City Council

Berkeley: We need to defund the police, invest in real community safety

Friends of Adeline

The recent police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sean Monterrosa, and many others, and the recent violence by police against protesters, are only the latest of a long history of state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown communities.

The City of Berkeley is facing a $28 million budget deficit, and are voting this month to revise their budget. We demand that the City of Berkeley stand with Black-led organizations and take action for racial justice by investing in real solutions to community safety, not in the police:

1. Send a letter to the city council demanding a budget that invests in real community safety, not the police. See below for a sample letter. Please email to council@cityofberkeley.info.

2. Share with your friends, neighbors, and networks.

Sample email:

Dear Mayor Arreguin and Berkeley City Council Members,

My name is [NAME HERE] and I am a Berkeley resident from district [YOUR DISTRICT]. The Berkeley Police Department takes an enormous share of the city’s general fund, and that percentage has risen exponentially for the last two decades, taking away desperately needed resources from essential city programs and services. 38% of our entire city’s budget goes towards the police department, while only 10% goes towards health, housing, and community service.

Berkeley may be faced with up to a $28 million budget deficit in the FY2020-2021 and yet is set to invest 44% of the general fund in policing. That $74 million is being used at the expense of vital public services such as housing and healthcare. The investment in policing has not made us safer — BPD remains an embarrassment to the city and a lethal threat to Berkeley’s Black and Brown communities, while increased police spending shows no correlation to decreasing crime levels over the past 20 years. With Berkeley’s current finances in dire jeopardy, it is clear that we must defund the police.

As a Berkeley resident, I demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

  1. Reduce BPD’s allocation from the general fund by 50%
  2. Discontinue use of general fund dollars to pay for settlements due to police murder, misconduct, and negligence.
  3. Invest in housing, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, and mental health workers to keep the community safe.

Berkeley cannot wait any longer for a budget that meets the needs of its residents. The only way to achieve this is to take immediate steps to defund BPD.

Thank you,

[YOUR NAME]