this trying and uncertain time when livelihoods are on the line. We demand a budget that supports our community’s wellbeing, rather than one that disparately empowers police.

It is your duty to represent your constituents. I am urging you to meaningfully revise the Newark city budget for 2020-2021 fiscal year and for all future budgets.

Thank you for your time,

[YOUR NAME] [YOUR ADDRESS] [YOUR EMAIL] [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]

[skullface]

References

Sewell, Abigail A., Kevin A. Jefferson, and Hedwig Lee. 2016. “Living under Surveillance: Gender, Psychological Distress, and Stop-Question-and-Frisk Policing in New York City.” Social Science & Medicine 159:1–13.

Sullivan, Christopher M., and Zachary P. O’Keeffe. 2017. “Evidence That Curtailing Proactive Policing Can Reduce Major Crime.” Nature Human Behaviour 1(10):730–37.

Appendices

[todd-m]

Thanks for the citations, @skullface! @nwk2120, I made some edits for length, but I think your core points are still represented. If you think I missed anything, just respond on this issue.

Dear Councilmembers,

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a [RESIDENT &/or EMPLOYEE] of Newark, California. I am writing to urge you to reconsider the unjust allocation of public funds to the police department over social programs and resources that support critical community needs. Research across various communities in the U.S. has shown that policing does not improve the safety and well-being of residents. For example, one recent study in New York City found that living in a neighborhood with heavy policing may affect one’s mental health [1]. Another found that when police officers went on strike, crime did not increase [2]. Communities do not thrive when they have the most police officers or the most spending on their police department, but rather when their residents have sufficient resources and support.

Reading the city budget for FY 19-20 and proposed FY 20-21, I am appalled that 42% of the budget goes to police expenditures: $23.4M of the city's $55.7M budget. Meanwhile, only .3% or $193,000 goes to the Newark Library, $603,600 to Licensed Child Care, $520,700 to Senior Activities, $247,000 to Paratransit Services, $834,700 to Street Repairs and $2M to Park & Landscape Maintenance, with just $1.2M earmarked for General Recreation. Additionally, according to the 2019 CARF report, only $5.8M went to Community Development and just $965,329 was used for Recreation and Community Services. No money is invested in Art for Public Places.

Meanwhile, $180,000 is set aside for three patrol vehicles, $30,000 for bulletproof vests and $13,000 for SWAT rifles. Clearly, disproportionate sums of money are being allocated to policing, sending the message that our community is viewed as a "dangerous neighborhood" by our elected officials.

The educational needs of Newark's nearly 6,000 public school students must be prioritized over policing. Funds that could go to Newark schools are instead being allocated to truancy and delinquency programs. School Resource Officers should be completely removed from the budget with those funds allocated to non-police staff, such as school counselors or therapists, to address students’ most pressing needs.

Many residents have experienced firsthand the rapid increase in Newark's cost of living, with skyrocketing prices in rental housing and home ownership. Yet within the budget objectives, there is no mention of affordable housing for residents at risk of displacement. Decreasing police department expenditures would allow for the creation of more affordable housing.

I demand a budget that adequately and effectively meets the needs of at-risk Newark residents during this trying and uncertain time when livelihoods are on the line. I demand a budget that supports our community’s well-being, rather than one that disparately empowers police.

It is your duty to represent your constituents. I am urging you to meaningfully revise the Newark city budget for 2020-2021 fiscal year and for all future budgets.

Thank you for your time,

[YOUR NAME] [YOUR ADDRESS] [YOUR EMAIL] [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]

[1] Sewell, Abigail A., Kevin A. Jefferson, and Hedwig Lee. 2016. “Living under Surveillance: Gender, Psychological Distress, and Stop-Question-and-Frisk Policing in New York City.” Social Science & Medicine 159:1–13. [2] Sullivan, Christopher M., and Zachary P. O’Keeffe. 2017. “Evidence That Curtailing Proactive Policing Can Reduce Major Crime.” Nature Human Behaviour 1(10):730–37.