We all deserve safety

In the last three years, our family has experienced a catalytic converter theft off of our older hybrid car, a garage break-in, and have had our cars opened and gone through too many times to count. Our small business was broken into and burglarized.

We don't bother to call the police anymore.

You likely have had similar experiences. Some shrug and say that this is happening everywhere and we just have to get used to it. I disagree. I don't think we should accept this as normal.

We have a police department that is overwhelmed and feels unsupported. These are city employees who are doing a difficult and dangerous job. While it's good that bad officers are now being held to account, we need to let the good officers- and that is by far the largest share of them- know that we have their backs. That they are supported and wanted by the community they are working to protect.

We need to change the culture around policing, so that the few bad actors are held accountable, and the rest are confident and able to do their jobs- important jobs. We can't forget that criminals also need to be held accountable- and police are key to making this happen.