Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am a resident of [NEIGHBORHOOD/CITY]. I am asking to redirect money away from the Savannah PD and into the following social services:
- Community Development
- COVID Relief
- Education
- Parks & Recreation
- Mutual Aid
- Community Policing
- Arts Programs
I request that an emergency meeting be called before the fiscal year goes into effect in order to deny the mayor's proposed budget and reallocate these funds to resources that strengthen our community.
I demand that the Mayor support the desires of our Savannah community and hear our call for:
- Efforts to improve oversight and independent investigations to hold individual law enforcement officers and police departments accountable
- Efforts to establish an all civilian review board with the authority to investigate incidents of police misconduct, to ensure community level oversight accountability and discipline the reaction of police officers
- Rejection of expanded and militarized police budgets
- The adoption of sound and unbiased law enforcement policies at all levels of government that reduce the disparate impact of police brutality racial profiling and use of force on black and brown people, and other historically marginalized communities.
- Efforts to defund and de-escalate the police dept. and reallocate the money to programs and city-led initiatives that support education, rehabilitation, public health, and community-oriented activities.
- Action to address the racial wealth gap in Savannah and decrease the spread of rampant gentrification and rising housing costs that disproportionately target black and brown residents.
- Creation of more programs that proactively target gang violence and work to improve the resources for marginalized communities.
We know that Savannah has had more problems with local violence than police brutality, and that is why it is all the more important to implement non-police solutions to social problems. Affordable housing, healthcare, employment–these are all safety issues. Instead of punitive or criminal punishment, restorative and supportive community measures can address these. We need more counselors, after school programs, trauma services, and anti violence programs before we increase the police budget.
We will continue to fight for a more just, peaceful Savannah.
Thank you for your time,
[YOUR NAME][YOUR ADDRESS]
[YOUR EMAIL][YOUR PHONE NUMBER]