HMB law Enforcement Special Session Response
Half Moon Bay City Council
535 Kelly Avenue
Half Moon Bay, CA.
June 30, 2020
Dear Mayor Eisen, Vice Mayor Brownstone, and Councilmembers Penrose, Rarback and Ruddock,
We, the Leadership Council of Coastside Families Taking Action (“CFTA”) are writing in response to the June 16, 2020 City Council Law Enforcement Study Session (“Study Session”). CFTA is a group of more than 70 families (and growing) on the coastside devoted to making the San Mateo Coast a welcoming, supportive, active, and empowering place for children and families. We are working for a diverse, progressive, sustainable, and equitable Coastside. We, as passionate parents on the coastside, feel it is our duty to express to Half Moon Bay City Council our response to the Study Session.
We can no longer live within a society that doesn’t take human rights as it’s highest ideal. You are in the very best position to enact some of the most pressing and important changes of our time – changes necessary to ensure our children will grow up in a community that truly supports human rights. After the senseless taking of so many Black lives, we are proud that Half Moon Bay declared Black Lives Matter, but it is not enough when 1 in 1,000 male black lives will be taken by police*. The City needs to work diligently to ensure that this is reflected in our law enforcement. More specifically, how we fund the Sheriff’s department, how we hold them accountable for just and humane policing and support them to become integrated members of our coastside community. We want them to see our families as theirs.
As you form your subcommittee and follow-up sessions, we ask that you see the questions and concerns raised to you in the Study Session through to their resolution. As such, we have the following requests:
(1) Support the Yanira Serrano Presente Program presented by Half Moon Bay Latino Council.
(2) Ensure immediate attention to de-escalation practices.
a. Specifically, the implementation of de-escalation practices that include policies, trainings, reporting and accountability with particular attention to two areas: incidents involving people of color (“POC”) or people with mental health needs. We heard from multiple POC about their ingrained fear of law enforcement officers. This is a pervasive reality for most POC!
When de-escalation is the primary goal, research shows, violent incidents are greatly reduced.
b. Disclose information of law enforcement activity more broadly (including de- escalation responses):
i. body cam videos – always on
ii. track the number of incidents, including traffic stops, and include detailed data of the demographics of the people being stopped.
(3) Re-allocate Sheriff Contract funding to support: a. Mental health – support of mental health professionals responding to crisis b. Anti-racist practices in policing and oversight/support c. Community based officers
(4) Take a hard and visible stance condemning any brutality, social injustice and use of excessive force on our Black community members and POC in San Mateo county:
a. Long standing improvement requires immediate removal of officers who espouse racist rhetoric.
b. We request the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department to investigate County Sheriff Sgt. Dennis Loubal. We are deeply concerned with the comments posted on Facebook by County Sheriff Sgt. Dennis Loubal, which include: “Some more unfortunate truths, Mr. Floyd was a career criminal with multiple prison stints for robbery with firearms who was described by the original reporting party as 'highly intoxicated,' and used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Not exactly a family-man buying food for his wife and child.” This is the same officer who policed Half Moon Bay High School. We do not want someone who makes such racist statements to interact with our children.
(5) More than 30% of Half Moon Bay City and the coastside is Latinx, yet it doesn’t appear that the Half Moon Bay City Council reflects the coastside community. How will you ensure that you are actively supporting people on the coastside feel empowered to participate in local government? Thank you for your service to our community and inviting our input as you negotiate the new contract with the Sheriff’s department. It is our sincere hope that this timing will allow exponential movement toward anti-racist law enforcement in our community. Why not set an example for other communities to follow**?
We believe now is the time. We must all aim higher to build a future that lives up to our ideals. CFTA has a vision: A Coastside where differences are celebrated and all people feel welcome, supported, and empowered to be active in the community. We want our children to be civically engaged and learn their responsibility to make the world a better place. Please be the change that is needed so that this vision can come to fruition.
Sincerely,
Stacy McCarthy
Emma Schott
Lauren Wilson
Karen Wang, PhD
On behalf of the Coastside Families Taking Action Leadership Council
Notes:
* Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex - https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16793
** Here are some recent local examples for you to consider:
-Oakland City Council approves budget with $14.6 million cut to Police Department; -Oakland school district to eliminate its police force;
-San Francisco School Board votes to cut ties and funds from police
-Santa Cruz is the FIRST US city to ban predictive policing
-San Francisco plans to replace officers with social workers and behavioral health experts on service calls that don’t involve criminal acts or threats to public safety; and -San Francisco plans to take money from the Police Department’s budget and redirect it to the city’s Black community.
- Berkeley City Council putting forward a “Reimagining Public Safety Plan” that would redirect $9.2 million of police budget to community projects and social services “...in order to ensure a racial justice lens in traffic enforcement.” (i.e. eliminate police from traffic and parking enforcement.)
- In San Jose 4 active officers identified as making offensive (racist) posts in social media have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
