San Diego community and youth leaders sound off on mayor’s proposed budget over increased police funding
CPI’s Researcher and Policy Advocate, Keara Piña, and Organizer, jean-huy Tran, tell CBS 8 that funds allocated to the police in the Mayor’s proposed budget need to be diverted to other community programs:
Mayor Gloria's budget is disappointing, and it seems to represent a desire to remain politically neutral rather than serve community needs. Even with the new leadership, the police budget continues to grow, now, reaching an increase of over $205 million for over the past 10 years.
We've seen this kind of budget before, we've seen it last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. The mayor can do better than this, and our community deserves better.
This budget is not enough. Do not give us crumbs and then insult us by calling it justice. We don't have enough money for more parks, but there is enough money to police the parks.
One thing that hasn't been increased, is the funding in the communities that are most impacted by police violence.
Our children and youth deserve to be prioritized and not by one time programming but in the long run.