Dear Menlo Park City Council Members, My name is Krista Hoffman and I am a resident of the city of Menlo Park. I previously wrote an email requesting information/data on the number of complaints registered for our police officers and continue to request that information be provided. I know that the city has strict protocols, but I would like to be assured they are being followed. Please continue to research this and let me know. In the meantime, I would have some concerns about your budget and have a few comments: * The council should cancel the $450K 'mobile police vehicle' purchase approved on 11/19. I find this expenditure to be wasteful especially as San Mateo County, Menlo Park Fire Department and Palo Alto PD already have similar or more robust vehicles that MPPD can utilize. * The council should decrease the number of police officers. MPPD has 7.5 officers per sq mile, and one officer for every 500 residents. Palo Alto and Redwood City average 1 officer/1,000 residents and 5 LE personnel/mile. Too many police officers means over ticketing and over policing. * The council should introduce unarmed personnel to respond to appropriate calls. We could easily adopt the approach of San Francisco and other cities in sending unarmed personnel to take theft reports and counselors help with domestic violence cases. * For the short term, I propose the police budget be cut by 15% (palo alto just approved 9%, SF is reducing by 15-20%). Our police spending has gone up by roughly $1M/year (a phenomenon that also should be addressed). Reducing the police budget from $21M to $18M simply brings us back to 2017 spending levels. * In continuing the conversation of full police transparency and my original request for the average number of complaints per officer, how many officers are above this average, and what protocols/assurances do we have in place for retraining those who are above average, I am glad that the council did not cut the $144k budget line item to increase police transparency. The City Council and the mayor should be held accountable for knowing and evaluating this data and should back report to their constituents. * As the council considers cuts I do NOT think cuts should be coming from the Belle Haven district. If you have noticed the protests in East MP, they are asking for East MP to be treated like West MP. Please do not cut the pool or services at the Onetta Harris community center and instead cut our over inflated police force. * I support keeping the day care centers open, especially since 73% of the families in the Belle Haven center are first responders (source: council meeting notes). * I support the 8 can't wait initiative * I support the demilitarization of our force and I do not believe they should be armed with rubber bullets nor tear gas. Thank you for your time and for all that you are doing for our city. Let's work together to make it better. Sincerely, Krista Hoffman 30 La Loma Drive Menlo Park, CA 94025 Received on Thu Jun 18 2020 - 13:24:55 PDT
