Dear Council members, I have lived in Menlo Park since 1997, have three children in the school district, and am involved in school and community volunteer activities. Regarding the discussion on police spending happening this evening, please consider the following: Number of Police Officers The Menlo Park Police Department is far larger than it needs to be. We have seven and half officers per square mile, and one officer for every 500 residents. During the past several months under the shelter-in-place order, MPPD has had an average of five calls per day for 46 salaried patrol officers. The calls consistently relate to the same things: two suspicious persons calls and three theft calls (usually bikes). Prior to the shelter-in-place order, the average rate was two calls per officer per day - two a day! Based on the population and call volume, Menlo Park needs no more than 35 total officers, yet we have over 75. On an annual basis, MPPD responds to 40,000 calls. As of the half-year mark, Menlo Park is on track to reach only 20,000 calls for the year - less than one call per officer per day. The total number of “calls" includes 20% that are people who call 911 and hang up. The majority of our crimes are theft (700 cases) and domestic violence violence (~75). Menlo Park could easily adopt an approach similar to San Francisco and other cities by sending unarmed personnel to take theft reports and counselors to help with domestic violence cases. Police Budget I would like to see the police budget cut by at least 15% (Palo Alto has approved a 9% cut, and San Francisco a 15-20% cut). Ultimately, I would like to see a large reduction in the number of personnel. I think a discussion around the steps taken by San Carlos, Half Moon Bay, and Millbrae in outsourcing our policing to the County would be worthwhile. Menlo Park could save millions of dollars a year, and cut a lot of inefficiency and duplicated roles. Menlo Park police spending has increased by approximately $1million a year. Reducing the police budget from $21M to $18M would simply bring Menlo Park back to 2017 spending levels. Mobile Police Vehicle Please cancel the $450,000 "mobile police vehicle" purchase approved in late 2019. In the event of a mass casualty, Menlo Park has jurisdiction for a very short time before the Sheriff and larger agencies (e.g., FBI) take over the investigative effort. This expenditure is wasteful, especially as San Mateo County, Menlo Park Fire Department, and Palo Alto Police already have more robust vehicles that Menlo Park can utilize. Police Transparency The following is from the police page: On June 1, 2016, the Police Department launched its first three data sets https://data.menlopark.org/browse?category=Public+Safety > that included calls for service, traffic stops and personnel demographic information including sex, race and education level. Within the coming months, the department hopes to publicly release more data sets via the City’s open data portal http://data.menlopark.org/ >.-- Neither link works! The data that was promised in 2016, and we are still waiting, four years later. Belle Haven and Day Care Centers When considering budget cuts, I do NOT want to see cuts in the Belle Haven neighborhood. East Menlo Park should be treated like West Menlo Park - we should be one city, Menlo Park! Please do not cut the pool or other services at the Onetta Harris Community Center. Cut the over-inflated police force. Keeping the day care centers open is vital, especially because 73% of families in the Belle Haven Center are first responders. Eight Can’t Wait and Demilitarization Adopt, follow, and enforce the eight restrictive use of force policies outlined in the Eight Can’t Wait Initiative within the Menlo Park Police Department. Police should not be armed with rubber bullets or tear gas. Thank you for considering these issues and doing the work to make Menlo Park a leading example of what is possible when a city/community truly cares for it’s members. Kelly Morehead “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” - Benjamin Franklin Received on Thu Jun 18 2020 - 11:56:36 PDT
