Legislative District 30

I believe that public safety should be viewed through the lens of public health. Safe communities, meaning those free from violence, are healthy communities and must be built as such. This reinterpretation of our approach to public safety means invigorating our investments in programs and resources that prevent crime at the source and resources for diversion and recovery. Tangible steps include increasing funding for resources designed to support mental and behavioral health as well as those experiencing substance abuse disorder. Additionally, a crucial component of this approach is to resources those organizations that are already on the ground, doing the work.

In 2020, I passed a bill that restricts firearms from being carried in child-care facilities or on transportation provided by child-care facilities. In 2021, I passed another bill which expanded the reentry resources available to people being released from state and local institutions to support successful reintegration and community building. I look forward to engaging in similar work furthering public safety by providing wrap-around services for people who interact with our criminal justice system and promoting common-sense gun control.

Holding law enforcement officers accountable for their actions is indisputably crucial to building safe and healthy communities. With this being said, I also believe we need to rethink how law enforcement interacts with the public to build equity and trust from the ground up. As such, another police reform measure which I think would be productive to pursue is auditing and revising police training to prioritize deescalation, conflict resolution, and acknowledgement of implicit bias. At the same time, we should be funding and training other first responders so that they can deal with a broader range of situations in order to decrease the volume of calls directed to police.