mahrer
commented
4 years ago Thank you for submitting your city to defund12.org! Your request is now in the queue for review and publishing. We’ll reply here if we have any questions.
There's an existing issue #1368 open for Virginia Beach, but it has missing information. I commenting linking that submitter to this issue if they'd like to contribute further.
Emails for Mayor Dyer and the Virginia Beach City Council: bdyer@vbgov.com , jabbott@vbgov.com , mberlucc@vbgov.com , arouse@vbgov.com , gtower@vbgov.com , rcwilson@vbgov.com , swooten@vbgov.com , bhenley@vbgov.com
Subject: [ INSERT UNIQUE SUBJECT LINE ] Message: (Don't forget to replace the [x]'s with your information!)🔗
Dear Mayor Dyer and Virginia Beach City Council Members,
My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a resident of Virginia Beach, VA. Since the end of May, our nation has been gripped by resolute protesters calling for meaningful and lasting change with regard to police behavior, and an end to the structures of racism and anti-blackness on which America was founded.
In your "Open Letter to the Citizens of Virginia Beach", published on June 10, you and your fellow council members stated that "...The undersigned members of the Virginia Beach City Council are committed to seeking justice for all, especially African Americans who have been traumatized by the egregious history of police brutality in America. We are committed to seeking solutions to these tough issues." I and many others like me feel those words mirror our thoughts exactly, which is why we'll be holding you to them. And while "an ongoing commitment to progressive training, policies, and procedures, and to holding... members accountable for delivering professional and ethical policing services" is needed and appreciated, we also think it's time to do more for our community and its people of color. It's time to defund the police.
Accordingly, it has come to my attention that while the budget for FY 2021 was recently revised, city officials will soon begin the FY 2022 budget process. The 106.6 million dollars to be allocated to the VBPD from the 2021 city budget is more than the allocation for Human Resources, Health, and Parks and Recreation combined. While some jobs done by the police are quite important to our community, most, like homelessness calls and calls on concerns of mental health and its impacts, could easily should be done by trained professionals, like mental health specialists and social workers, or people who aren't wielding weapons. To be clear, we aren't calling for total abolition. Just an investment into programs more beneficial to the whole community.
I am urging you to, when the process begins, and when you feel you have enough information to make such an informed decision, meaningfully redirect funds from the VBPD budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year and instead use those extraordinary resources to uphold your words and address more effective social programs and services to support our Black and Brown neighbors: affordable housing, healthcare, access to food, and community-led centers and projects.
I join in solidarity with the freedom fighters in Minneapolis, Louisville, Washington, D.C., and across the United States. Can I count on you to join us and reallocate funds away from VBPD to prioritize social programs going forward?
Thank you for considering my concerns, and I look forward to your timely response.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME][YOUR ADDRESS] [YOUR EMAIL][YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
Sources: 1 - https://analyzer.vbgov.com/public/dashboard/b8e582e7-02f9-4fe9-acd7-74f2c8e6c431?fiscal_year=2020 2 - https://www.vbgov.com/news/pages/selected.aspx?release=4838&title=an+open+letter+to+the+citizens+of+virginia+beach