On December 8, 2020, DSA San Luis Obispo published an open letter signed by 12 other community groups whose work focuses on the environment, racial justice, immigration justice, LGBTQ+, and mutual aid. We were all calling on the City Council to reject funding for a new police station.

At that time, the community was assured by City Council members and City Manager Derek Johnson that there would be time to discuss the proposal and the associated costs as a community. It now appears that the City simply waited for public scrutiny to die down before continuing with their plans to expand the SLOPD station, now under the deceptive name of “Public Safety Center” with an estimated cost of $53,200,000. Expansion of the carceral system under the guise of public safety is still an expansion of the carceral system, and we reject that expansion, including the proposed construction outright.

To claim that this gross expansion of police power is a step towards meeting the City’s major goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is both cynical and insulting to the populations disproportionately affected by the police, including our communities of color, as well as everyone who has taken the time to contact the City regarding the proposed new building. DSA SLO members took part in meetings of the City’s DEI task force, community budget forums, and many City Council meetings where DEI was the focus and not once was spending over $50 million on a new police station brought up by any community member as a way of meeting the City’s goals.

As we stated last year, we do not believe spending over $50 million on a new SLOPD station best serves our community. These funds would be better spent directly serving the needs of the community during these unprecedented times. There is not sufficient evidence to claim that population growth in San Luis Obispo would require such an increase in police power and scope; increasing the economic power of police has been shown to do more harm than good for many marginalized and underserved members of the community. Other actions can be taken to ensure the safety and security of SLO residents without further investment in the police force.

The City of SLO has already effectively criminalized poverty through a series of punitive laws aimed most often at those experiencing homelessness. In the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our community members, including those who are already in precarious financial circumstances, are more likely to become further impoverished and face police violence through the continued criminalization of poverty. The money intended for the police station should be redistributed to help our community members recover, both from the pandemic and systemic underfunding of these at-risk groups, not put towards an institution that continues to harm our most marginalized community members. Again, we outright reject any expansion of the carceral state; hiring a few social workers as a palliative gesture will not be enough.

We are asking you to serve your constituents by investing the City’s budget directly into the community rather than wasting the money on an unnecessary police station. Don’t sit back and allow this money to go back into a punitive system that perpetuates violence toward our most vulnerable community members. We are counting on you to listen to your community and halt all planning and funds towards a new police station and pledge to put this money towards other programs outside the carceral system that would better serve the community.