The Davis Community is re-thinking public safety after episodes of police brutality and a long-time lack of adequate services for mental health issues, drug use, and houselessness. These issues have exacerbated racial disparities, which are particularly pronounced in Davis.

On December 1, 2020, a Temporary Joint Subcommittee (TJS) researching public health and safety in Davis announced its nine recommendations to the Davis City Council. The public response was overwhelmingly in favor of these recommendations, with hundreds of emails and public comments sent in support of creating an independent Department of Public Safety.

Despite strong community support for real public safety in Davis, councilmembers have yet to commit to the vision layed out in the recommendations. Community members have also not received a formal response from City Manager Michael Webb, who was tasked with examining the TJS’s recommendations.

We must urge Davis City Council to take these recommendations seriously and act on them!

Demands:

1. We demand that the City of Davis create a new Department of Public Safety, committed to protecting all of Davis’ residents and visitors, and relying on unarmed response teams and de-escalation interventions. This new department would encompass traffic and code enforcement, welfare checks, responding to noise complaints, and more.

Though we understand that creating such a department cannot happen overnight, we urge city council members to commit to this vision, as well as direct Michael Webb and his staff to produce a concrete plan and timeframe that would move our community in this direction.

2. An immediate response from City Manager, Michael Webb on the nine recommendations put forward by the TJS. This response must include the timeline and actionable steps that the City of Davis will take to respond to the deeply concerning racial disparities raised in the TJS report.

3. Over a third of the functions currently encompassed by the Davis Police Department (DPD) will shift to the new Department of Public Safety, and the City will be called upon to invest in service gaps. For this reason, we demand that there be a three-year pause on hiring any new sworn officers.