ACSO Requests $255 Million in New Funding Over Three Years; COVID-19 Reaches Santa Rita Jail With No Comprehensive Plans for Prevention or Further Releases

PHONEZAP on Monday!!
9:00am – 5:00pm PST
All day looooong!

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will be voting on 3/31/2020 to authorize a fund increase of $85 million to Santa Rita Jail that will go towards 216 new deputies, 47 ACSO personnel, and 107 behavioral health workers. Call the Board of Supervisors and demand that they block this budget increase and prioritize the health and safety of prisoners during a public health epidemic!

The night before last Tuesday, 3/24, an action item was slipped into the budget at the last minute to vote on this fund increase urgently, with minimal communication to the public. The motion was tabled to this upcoming meeting, and we need everyone’s help to stop this sudden surge in the cop budget while everyone is navigating a public health crisis.

Santa Rita Jail has notoriously been subjecting prisoners to torture and unsanitary conditions for months, not even providing cleaning supplies or adequate food to prisoners, and was quarantined as recently as a month ago for a flu outbreak. ACSO has decided that the solution is to multiply their staff in response to this outbreak, instead of addressing the increasingly inhumane conditions of incarceration which are cultivating health crises inside the jail.

Call:

Scott Haggerty, District 1: 
(510) 272-6691

Richard Valle, District 2:
(510) 272-6692

Wilma Chan, District 3: 
(510) 272-6693

Nate Miley, District 4: 
(510) 272-6694

Keith Carson, District 5: 
(510) 272-6695

Sample script:
“Hello, my name is ____, I’m calling to urge you to deny the Sheriff’s $85 Million budget proposal on Tuesday. The coronavirus has spread to Santa Rita Jail, please invest taxpayer dollars in healthcare and housing and immediately release people now. Any budget decision that prioritizes incarceration over healthcare puts all of us at risk. Thank you for your time.”

If the calls go to voicemail, leave a message. You can call all five supervisors, not just your own. We are applying pressure and making sure the politicos know there will be a price if they support this move, so no need to argue or yell or let them transfer you around to a public relations person.

Please email or comment below with any feedback or reports from your call.

Thank you!

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