At their April 14th meeting, the members of the Culver City Democratic Club adopted a resolution calling for major changes in the role and size of the Culver City Police Department. The vote was 96% in favor. This resolution asks the City Council to implement the recommendations of a report they commissioned from Solidarity Consulting, which reconsiders policing in the context of the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement. This report was ordered in July 2020 and delivered January 2021. The City Council will discuss it at a special meeting April 26.
The Democratic Club asks the Council to incorporate this report’s recommendations into the City’s 2021-2022 budget and department workplans. As summarized in the Club’s resolution, they are:
1) Freeze CCPD hiring, including the active officer recruitment opened in January.
2) Implement these three pathways to enhance racial equity and public safety:
-divert calls about mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse issues to a mobile crisis response team not affiliated with CCPD (modeled on CAHOOTS);
–align Culver City with LA County’s Alternatives to Incarceration initiative, especially for the minor misdemeanors which consume an enormous percentage of police time and have deeply inequitable effects, as documented by Million Dollar Hoods;
–address CCPD’s reputation for racial profiling (aka “Driving While Black”) by moving traffic enforcement out of CCPD and conducting a civil liberties-based review of “proactive policing” and all other CCPD policies.
3) Reinvest all savings from these changes into public safety and well-being programs outside CCPD.
4) Direct CCPD, Human Resources, and the City Manager to project CCPD staff reductions due to retirements etcetera in order to create scenarios to decrease the police budget without layoffs.
5) Create a powerful independent Public Safety Commission and enforce civilian oversight.
The Culver City Democratic Club is Culver City’s oldest and largest political organization and the oldest progressive Democratic Club on the westside. All registered Democrats are welcome to join. More information is at www.c-c-d-c.com
Culver City Democratic Club
Be the first to comment