Re-Imagining Policing, A Call to Action

In the summer of 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd, DWMC put out a call to action to re-imagine policing. Below, please read the letter, watch our Press Conference, and see the list of signatories.

July 20, 2020

Dear Monterey County Representatives, Board of Supervisors, Mayors and City Councilmembers, and Police Academy Leaders:

We have witnessed the killing by police of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others. The public has said, “Enough!” The Democratic Women of Monterey County and the additional supporting agencies, organizations, businesses, and signatories, call on our elected officials to tackle the racism that plagues our communities and enact meaningful police reform now.  

There are over 18,000 police departments in the United States of America today. Far too many of them are a danger to communities of color, particularly African Americans. People in these communities cannot look to the police for protection. An entire segment of the U.S. population — 47.8 million people (based on 2018 U.S. Census Data), African Americans — feel unsafe each and every day.

 Across the country, people are waking up to this reality. The protests in support of Black Lives Matter are teaching us that police reform is urgently needed and essential to the well-being of the country as a whole. 

Racial and ethnic diversity in America is a strength. Our economy should work for everyone, not just a select few. All of us should feel safe in our homes, when we walk in the street, and while we go about our  daily lives. There must be one standard of justice for everyone. 

 As a step in the right direction, we applaud California Assemblymember Shirley Webber for AB 392 and California Senator Anna Caballero for introducing SB 230, which was signed into law in 2019.  That legislation raised the standard for police use of deadly force, and requires police departments, effective January 2021, to provide training for police officers that will improve policing throughout California. Recently introduced federal legislation  —  the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 (H.R. 7120, sponsored by Karen Bass, D-CA and Jerrold Nadler, D-NY) and co-sponsored by our Congressman Jimmy Panetta, (among others) and S.3912, sponsored by Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) —also deserves our support.

Here in Monterey County, as in the rest of the country, we must re-imagine the way in which law enforcement interacts with the public. It is time to put the “public” back in public safety by reforming policing. It is also necessary to invest in programs that meet public health needs, such as the treatment for mental illness and substance abuse. 

 Accordingly, we submit the following recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, Mayors and City Councils throughout Monterey County, and law enforcement training programs. We emphasize the importance of implementing the SB 230 ng reforms. In particular, we call on our public officials to commit to and begin implementing the following policy goals throughout the county: 

1.  A new model of policing that includes prevention, intervention, appropriate enforcement, and a process where equitable amounts of funding are provided for each of these areas when policing our city streets and nation must be put into place; when addressing public health and safety issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, and domestic violence, Monterey County’s Crisis Intervention Training program, conceived after the deadly shooting of Charles Vaughn Sr., should be expanded to allow for increased trainings per year so that people in crisis always get the care and help they need.*

2.     On-going and regular training must be provided to officers and deputies in order to develop strong interpersonal and communication skills, cross-cultural understanding, awareness of one’s implicit biases, and an understanding of mental illness. 

 3.     Training academies should teach "best practices" for community policing. Our law enforcement agencies should evaluate the effectiveness of the best practices they employ on a consistent and regular basis, and use the insights gained to realize ongoing improvement in public safety and police/community relations.

 4.     Police departments must teach officers how to de-escalate a violent situation.

5.     Law enforcement agencies must require officers to wear and activate their body cameras at each and every call. Failure to do so must have consequences.

 6.     Law Enforcement must be held accountable for their actions. To this end, we will support legislation to end “qualified immunity" that has protected officers from being held accountable for excessive use of force, including shooting and killing members of the public. 

 7.     An honest conversation with Police Associations/Unions about their role in preventing officers from being held accountable for misconduct must be had. We must demand that they socialize the standards of community protection set forth in SB 230, AB 392, and the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, and learn how to partner with communities and health professionals. It is the duty of our local leaders to encourage this transformation.

 8.     We recognize that officers must be able to protect themselves when responding to a call or engaging with the public. However, military-grade equipment instills fear and conveys a message of “power over” rather than one of trust and safety. For this reason (among others), law enforcement agencies should not acquire or use military equipment unless there is a clear-cut need for it.

 9.     Each community, or the County as a whole, must establish a Task Force to recommend and monitor implementation of the reforms discussed above, and other reforms required by SB 230, AB 392, and the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, including the elimination of the chokehold, and procedures to prevent the hiring of police officers with a history of misconduct.

The Democratic Women of Monterey County and the other signatories to this letter encourage the County Sheriff and City Police Departments throughout Monterey County to embrace these recommendations, end the use of excessive force by police, and transform the relationship between police and communities, particularly communities of color, so that all of our residents can look to police for protection rather than be fearful of them. 

*Updated August 31, 2020.

July 25, 2020
Press Conference:
Re-Imagining Policing

List of Signatories

(As of October 11, 2020)

Democratic women of monterey county
Board & Members

Dawn Alva, Secretary, DWMC
Kate Daniels, President, DWMC
Nicole Hollingsworth, Vice President, DWMC
Karen Max Kelly, DWMC Board 
S. McSorley, DWMC Board
Karen Paull, DWMC Board 
Pris Walton, DWMC Board
Lynne Weatherman, DWMC Board
Josie Wilson, DWMC Board
Lisa Ziska-Marchand, DWMC Board 
Amy Anderson, DWMC member
Kathy Biala, DWMC, Member
Whitney Stewart Gravel, DWMC Board member
Margaret Lilley, DWMC Member

Elected Officials

Yuri Anderson, Trustee, Area 2, Monterey Peninsula Community College District* 
Lisa Berkley, Compassionate Monterey County, Lead; Council Member, City of Marina*
Gail Morton, Mayor ProTem City of Marina*
Jacqueline C. Simon, CEO/Founder JCS Ventures; N. Monterey County Fire Protection District Board of Directors, VP*
Anna Velazquez, Councilmember City of Soledad*
Aidee Aldaco, District Coordinator Soledad Unified
Anna Caballero, California State Senator
Bruce Delgado, Mayor City of Marina
Debra Gramespacher, Trustee, Board of Education 
Alan Haffa, Councilmember, City of Monterey
Jenny McAdams, City Council City of Pacific Grove
Bill Monning, California State Senator
Ian Oglesby, Mayor City of Seaside
Jimmy Panetta, U.S. Congressman

* Denotes Electeds who are DWMC Board Members

Organizations

Monterey County Democratic Central Committee
Marina Democratic Club
Progressive Democrats of America, Monterey Bay Area Chapter

Community Members & Supporters

William Arrocha, Associate Professor MIIS
Bryan Ashby, Retired Engineer
Timothy Barrett, Committee Member
Michael Belsky, Retired Mediator
Iris Brewster, Development Manager 
Marjorie Bullock, Resident
Kenya Burton, Activist
Pam Carroll, Retired Special Education PA
Zoe Carter, Candidate for Monterey City Council 2020
James Cisneros, Administrator & Author
Sheila Clark, Retired
Catherine Crockett, Community Activist
Mike Dinkel, Holistic Health Practitioner
Tinisha Dunn, Entrepreneur/Surgical Coordinator
Alexandra Daniels Edwards, Owner Monterey Bay Contrology
Kaniz Fatema, Resident 
Kaniz Frank, District Manager - Coordinator
Lyvesha Franklin, Business Owner/Poet LoveGodSelf LLC
Gaye Freedman, Retired
Noel Freitas, Marina Resident
Lauralea Gaona, Teacher
Jenna Garzaniti, Administrative Assistant
Elaine Gehrmann, UU Minister/Reverend
Ann Gladstone, Retired Social Worker & DWMC member
Jennifer Golden, Psychotherapist
Ramon Gomez, Analyst/Director
Sam Gomez, Community member
Aisa Gopi, Marketing Professional
Rosalyn Green, Justice Reinvestment & Education Equity Organizer Building Healthy Communities - Central Coast
Asya Guillory, Advocate for Black Educators
Daryl Hackworth, Life Coach, HIV/AIDS Advocate
Jessica Hare, Nurse
Karen Hassan, Fort Ord Equine FoundationEmily Garcia, Seaside Resident 
Emma Heady, Mother
Donna Hepburn, Business Owner 
Dana Hernandez, Contract Analyst
Michael Hicks, Handyman
Marty Horton, Community Activist
M. Gary Huskey, Monterey Resident
Cindy Huynh, Resident
Nadene Ivens, Past League of Women Voters President
Barbara Jashinski, Resident
Brenda Jenkins, Healthcare Professional
Felice Jenkins, D.o.D Care
Cesar Lara, Executive Director Monterey Bay Central Labor Council
Ben Lazare, Educator
Heather Lazare, Editor, Heather Lazare Books
Jill Lewis, Government Contractor
Karin Locke, Voter
Christina Lund, Retired
Monica Kim, Human Rights Advocate, M.K. Phoenix -Forgotten Histories Project, Founder 
Michelle Magdalena Maddox, MisS Vice President, Juneteenth Coalition
Esther Malkin, Founding Director Monterey Peninsula Renters United
Carissa Mann, Marina Resident 
Candace McCarthy, Retired Educator
Judith McCaskill-Robinson, Personal Financial Analyst
Sharon Miller, Citizen
Emily Moss, Resident
Katherine Muller, Business Owner, Roots Yoga & Bodywork/Balanced Equine Bodywork
Janice Neal, Monterey Resident
Rebecca Napoleon-Bentley, Doctor
Cynthia Ortiz-Naranjo, citizen of Monterey County
Dave Pacheco, Seaside City Council
Liz Parker, Monterey County Resident
Wyatt Patry, Resident
Paula Pelot, Treasurer Marina Democratic Club
Mark Poehner, Elementary School Teacher
Elizabeth Punch, Resident
Norma Redmon, Retired Registered Nurse
Vanessa Robinson, Teacher 
Stacia Sambar, Pebble Beach Resident
Joanne Sarrica, Retired Probation Officer
Rebecca Scheuermann, Student, Hartnell College, Marina Resident
Yvonne Schmidt, Student, Salinas Resident
Craig Scott, Reverend
Nancy Selfridge, former City Councilwoman, Monterey
Albert Shoats Jr. Community member, Pacific Grove
Holly Shoats, Pacific Grove Resident
Zoe Shoats, Pacific Grove Resident
Jacqueline Sinn, Unemployed
Peter Skinner, Resident
Reilly Skinner, Monterey County resident, California State University Monterey Bay student Barbara Smallwood, Division Office Manager, Monterey Peninsula College
Miriam Smith, Pause the Calls/Community Organizer
Scott Stephens, Resident
Gail and John Stucky, Resident, New Monterey
Carolyn Swanson, Business Owner/Parent
Lily Tran, Community member, Seaside
Janice Tuosto, Hospitality Manager
Emmanuel Valencia, Owner ESV Productions
Kim Von Berg, Relationship Counselor, Thriving Loving Relationships
Audra Walton, Activist/Photographer
Katelyn Wendt, Teacher
Wes White, Community Enthusiast / Videographer Salinas/Monterey County Homeless Union / John Doe13k Productions
Laverne Wright, Support for Change
Emily Zefferman, Ecologist