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Sacramento joint youth commission meeting furthers calls to 'defund police'

In a special joint city council and youth commission meeting, the call to "defund police" and invest in community programs echoed.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — All but one of 15 Sacramento youth commissioners introduced themselves at a joint city council and youth commission meeting on Tuesday, shining a light on Pride month, and showing support for the Black Lives Matter Movement.

One by one, they showed solidarity. 

"I and members of my district stand by [the] Black Lives Matter movement," said youth commission chair, Emily Kawada. 

The youth commission presented a four-pronged proposal to address the needs of young people when it comes to mental health services, job training, summer jobs, and education. It also included funding support that included its keystone, peer-to-peer mental health training initiative.

The council voted to spend $3.8 million in federal coronavirus stimulus funds on the ideas, which are among some of the young commissioners' calls to "defund police."

RELATED: Police chief says defunding police could be effective, but not 'reasonable' for Sacramento

“I urge the city council, mayor and city manager's office to listen to Sacramento, the people, their needs and demands at this time to hold officers accountable and to divest from and defund SAC PD (sic) in favor of community-based, non-police alternatives, " said Sarina Rye, a youth commissioner. 

Councilmember-elect Katie Valenzuela says calls to "defund police" are not an attempt to dismantle the force but rather a call to to re-imagine public safety .

"In the end, the message is about prevention," Valenzuela said. "Instead of policing, how can we reallocate certain amounts of the police budget to prevent the need for police in the first place."

Prior to the joint meeting, Valenzuela called out a $10 million dollar budget increase for police, set to kick in July 1st for fiscal year 2021. 

 Valenzuela helped rally a chorus of voices urging Council to review and re-prioritize the budget before it goes into effect.

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However, the City's finance director said that $10 million is misleading, with $3 million going to the police fleet and the rest being a continuation of labor agreements. 

"We didn't add positions to the police. We only added funding for existing in mental health team," said Dawn Holm, Sacramento City Finance Director. 

Earlier in the day, four of the city’s eight council members – all of the black and brown members – called on the mayor and city manager to invest in community programs, and review and revise police use-of-force policies. It included proposals from the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission, which was formed nearly 3 years ago. 

Mayor Steinberg said he would commit to their requests. 

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WATCH ALSO: What it would mean to 'defund the police'

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