HomeMy WebLinkAboutMeasured response to policeDear City Council and Staff,
I am writing in response to the issue of police reform that so much attention has been given to in the past weeks.
I implore you to make your coming decisions based on data and evidence not on emotion and anecdote. Passions are so high right now and for a just cause. However, being enraged about
police brutality in the US does not mean we face the same problem here in San Luis Obispo.
I see two ways in which we can leverage the present moment to make a better San Luis Obispo. First, I support giving our police the best training available so they can respond with
compassion, de-escalation, and understanding. This will make our town better. Secondly, I support the collection of data about our police and their behavior. Doing so will ensure
that should there ever be a bad cop on our force, that we will know about it, and be able to remove that cop before they do harm to our community.
But I do not support many of the other ideas I’ve seen put forth. I have not seen any data presented that suggests that we need a task force, money allocated, police defunded, or state
of emergency declared. Many of my students have written to you and I encouraged them to do so. But you are the leaders who have access to much more information and can take a broad
look at the needs of our community. I encourage you, as much as you are able, to push the state of California to take on greater reforms. For San Luis Obispo, we can take the steps
above to ensure that police brutality never plagues our community.
Best,
Dr. Jenn Yost
---
Jenn Yost, Ph.D.
Winter 2020 Office Hours Wed 2-5 in 33-354 or 33-363
Associate Professor of Botany
Director, Hoover Herbarium
Biological Sciences Dept
Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407
jyost@calpoly.edu <mailto:jyost@calpoly.edu>
805-756-5869