Dear City Council Members & Mayor Margo,
My name is [NAME]. I am a resident of [NEIGHBORHOOD] in El Paso, Texas. I write this letter today to demand a complete overhaul on our El Paso Police Department. In light of, and in solidarity with, the protests across the US and in our city against the lives lost at the hands of the police, the El Paso community is calling for the immediate defunding of the EPPD and reinvestment in our communities.
I join our community in demanding that you, my local officials, will:
Vote NO on all increases to police budgets
Vote YES to decrease police spending and budgets
Vote YES to increase spending on health care, education, and community development initiatives and programs that keep up safe.
The El Paso Police Department is funded at a drastically higher amount than all other city programs. In 2019, EPPD received: 5 times as much than parks & recreation, 9 times as much as public health, 12 times as much as human and community development, 15 times as much as libraries, 29 times as much as museum and cultural affairs, and 363 times as much as support for the unhoused [1].
I demand that this council reallocate funds towards building healthy communities, especially those that are most vulnerable as Covid-19 has exposed. It should go towards the health of our elders and children, to social services, to neighborhood infrastructure, to education, to childcare, to homelessness, to dismantling racial inequality, to supporting a vibrant future for our city.
The possibilities are endless if you commit to investing in our communities, not in policing them. El Paso cannot wait any longer for a budget that meets the needs of its residents. The only way to achieve this is to take immediate steps to defund EPPD.
Thank you,
The People of El Paso, TX
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]
[YOUR EMAIL]
[YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
[1] elpasotexas.gov/omb