Legislative District 36

Public safety to me means that communities feel safe from violence and criminal behavior, and that safety is rooted in the community’s prosperity, interconnectedness, and community-based accountability for criminal activity. It means that if law enforcement is involved, they are working to respond to and in the service of what the community has asked them to do, not what law enforcement agencies alone think is best. It means that police officers are held accountable for their actions, just as every day citizens are, and that there is transparency, trust, and respect for communities at the heart of all public safety decisions.

I think the COVID-19 pandemic has really underscored how few resources are available in our state for people experiencing a mental health crisis, and how much we place on our first responders to address what is more than an emergency problem but a need for long-term, consistent care. In the state legislature, I will prioritize funding for mental health care, including beds for mental health patients (adults and children), services, counseling, and mental health responders who can support other emergency services in addressing crises.

Furthermore, I am also committed to addressing the scarcity and poverty that is at the root of so much crime. Lack of access to jobs, education, housing, mental and physical healthcare, food, lead to increases in crime in our communities. The legislature’s responsibility is to address scarcity in our state, and as a legislator this will be a priority.

As a legislator, prioritizing public safety will mean ensuring that all of my constituents feel secure and protected in their environments. I am committed to listening to communities about their safety needs, and to standing by them even when it’s politically inconvenient. It takes time to thoughtfully implement reform on all levels and that police are taking responsibility for their part of training and implementation. I will work to ensure that communities are seeing the effects of legislation to protect their safety.

I will also push for expanded investment in housing, mental health care, jobs, education, and access to green spaces, which are tools that meaningfully support lasting public safety and healthy communities. And I will increase investments in community programs like the Seattle Community Safety Initiative which support non-carceral, non-police based safety solutions statewide.

We must also recognize that the systems in place to keep us safe and promote accountability are the same systems that continue to attack and discriminate against our communities of color. As a legislator, I intend to prioritize comprehensive police and criminal justice reform to ensure that these systems can serve the community in a positive manner.

Even as crime has gone up, the commitment to police reform hasn’t changed in Seattle. We have the intelligence and the resources to keep people safe from crime AND police misconduct.

As a Black woman, this is a personal issue for me. I have a Black brother, a Black father, and a Black boyfriend. I know what it feels like to have them go out the door and know what might happen to them. I know what might happen to me. I also have police officers in my family, and as contributors to this campaign. We need police departments and unions to do their part and partner with the state to implement systemic reforms and accountability so that our communities can be safe.

When I’m addressing issues like police accountability and community safety in Olympia, it will be through the lens of watching my Black father, brother, partner walk out the door every day and worrying if they will come back. It will be as someone who lived on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2020, with teargas coming in the window and helicopters overhead as police confronted racial justice protests. It will also be as someone who has close relatives who are police officers, and with an understanding that we have to focus on changing the systems that create violence, scarcity, distrust, and lack of safety in our communities, more than individual hearts and minds.