Did yall know that the City is putting coins towards truth and reconciliation? We share some light on Item 3 from the June 15th Council mtg.
There has always been mistrust between certain parts of the community and law enforcement. Locally, African Americans are 7x more likely to be incarcerated than white folx. Nationwide having an untreated mental illness makes you 16x more likely to die during an encounter with law enforcement.
This tension really came to a head last summer with anti-police brutality and anti-racist protests. Many took to social media to share their stories of police brutality, others took their police misconduct cases to court. As the public outcry for police accountability got louder, the city council established a new program to combat this civil unrest.
During the fiscal year 20-21 the city council allocated $100,000 to the Office of Public Safety Accountability to fund the truth and reconciliation project. The Office of Public Safety Accountability (OPSA) was to hire a consultant to assist the Sacramento Police Department and the Community in their efforts of establishing Truth, Reform, & Reconciliation.
This consultant was set to review protest videos, and establish an action plan for reconciliation between the community and local law enforcement agencies.
As we move into a new fiscal year the city manager is in support of turning this project into a multi year operating project(MYOP) and transferring $220,000 additional dollars from the General Fund Administrative Contingency.
The action plan that comes along with a $320,000 program to repair a long stressed relationship is still unknown to the public. We got questions!
Will this be a cop-a-ganda campaign paid for by the taxpayers?
Will law enforcement be held accountable for their violent culture?
Will law enforcement charge their deadly policies?
Currently there’s no public timeline, but the paperwork says Dr. LaTesha Watson, Director, (916)808-7525 at the Office of Public Safety Accountability is the one to contract to find out more.
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