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City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 of arresting, and give credit to Chief Klett and his officers. But when the threats of the virus have faded, it will benefit SMPD to have the guidance provided by Council to ensure this prudent practice continues, even though the consequences are no longer fatal. Thank you, Council, for taking seriously your community who is tired of being arrested unnecessarily, who long for you to take action to spare residents the trauma & hardship that result from being locked in a cage like an animal when it does not have to be that way. Stay safe, and take care. Eric Martinez: Dear Council: I write to encourage you to enact the 6 Critical Moves for Council Success 1. Undue the city attorney's amendment: The city attorney created a loophole in the ordinance designed to undermine the intent of the ordinance. By changing "there is reason to believe" & "it shall be considered" to "the arresting officer believes", he changed this disqualifying circumstance from an objective to subjective standard. There's nothing to argue if a cop says he believed safety required the arrest. You can't argue the facts - the only issue is whether [the arresting officer] believed it ... Changing it from subjective to objective would not in any way increase their liability because Constitutional law already employs the objective standard." Please refer to emails & letters by legal organizations and representatives on this topic. 2. Bring back "only" the backbone of the ordinance: If there is no bar on the # of disqualifying circumstances, and the word "only" is removed then it will complicate data reporting, having dozens if not hundreds of "drop -downs" for officers to choose from, making it difficult for policy makers to assess whether or not there is a consistent rationale around officers approach to use of citations, thereby making it difficult to track changes in culture & more... 3. Bring back Authentic Community Participation in Working Groups by striking the provision about citizen comment: If you resign the public to a three-minute public comment portion, then the public cannot have discourse, dialogue, or conversations with the police, city manager, and other stakeholders in a timely manner. "[T]he peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race ... If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error" Thank you for your leadership on this pivotal issue to advance the civil rights of San Martians in a period of inexcusable criminalization and mass incarceration. Erin Ckodre: City of San Marcos Page 3