Hello Mayors and Councilmembers,
My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a resident of Covington. As elected officials, you are a responsible for addressing the needs of our community in an effective manner. I am asking you to address these needs through the re-allocation of funds away from the police department here in our city.
In our annual budget for the 2020 year, 37.02% of the general budget has been distributed to the police. According to the budget, we are allocating over $4 million to the police while only $444,539 go to the Personnel and Human Services Department. Social and Human Services are more equipped to handle issues of domestic violence, homelessness, substance use, and other problems that the police currently fail to address. We need to be using these funds to better serve the needs of our community.
I hope as councilmembers you will represent your constituents. The system of policing stems from the maintenance of white supremacy in history. If we are to foster community cohesiveness and a strong sense of unity, we need to be doing better. I demand you vote to defund the police and fund services that help our community now, and in the future.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME][YOUR ADDRESS]
[YOUR EMAIL][YOUR PHONE NUMBER]