Dear Westminster City Council and Executive Leadership,
My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a resident of Westminster, Colorado.
I am writing to demand a reallocation of funding from the Westminster Police Department to social and public programming for our communities. With record unemployment and a seemingly intractable pattern of abuse and unequal treatment by police, our city needs a budget that adequately and effectively meets the needs of at-risk Westminster residents.
For FY2020, nearly $27 million was allocated for policing (20% of the budget) while only $6.5m was allocated for community development programs. This is unacceptable, and I demand that the city council remedy this gross display of priorities. You must support a budget that supports social equity in our community, rather than empowering the police forces that tear us apart.
It is your duty to represent your constituents. I am urging you to advocate for revision of the Westminster city budget for the upcoming fiscal year to reflect the decades of research showing that education and social programs better promote the safety of a city than policing.
Thank you for your time,
[YOUR NAME][YOUR ADDRESS] [YOUR EMAIL][YOUR PHONE NUMBER]