Policy Police

Thanks for writing “Crime Rates Are Down, but Police Use of Force Is Up for Discussion.” This is an important topic that deserves more attention.

The article mentions, “The organization had presented a written draft with updated language to the Police Department in June, Ruskamp said, but no policy changes have been put into effect since.” Actually, Equity for Santa Barbara presented a list of requests to Santa Barbara Police Department in June. We offered to present a written draft with updated language to SBPD, but they have not taken us up on our offer to meet and discuss. We have been able to work with Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office further in detail and have written a draft with update language together with them.

Also, you can find our requests at change.org/p/equity-for-sb-reform-the-sbpd-use-of-force-policy.

Scott Ruskamp is a member of Equity for S.B.