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City Council Meeting Minutes April 7, 2020 <br />not work properly in protecting all interested parties. The successful system <br />works when the desired affect occurs spontaneously and not because it is <br />forced. The desired effect here is to give the opportunity for an offender to <br />"fix" the mistake, learn from the mistake and not repeat the mistake. How do <br />we enforce the consequences of repeating mistakes if not by limiting the <br />application of cite to the first offense? I oppose Ordinance 2020-18." <br />Nina Stanfield: <br />"In response to the Cite and Release Ordinance with the first reading occurring <br />on April, 7, 2020, I am writing to OPPOSE the passage of this ordinance. The <br />ordinance WILL CAUSE the following problems: <br />1. IF RESTITUTION CAN BE RECOVERED AT ALL, restitution to victims <br />is NOT immediate and it causes victims great inconvenience to try and recover <br />it. <br />2. Repeat Offenders will ONLY be cited. There is no fear of arrest. They <br />will continue to commit the crimes because there is little to no consequence. <br />3. FAILURE TO APPEAR rate on citation only offenses is 40%. Most <br />Perpetrators DO NOT show up to respond to his/her citation. <br />4. 40% Failure to Appear Rate ENSURES 40% of the Victims will not be <br />able to seek restitution until the offender is even located again (if at all). <br />5. When issuing Citation by ordinance, there is NO positive or certain <br />identification on those defendants. No booking in jail, no photograph, and no <br />fingerprints - Perpetrator can LIE about his/her identity. <br />6. LIMITS DISCRETION OF OFFICERS, which should NOT happen! <br />I ask that you VOTE NO to the passage of this Cite and Release Ordinance. <br />No other city has done this, and there are clear reasons why. Trust your <br />officers. Let them do the job that you are paying them to do. Keep our <br />community safe and support your police officers. Those that do the crime <br />MUST pay for their actions. PERPETRATORS must be held accountable. <br />Agreeing to such an ordinance will greatly affect victims and will place <br />perpetrators at an unfair advantage to continue to prey on the innocent." <br />Naomi Narvaiz: <br />"My hope is that each of you are doing well in spirit and health. I appreciate <br />the work you are doing to keep our citizens informed. As you may know, my <br />constant endeavor is to advocate for limited government in the lives of <br />law-abiding citizens and safety for us and our posterity. For this reason, I find <br />myself writing to you to address Agenda Item # 18 regarding Ordinance <br />2020-18 - increased use of cite and release. According to the MEMO sent to <br />you by Chase Stapp, Public Safety Officer, detailing the results of a January <br />City of San Marcos Page 7 <br />