LAW AND LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Jay Schenirer, Chair, District 5
Jeff Harris, Vice Chair, District 3
Katie Valenzuela, District 4
Eric Guerra, District 6
COMMITTEE STAFF
Wendy Klock-Johnson, Assistant City Clerk
Steve Itagaki, Supervising Deputy City Attorney
Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs
Law and Legislation
Committee
City Hall-Council Chamber
915 I Street, 1st Floor
P
ublished by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 808-5163
C
ORRESPONDENCE
Description of Attached: Correspondence received after Agenda was published.
For
the Meeting of: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.
A
genda Item: Discussion Item 7
7. An Ordinance Repealing Ordinance No. 2021-0034 and Adopting a Military Equipment Use Policy
File ID: 2022-00544
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: 1) Review an Ordinance repealing Ordinance No. 2021-0 034 and adopting a Military Equipment Use Policy; and 2) pass a Motion forwarding the Ordinance to City Council for consideration.
Contact: Norman Leong, Deputy Chief, Office of Specialized Services, (916) 808-0800, [email protected], Police Department From: Moiz Mir
To: Eric Guerra
Subject: Item 7, Law & Leg - Jun 21, 2022
Date: Monday, June 20, 2022 11:13:35 AM
Hello Councilmember Guerra,
As a resident of District 6, I am writing to strongly oppose the drafted Military Equipment Use policy for item #7 at the upcoming Law & Legislation Committee meeting.
I agree that the City needs to develop a policy that has been thoroughly reviewed by the community. I do not believe that the draft policy before you has been sufficiently reviewed.
Further, I disagree with the characterization provided by the staff report in the Description/Analysis of the Issue Detail.
That military equipment is used by law enforcement agencies across the country does not make them a "best practice". The presence of military weapons in the hands of law enforcement in our community is not a tool capable of enhancing safety for the people that call Sacramento home. The removal of military weapons would serve to improve the welfare of the Sacramento community.
Some of these purported "best practices" of law enforcement agencies across our country include the use of military equipment and weaponry upon civilian populations in a manner that would constitute war crimes and violate the Geneva convention.
The staff report accurately claims that these military weapons have been "tested in the field" across the country; they have been used to suppress, harm, and inflict violence both indiscriminately upon crowds, and in the case of Sacramento like many other jurisdictions, discriminately and disproportionately upon people of color and peaceful protestors for racial justice.
The staff report fails to characterize their purpose accurately: as they have been designed and proven to be through violent "tests in the field" upon our own people, military weapons are effective weapons of violence. There is no evidence, data, or research to suggest that their use in our community has ever improved the welfare of our community. Meanwhile there is a documented abundance of lives lost, injuries, terror and trauma caused, and lawsuits that would suggest the opposite.
There is no reasonable place in our community for the use of military weapons, including sonic or chemical weapons and grenade launchers.
Thank you,
Moiz Mir
Concerned Sacramentan