500 signatures reached
To: Hillsboro City Council & Hillsboro Mayor
Divest In Cops, Invest In Care
Divest In Cops, Invest In Care
Why is this important?
We demand the City of Hillsboro decrease the size and scope of its police force and reinvest the funds into social programs. This includes mental health professionals, housing, rehabilitation services, among other programs that limit the factors and circumstances leading to crime. Right now policing covers too broad of a scope. Officers are dispatched to situations without analyzing whether they can properly address the need at hand. It would be better to dispatch trained professionals who specialize in the specific area of the call’s need/focus.
For Example:
If you see someone having a mental health emergency, currently your only option is to call 911. They would typically dispatch police officers who are untrained to deal with mental health crises. Alternatively, emergency mental health professionals who are trained to assist in this event would be dispatched. They are more adequately prepared to safely de-escalate and diffuse the scenario.
Right now the Hillsboro Police Department has a $40 million budget. However, over half of this budget is designated to administrative services and patrolling. Excessive police presence shows no clear benefit to our community. Their presence only serves to intimidate people, whether this is intentional or not. By reducing patrolling and other non-essential police programs, we can free up money to invest in our community.
One of the programs that must be removed are School Resource Officers. Replacing SROs with social workers will help students work out their behavioral issues instead of simply punishing them. SROs serve as an intimidation tactic to our students and their presence often leads to the start of criminal records that are hard to move past. Recently, Portland Public Schools made the decision to remove SROs and HSD, being in a lower crime rate area, should do the same.
Please sign this petition to urge the Hillsboro City Council to divest in cops and invest in the care of our community!
For Example:
If you see someone having a mental health emergency, currently your only option is to call 911. They would typically dispatch police officers who are untrained to deal with mental health crises. Alternatively, emergency mental health professionals who are trained to assist in this event would be dispatched. They are more adequately prepared to safely de-escalate and diffuse the scenario.
Right now the Hillsboro Police Department has a $40 million budget. However, over half of this budget is designated to administrative services and patrolling. Excessive police presence shows no clear benefit to our community. Their presence only serves to intimidate people, whether this is intentional or not. By reducing patrolling and other non-essential police programs, we can free up money to invest in our community.
One of the programs that must be removed are School Resource Officers. Replacing SROs with social workers will help students work out their behavioral issues instead of simply punishing them. SROs serve as an intimidation tactic to our students and their presence often leads to the start of criminal records that are hard to move past. Recently, Portland Public Schools made the decision to remove SROs and HSD, being in a lower crime rate area, should do the same.
Please sign this petition to urge the Hillsboro City Council to divest in cops and invest in the care of our community!