Hey Hey Hayward!
It’s been two months since the Hayward Community Coalition introduced its 7 Demands to defund the Hayward Police Department and re-invest those funds back into our community. Despite our demands receiving overwhelming support from Hayward residents during public comment, Hayward City Council pushed their budget through with virtually zero changes. To our city staff’s credit, we received meaningful feedback and a better understanding of what was and was not possible for city council to achieve in relation to our demands.
This letter outlines the status of each of the 7 demands, announces our updated demands, and includes a petition we hope you’ll sign and share to support them.
1. Redistribute 10% of the police budget to non-police, community-based services outside of the police department.
City Council claims to have cut the police budget by roughly five percent. However, this amount only reflects a hiring freeze that was planned before our coalition created its demands. To be clear, we are not asking for money to simply be taken away from the police department. We are asking that it diverted from the police and reinvested back into our community. Our goal is to tackle the social injustices that are the root of what the criminal justice system can only react to: systemic poverty, neglect, and desperation.
Aisha Wahab is the only sitting city council member to call for the creation of a social services department in Hayward, capable of housing the police department’s non-criminal services that should have never been the purview of armed law enforcement (such as Youth and Family Services and the Baseball Little League). Other city council members have tried defending their inaction by claiming this demand is a minority opinion, betraying the overwhelming support our demands have received during public comment. They can meet our demand, they just don’t want to.
The Hayward Community Coalition continues to stand by this demand. Both Seattle & Oakland have asked for 50% divestments, we believe our demand to redistribute 10% is very reasonable in comparison.
2. Cancel and ban police contracts with HUSD schools and college/university campuses. Including SROs/ROP/HPD/ICE contracts, and allow Hayward people to file police reports regarding school incidents directly to HPD.
There are ongoing conversations with the Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) about the role School Resource Officers (SROs) play in policing our public schools. HUSD has held multiple meetings to discuss whether they will renew their SRO contract with the Hayward Police Department (HPD), with a clear bias towards renewing, yet failed to invite any student input and continue to ignore the overwhelming majority of callers in support of ending SRO contracts.
The City Council says it does not currently have any contracts with ICE, which means it shouldn’t be difficult for the city to ban future contracts, especially if they claim to represent and look after the wellbeing of the Hayward community (where 40% of our population is Latinx). Hayward is a sanctuary city; so we expect its commitment to the safety of its immigrant and non-citizen residents to be upheld. In regards to Cal State University East Bay, the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the police department within the CSU system, which is a state institution.
The Hayward Community Coalition continues to stand by this demand. SRO’s are armed police employed under the Hayward Police Department. Despite City Council’s attempts to place responsibility on the school district, they have the authority to withhold SRO contracts regardless of HUSD’s decision. We demand that they do.
3. Demilitarize the police. Ban HPD from purchasing any riot, military, and surveillance equipment (including software). Ban and end contracts with any third-party security vendors.
City Council has claimed that money allocated to police equipment will not go towards riot/military gear or tear gas. Talk is cheap. We are seeking an explicit ban in writing. If city council members claim “Black Lives Matter” on social media, they should jump at the chance to pass legislation that would improve our community’s safety.
The Hayward Community Coalition continues to stand by this demand. We do not accept that our tax dollars are being spent on tools with the explicit purpose of suppressing and surveilling us.
4. Freeze police department hiring indefinitely including incoming police academy candidates/graduates.
We understand the legal consequences the city may face if they do not honor their employment contracts with incoming recruits.
The Hayward Community Coalition demands an indefinite hiring freeze after the incoming class that includes the natural attrition of departing officers.
5. Ban paid leave for officers being investigated for misconduct.
Police officers have certain employment protections granted by the Peace Officers Bill of Rights at the state level.
The Hayward Community Coalition demands that the City Council pass a resolution denouncing the practice of paying officers while on investigatory leave and condemning any officer that accepts payment while under investigation for misconduct.
6. Ban city spending on the assessment or building of any police buildings or corp yards.
The city had plans to construct a new police station for $200 million, but Hayward City Council agreed with us that it would be an unwise use of tax dollars after we pointed it out.
The Hayward Community Coalition continues to oppose the assessment and/or construction of any new police buildings or corp yards that will service HPD.
7. Establish a city-wide, participatory committee for all residents (regardless of citizenship status) that will dictate how to reallocate another 10% of the police budget to non-police, community-based services for FY2022.
Hayward City Council is attempting to throw $74,000 at outside consultants who don’t represent the communities affected by police brutality. This will delay meaningful police reform. With lives at risk every day, waiting two years for a survey to tell us what we already know is unacceptable.
Participatory Budgeting invites community members to democratically decide how to allocate a public budget. We want city staff to develop this committee SEPARATE from the Police Community Advisory Panel (an unelected advisory committee with no oversight of the police budget).
The Hayward Community Coalition demands a true participatory budget committee to reallocate the Hayward Police Department’s Budget. We continue to insist that our elected officials consult with US, not career consultants.
Thank you for reading.
We hope you'll sign the petition in support of our 7 demands.
For Hayward,
HCC