Re-imagine Policing - The Fight for Equity
June 22, 2021
Comments for the City of Davis City Council on June 22, 2021
This is about Item Number 8 - Adoption of the Budget
My name is Todd Edelman. I’m a resident of east Davis and the son and grandson of Holocaust Survivors.
Equity is a process, not a goal. We fight for it, forever and always.
The fight for equity is recognizing and adopting - not only adapting - best practice from other communities.
The fight for equity is about being honest about our history and optimistic about our future.
In the fight for equity we support symbolic activities, but prioritize action.
In the fight for equity we recognize that our children don’t look like other children
In the fight for equity we recognize that our children DO look like other children.
In the fight for equity we never lose sight of the present in favor of higher political ambitions
In the fight for equity we listen to our Commissions, and take direction from unanimous Commission decisions.
In the fight for equity we recognize that citizens run the City, and that elected officials and Staff serve them in a way that optimizes every tax dollar raised, with only the best tools.
A City Council that is serious about its fight for equity will create a new Public Safety Department.
Beautifully said, Todd!
Posted by: Nora oldwin | June 22, 2021 at 06:48 PM
Powerful words.
Posted by: Roberta L. Millstein | June 22, 2021 at 07:33 PM
As the son of a Holocaust survivor who escaped a concentration camp and spent most of the war in the Soviet Army, what you said was, well, weak and pointless. The UC Police and City of Davis police both exhibit racism, anti-Semitism and mysogyny to an extent that the local media has ignored or, worse, covered up. And UC officials have had the Yolo County DA in their pocket for decades - not just in how my case was treated, but how the Robert Lugo case and similar cases were ignored until they couldn't be anymore. We need real accountability, an end to the nonsense of immunity and protection of criminal cops. The local police do not merely have a few bad apples, they are a barrel of rotting fruit, with those in it merely at different stages of rot. I'll be happy to testify as to all this in an open forum, or write articles, if anyone has the courage to listen.
Posted by: Howard Zochlinski | June 24, 2021 at 03:12 AM