Good afternoon, welcome to the public safety committee meeting of June 17th, 2026.

Our committee liaison Sarah Jordan will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Sarah, please go ahead.

Thank you, Vice Chair Campio.

While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or an internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business.

Star 9 on your telephone.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

Vice Chair.

Thank you for reviewing those instructions.

Quorum being present as a note, non-agenda public comment will be taken at the end of the meeting today.

And as a reminder, consent item number three was removed from the agenda, so it will not be heard at today's committee.

Are there any committee member mayor, city attorney, or independent budget analyst comments, seeing and hearing none?

Do we have any requ other requests for continuances?

Seeing and hearing none, uh, we will now dispense with the approval of our consent agenda.

Do I have any requests to pull from this consent agenda?

Dr.

Campbell.

This isn't a request to pull, but I do have a couple of questions.

I wonder if staff was here about it on number two.

Very on number item number two.

Yeah, you just ask a couple quick questions.

Very good.

We shall take that uh after the public comment if that's good.

Um let's move forward with public comment on the consent agenda.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

The consent agenda is now open.

It includes items number one and two.

Item number one is the approval of the committee minutes from May 13th, 2026.

Item number two is a cooperative procurement contract with Whitman Enterprises for emergency ambulance transport billing and collection services.

Each speaker will have one minute to speak to consent agenda items with a total of two minutes.

We will begin with in-person testimony.

Maximilian Schmidt, you have indicated you wish to speak to both items one and two.

So I will place two minutes on the clock for you to manage.

Hi, I just wanted to say that I am opposed to item one and two.

Um, I'm opposed to item one because it does not have an asterisk um on who is a Freemason in the minutes, and I believe that is needed um for reasons I've explained.

I'm opposed to item two because I don't think that any company should be in a contract with the city of San Diego when there's state and city sponsored um terrorism and um genocide happening in San Diego.

Um, what is that?

If someone can read your mind and look through your eyes, they can easily sneak up behind you, um, say something like maybe you're reading something on your phone.

And let's just say, for example, I'm sitting on the trolley reading something on my phone, and a city paid actor, state paid actor is right behind me saying out loud what I'm reading on my phone, proving to me that he can look through my eyes, and and making me very, very paranoid.

I then take out my cell phone and I look at my cell phone and I search mind reading, and under mind reading comes a bunch of things about mental illness, schizophrenia, and um also technology.

That's all false.

I'm actually a whistleblower for free may I'm a whistleblower on Freemasonry, and I'm projected to be a bigger deal than Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.

Once I get the word out that more and more people are waking up and already know this, that it isn't technology, and it isn't um, it isn't mental illness, that these people are actually driven um to paranoia and then driven to suicide and then driven to drug addiction from paranoid.

And the reason the people can read their minds that I'm blowing the whistle on, is that um Freemasons actually do her medic chance and human sacrifices in the Masonic Lodge to become telepathic and have the ability to look through people's eyes.

Then a public service announcement needs to be made that Freemasons can read people's mind because there's a genocide happening.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

Our next speaker is allegedly Audra, and you have indicated you wish to speak to both consent items.

So I'll place two minutes on the clock for you.

So in your minutes, you're talking about psych services and uh contracts with detention centers and the things that are going on with SDPD and the abuse of the public, uh, like with Andrea Ebbing and Anthony Warner, who uh brutally assaulted her and is claiming to be the victim in this.

In fact, her charges are assault on an officer, nothing to do with what the arrest was.

It was supposed to be uh 11550 or uh 5150.

And he didn't uh, you know, go in and treat the uh event as though it was either one of those.

He actually escalated the situation, slammed her face into the ground, um, maced her, even though she's had uh, you know, a brain aneurysm and things like that.

Um, and so I just feel like you know, you're doing these psychavalves or services for, you know, just the things they have to deal with, but I feel like these officers can be very incompetent in their ability um on how to handle situations, and the public is the one that uh suffers the consequences.

And then with this um trans ambulance uh billing, forty-seven million dollars is a lot of money to spend on billing uh for emergency ambulance transportation.

Um and my concern is that we have uh entities like Falk uh ambulance who are drugging individuals that are going into the detention centers.

Uh in fact, women, they all know that they get the shot, and Jennifer, you can sit here and act like this stuff doesn't happen and you laugh about it, but there are victims that this does happen to, and for you to sit there on that dais and act like I'm full of shit when this stuff is taking place with your own constituents, shame on you.

Yesterday you even said I was lying about what I was talking about.

That is not true, and the behavior of you is a very extremely negligent when it has to do with the public safety of the people in your community, and you wanna shun the people that are expressing what's actually taking place.

Thank you.

And our final speaker here in the committee room is Joyce Añata, and you have indicated you wish to speak to item two, so I will place one minute on the clock.

Thank you.

Okay, so uh I'm not sure if I'm a yes on this.

Uh and I'll tell you why.

I hope I can fit it in.

I had a personal experience due to a trip and fall, never sued, but it was major.

I had to take an ambulance ride, and uh my insurance didn't cover it all, and it was pretty good that I had to make up the rest, but I went round and round in circles and circles, and so this is many years ago, San Diego, and I couldn't get help with my the monies I owed.

And it was terrible.

So when Whitman Enterprises got approved, remember that it wasn't that long ago.

I I asked about getting making sure that they gave help to people like me who went through that and needed some subsidy to help them get through.

I don't know if that ever took place.

I don't think it did.

So I'm a no if they did not uh if they did not create some kind of financial help for people like me who have to have help with an ambulance ride.

Okay, thank you, love to all.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

I'll begin the five-minute timer for those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on the consent agenda, items one and two.

When I unmute you, if you can please indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to, and we will begin with Blair Beekman.

Hi, uh Blair Beekman.

I wanted to speak to item one.

Okay, please begin.

One minute.

Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Uh I just wanted to uh quickly comment that you have an item on uh the psychology services of police officers and the ongoing funding for that last time.

Uh thank you a lot for that item.

With the George Floyd uh incidents in 2020, uh the need of psychological services for police became really really important in what that can do for a full community uh morale, and you know, sustainability.

So thanks a lot for that.

Good luck how police psychological services can really help address Andrea Ebbings' case and issues.

Um really bad mistakes were made there.

Uh real bad overreaction that uh we need to trust that psychological services can be okay for our police officers and not shameful or fearful, and that goes along with whistleblower protection things, and uh good luck in all those good efforts.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony, and seeing no hands raised in the virtual queue on the consent agenda.

This concludes testimony for items one and two.

Thank you to members of the public for their comments and questions.

Uh we will turn to council member Campbell for questions on item number two.

Thank you, Chair.

Could um our is either the assistant fire chief or the deputy fire chief who's involved with the uh contract for the EMS services.

I just have a couple of quick questions.

Hi, you guys.

Good afternoon.

Um thank you for this so uh so very much.

I did read the staff report in depth, and I have a couple of questions because I see it makes it sound as if our contract with with the billing company is interwoven with Chula Vistas.

I'm not sure that's true.

Is that correct?

We currently contract with Whitman for billing services for ambulance transport, and that current contract is a co-op with Chula Vista.

Oh as this one is ending, as this current contract is ending, we are renewing our co-op.

Chula Vista went through a competitive bid process, and Whitman was again selected as their billing provider, and so it appeared to be a cost savings for the same uh process to not reinvent the wheel here and to continue our co-op on Chula Vistas contract.

Well, I want to thank you uh for straightening me out on that.

Um, because I didn't realize it was already being done as a co-op.

I was a little bit concerned about the boundary lines, the maps, and would they know this is Chula Vista's income, this is San Diego's billing and be able to keep all the geography separate since it is kind of confusing to outsiders.

The billing is entirely separate though.

We're just using the terms of their contract within our system and our service.

I know it's worked very well for us, and I I appreciate this.

And I also think that it's a very good deal.

Um they're only charging 2.9% for their fee, uh, which is quite reasonable, and considering the thousands and and tens of thousands, maybe even a hundred thousand, ambulance strips that are made.

Uh, this is really quite quite a uh reasonable contract, I I think that you've negotiated.

So thank you so much for this, and uh thanks for answering the questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Campbell.

Is that a motion to cons?

Yes, I would like to make a motion to accept the consent agenda.

Very good.

Do we have a second one?

I have a second from Council Member Whipburn.

See no further comments and questions.

We will now go to the vote.

Councilmember Campbell.

I vote yes.

Councilmember Whippurn.

Yes.

And I am also a yes that passes three zero.

Uh, thank you to our staff for being present on those items.

Uh we will now proceed with our discussion agenda.

Let's move to item number four.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Vice Chair Campio.

Item number four is the fiscal year 2025 Urban Area Security Initiative Grant Program.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online, you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1-669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 161 398 0144 Pound.

Good afternoon, staff.

Please introduce yourself for the public.

Let us know how much time you'll need for your presentation.

Good afternoon.

My name's Rob Rosendi.

Uh, I'm the new deputy chief in charge of Office of Emergency Services.

Good afternoon, Megan Beale, program manager at the Office of Emergency Services.

And I need about five minutes, please.

Very good.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Um, so here we're presenting the FY25 Homeland Security Grant Program, specifically the Urban Area Security Initiative.

So the Homeland Security Grant Program is a grant program administered by FEMA and passed through Cal OES state to us.

They're um the main uh purpose of the Homeland Security Grant Program is it provides funding to states, territories, urban areas, and local and tribal governments to protect uh prevent, protect against mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other threats and hazards.

So one of the grants within the Homeland Security Grant Program is the Urban Area Security Initiative, UASI.

So UASI is a regional grant that is administered by the City of San Diego's Office of Emergency Services, which it has been administered by us since its inception in 2003.

So the main components of UASI and the purpose of the funding is that it is meant to employ a regional approach to overall terrorism preparedness.

So all of our uh projects that we fund have to have a regional approach to preparedness.

Uh in addition, it can have dual-use activities.

So while there needs to be a terrorism nexus, what prepares us for terrorism can also prepare us for all all natural or all hazards.

So there really can be an all-hazard approach to preparedness.

The intent of this grant is to supplement, not supplant.

So they we cannot fund things that would normally be funded with a general fund or to offset our general fund.

This is really meant to enhance preparedness uh within the region.

One of the requirements is that there's a 35% minimum for law enforcement terrorism prevention activities and a 50% personnel cap.

So just to give an idea of kind of the timeline of it takes to develop a grant application.

So this specific grant application in front of you was developed about 18 months ago.

So it's a very lengthy process from when we start gathering proposals and do our vetting process to when it actually is awarded to our sub-recipients.

So I'll go into each of these kind of bubbles a little bit more in detail, but just to give you an idea, this is a really long process, and at any given time we have multiple fiscal years open.

So this is the latest one of FY25.

So to get a little bit more detail of how this grant is actually allocated and the funding decisions determined, I'll start with San Diego Office of Emergency Services as grant administrator develops the guidance and project template for our regional stakeholders to use, and then we work with goal leads, who then work with regional stakeholders to develop proposals.

So let me tell you then what a goal lead is.

So we have a governing document called the San Diego Urban Area Homeland Security Strategy, and that really is kind of the core of what the region, the region's approach and how they want to utilize these funds and how to prioritize the use of these funds.

So within that, there are goals and objectives.

There's eight goals.

So for each of those eight goals, we've identified a regional partner to be that lead, who basically shepherds the process through with the subject matter experts of that specific goal.

And then it is a requirement to be funded from this grant that your project has to support one of those eight goals.

So what are those eight goals?

So goal one, which is strengthen the regional risk management planning and emergency management programs, and the gold lead is a representative from the City of San Diego's Office of Emergency Services.

Goal two is enhance information collection, analysis, and sharing in support of public safety operations across the region.

The goal lead is a representative from the San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center.

Goal three, strengthen capabilities to detect threats from CBRE materials and WMD.

That representative is from the City of San Diego's Fire Rescue Department.

Goal four is to strengthen communication capabilities, which has goalies from both the City of San Diego's Department of IT as well as the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

Goal five, protection of critical infrastructure, soft targets and crowded places from all threats and hazards.

The goalie is again from San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center and the Chula Vista Police Department.

Goal six, strengthen security and preparedness across cyberspace.

So those two goal leads are from the Automated Regional Justice Information System, or RGIS, and then the City of San Diego's Department of IT.

Goal seven is enhance community preparedness, resilience, and recovery capabilities with a County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services as a goal lead, as well as County Health and Human Services.

And then lastly, our last goal is strengthened training, exercise, and evaluation programs, and that is the goal lead is the regional training manager, which is actually a position funded by this grant.

So more about the process.

So there is a group that we are required to have from the grant called the urban area working group.

So the urban area working group is the ultimate body that determines how these grants are funded.

So we have an advisory group to the urban area working group that does a very lengthy vetting process.

It's an all day, two-day process where they sit and they listen to all of these projects and vet them against a criteria that includes all of the grant requirements as well as then the compliance with the security strategy.

So the advisory group members are representatives from each of these agencies and it's multidisciplinary to try and get a diverse opinions across different public safety, you know, representative different public safety spheres within the county.

So after that group does its vetting, it does come up with a recommended allocation.

So they spend those two days and come up with how what they think the fund should be allocated towards.

And then the UAG, Urban Area Working Group, actually is the group that decides and votes on that funding allocation.

So the UAG is a collaborative subcommittee established by the San Diego County Unified Disaster Council.

And it really is the lead group in establishing a lot of the policies and development of the annual grant strategy for UAC.

And again, that is a requirement of the grant.

So the UAG's membership consists of one representative from each incorporated jurisdiction and then the county uh office of emergency services represents the unincorporated areas.

And all of those meetings are open to the public per Brown uh act requirements, so the public can come and participate with that process.

So FY25's allocation, there is an attachment to the staff report that shows the approved allocations for FY25 by the UAG.

And the specific to the city, the departments that are actually receiving allocations in this grant year are San Diego Office of Emergency Services the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Fire Rescue Department and that concludes my presentation.

Thank you very much let's proceed with public comment thank you vice chair we've received three speaker slips here in the committee room we will begin with Maximilian Schmidt you will be followed by allegedly Audra and Joy each speaker will have one minute to speak to item number four.

Hi one of the goals on the PowerPoint was to detect threats and I think that um I'm really glad I came to the public safety committee meeting today because I want to talk about threats um when I search on my phone is um mind reading telepathy real it's the very first thing that pops up on AI um Google search is supernatural mind reading telepathy is not real and that needs to be fixed we need city council needs to come clean and say that they know just as well as I know that supernatural telepathy mind reading is real and it's actually being used as a weapon against um people outside the occult and it also needs to become a public service announcement that people are getting driven to drug overdose and suicides by means of paranoia from people who are telepathic can look through people's eyes and read people's minds and are using it to harass them and it's it's my tax dollars are paying for it it's state sponsored terrorism and this needs you need to come clean you need to talk about it.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is allegedly Audra.

Yeah this is fraud waste and abuse under the guise of uh protection and preparedness FEMA along with the Office of Emergency Services cannot be trusted for what was happening on our border for years where people were invading it.

I mean Raul Campillo your district had a five year old that was raped in her own bedroom uh from Alejandro Jose Confesor who came across our border illegally which could have been stopped you guys should have been prepared and you guys continue to allow people to cross the border people that were being raped and murdered along the way it was being incentivized by our own government and by you guys even stick Steven Whitburn refused to uh talk to me about what was going on at the transfer site that was happening at the school off of 42nd and university and I thank you for that Stephen because it allowed me to uncover exactly everything that you guys were doing that was using our money to do it.

So when you talk about preparedness you're not going to do anything that's going to protect us because you should have protected the five year old little girl who is raped in her bedroom and probably has nightmares every night because of it Raul good thing it's not your daughter thank you and our final speaker here in the committee room is Joy Sanyata.

Is it one minute?

It is one minute okay thank you.

First of all that was really beautiful what you did about telling us about the grant process grant writing applying is an art form and I really have never heard it said so beautifully and that was a real example.

So 10 great goals I like goal two which is public safety and goal six is IT but I like all 10.

So love the regional approach again the grant the grant timeline was super duper.

So I I all of you know by now I I've stopped trooping about it but I love grants and we need them more than ever love to all.

Thank you for your testimony that concludes comment here in the committee room so I'll begin the five minute timer for those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item number four each speaker will have one minute beginning with Blair Beekman please unmute and begin.

All right uh Blair Beekman thanks a lot for this item uh and coming from the Bay Area Bay area had Aiwasi.

They had a full public meeting process and it was really nice.

And they they're having some problems and issues with that.

Hopefully it'll the public process will continue.

Um it was really nice to hear the words today on this subject.

I think San Diego uh Office of emergency Services is doing a lot of work to be more public.

And I've seen Megan at those meetings often.

I hope she can appear here at the City of San Diego level, like every three months with uh just a check-in on how and what work they're doing.

It's just nice to hear.

And you've been doing such good public work at the uh Office of Emergency Services.

I hope you can continue that sort of effort and uh what you're building there.

It seems really good.

And uh so thank you for that.

I I need to attend more meetings again, and um uh I guess that's about all I have to say for now.

Uh just good luck on public efforts uh for the process.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Tony, please unmute and begin.

You will have one minute to speak to item four.

Yes, can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Please proceed.

Yes, I just want to ask uh the members of this council, when is enough enough?

Um you just voted in favor of flock surveillance technology last week.

A couple months ago, I mentioned Operation Road Flare, which reveals that DHS and DHI have been in collaboration uh to spy on activists.

Um you have a overinflated police budget of over 700 million.

Um it was increased by another 15 million this year.

And the problem with this grant is that there is no terrorism in San Diego.

When was the last terrorist attack in San Diego?

If you want to consider the one at the mosque that happened last month at the Islamic Center of San Diego, a terrorist attack, like it should be considered, then you need to look at the shortcomings of the technology that were supposedly implemented to prevent that from happening.

And they failed us, and yet they are also depriving us of our privacy.

I have a problem with goal number two, enhance surveillance capability.

We don't need it.

Thank you.

Hector, please unmute and begin.

You'll have one minute to speak to item four.

Thanks.

Hey, the mosque that got attacked.

It was harboring two and 9-11 terrorists went to that mosque at 9-11.

There is a terrorist uh, and so there might be taken retribution on the other attack, too.

That could be I'm not saying they are, but it could be some of the things.

And Trump is also going after Antifa, he's prosecuting about 12 people for the Antifa thing.

And we got Antifa in San Diego big time.

We got those guys, and then check out those six guys that took over the mayor's office.

Those guys should be looked at or something.

That's kind of like a terrorist attack.

If you occupy a a city building for five hours and you guys just twiddling them thumbs out, who knows what those guys had on them?

They could have a bomb in a suitcase and got it in there.

Who knows?

But that could be another angle.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comment.

And with uh no other hands in the queue.

This concludes testimony for item number four.

Thank you.

We will turn to our council colleagues for uh questions, and this is uh discussion item that requires a motion, and we'll begin with Councilmember Whipur.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um it is essential for our city uh and the region to prepare for and work to prevent terrorism uh and other forms of emergencies.

Uh I have supported this in previous years.

I'll be supportive again this year.

Um goal number two is something that uh I saw in here as well.

Uh it reads enhance information collection, analysis, and sharing in support of public safety operations across the region.

Uh certainly in the context of preventing terrorism and preventing other emergencies that all sounds like important work uh for everybody to uh be working together.

Uh we are also in an environment where there is concern about the sharing of data among government agencies, particularly, but not limited to uh uh for uses related to immigration enforcement.

Um we heard a caller more or less allude to that.

What's your response to those sorts of concerns as it relates to this work?

I appreciate the question.

Thank you.

Um in relation to this action is as a as far as administration of this grant, um, what we really focus on is that there's nothing in this grant that creates any new legal requirements for any of our subrecipients.

All of the recipients of these funds all have to still follow all federal, state, and local laws and their own policies.

So, really, when you're looking at if there's anything in this grant that would change how agencies are handling that sharing of communication, nothing in this action changes that requirement that they do.

The city of San Diego has very strict requirements as it relates to data sharing uh with uh other entities and nothing about this changes any of those restrictions.

Okay, thank you very much.

I'll make the motion to approve the uh recommendation.

Thank you, Council Member Whippern.

We have a motion, and we'll now go to Council Member Campbell.

Thank you.

Uh thanks for the presentation and being so thorough about it.

It's wonderful to read all these good things.

Um, and I am happy to second the motion.

We have a second to the motion.

Uh I will also extend my thanks to our staff for this work.

Uh obviously something that we review every single year, and uh it really important resource for the region working across local agencies, preparing for natural disasters, emergencies, other public safety challenges, uh, and to support the type of equipment and training and planning and coordination that that all requires.

Uh really is very good work on your part.

So I will be in support and having a motion and a second.

I will call the role, Councilmember Whipburn.

Yes, Councilmember Campbell.

Yes.

And I am a yes.

That passes three zero.

Thank you.

All right, let's please proceed with item five.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Item number five is approval of the TAC CAT technology under the transparent and responsible use of surveillance technology ordinance and acceptance of donations from the San Diego SWAT association to fund the TAC Cat during fiscal year 2027.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online, you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1669-2545252, inputting webinar ID 161 398 0144 pound.

Vice Chair.

All right.

Staff from our police department, please introduce yourselves and let us know how much time you will need today.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Um, my name is Van Penn, Lieutenant Van Penn, and I'm the uh SWAT executive officer, and we'll need approximately eight minutes.

Very good.

Good afternoon, Lieutenant Luis Carvajal and SWAT commanding officer.

Good afternoon.

My name is Chris Walb.

I am a subject matter expert in the SWAT unit for the police department.

Yes, okay.

First, I'd just like to thank you for giving me the oppos this opportunity to uh approve the actual TAC ad and the private donation from our SWAT association.

Uh when people hear about police departments acquiring specialized equipment, it's not natural to worry about militarization or whatever are or about whether this reflects the values of our community.

Uh those concerns matter, and I want to address them uh with you guys today.

Um what I hope to show today is that TACAT is not a symbol of militarization, it's a life-saving tool designed for rescue, safety, and de escalation.

Uh its purpose is to not increase force, but to prevent it.

What is the actual TAC hat itself?

Uh so the TAC cat is a compact armored multi-purpose rescue vehicle.

It's built off of Bobcat platform, so essentially it's just a standardized Bobcat that they essentially add armor to uh the vehicle.

Unlike heavy armored trucks, it's not designed for combat or intimidation.

It doesn't carry any weapons and it cannot project any force whatsoever.

Uh some of the community benefits uh that we see with this TAC hat um in active shooter situations, barricaded situations, or any hostage rescue incidents.

TAC Act gives us the ability to safely approach and rescue civilians uh under fire and also uh rescue any officers that could potentially be under fire with this vehicle.

Um its claw can breach doors, walls, fences, and seconds, allowing us to feed uh free our tra free people trapped inside buildings, vehicles or disaster sites.

Um when officers are less exposed, they can focus on safety, uh resolving the safely resolving the situation.

Every inch of the armor on the TAC hat is another layer of safety that keeps officers from standing in the open.

The vehicle can be remotely operated uh via obviously a uh like a computer platform, uh, if if we were to get that.

Um it allows us to assess the threats, deliver non-lethal gas if we need to inside of a structure, breach barriers without sending people uh directly into danger.

Uh because it allows safe approaches, the TAC cat can often reduce the need for lethal force.

Uh when suspects realize they cannot hold officers at a distance, they're more likely to surrender peacefully.

In this way, the TAC cat is actually a de-escalation tool, minimizing confrontation and minimizing force and maximizing safety.

Uh mutual aid benefits across the city and county of San Diego.

This would not just be a tool for one city or department.

The TACAT can be deployed anywhere in San Diego County as a mutual aid rest uh resource.

I mean smaller agencies without the resources for such specialized equipment can still benefit it from their uh benefit from it uh when their residents are in uh crisis or danger.

Whether it's a hostage situation in a small community or a major regional incident, the TAC hat strengthens all of us together.

Uh disaster response and terror preparedness.

Tac cat is not only for tactical operations, it has significant value in natural disasters.

Uh in wildfires, earthquakes, floods, it can clear debris, reach collapse structures, and rescue victims in places traditional vehicles cannot go.

In the unlikely but serious case of a large-scale terrorist incident, the machine becomes even more vital.

It allows safe approaches, victim extraction, and barrier removal without risking further loss of life based on the armor of the vehicle.

Addressing any military concerns, the tech hat is not a symbol of aggression, it's a shield and it's not a sword.

It exists so officers don't have to storm buildings unprotected.

It exists so that we can resolve incidents without escalating force.

It exists so in the worst moments, whether it's a mass shooting, natural disaster, or terrorist attack, we can save more lives faster and with less risk risk to everyone involved.

This is about protecting people, not about projecting power.

It's about building resilience and not building force.

At its core, uh this conversation is about values.

We share the same goal in keeping our community safe while honoring our city's commitment to justice, compassion, and restraint.

It can serve every community and city of San Diego and the county of San Diego, not just our own.

And in times of crisis, whether it's man-made or natural, it can mean difference between tragedy and survival.

I respectfully ask for your support in acquiring this life-saving piece of equipment.

So what the so when the unthinkable happens, we're prepared to protect the people we all serve.

Uh the estimated cost at the moment, I believe it's roughly uh 377,244 at the moment.

Um it's actually gone up in price since we've started this process, so this is a little outdated.

Um, but that that is the actual price of this.

Um that is all.

Thank you for that presentation.

You guys are fast on that one.

You didn't need the whole eight minutes.

Uh we will go to public comment.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

We've received three speaker slips here in the committee room.

We will be again testimony with Maximilian Schmidt.

You will be followed by allegedly Audra and then Joyce and Yada.

One minute on the clock to speak to item number five.

I'm opposed to using 400,000 dollars of our tax dollars for the um armored bulldozer.

Um, the TAC hat.

Um, and I want to say the reason why I'm opposed to it.

The reason why I'm opposed to it is because there is a genocide happening in San Diego, and it's based off of the lie that a human being cannot see through another human being's eyes, and that a human being cannot read another human being's mind.

And basically, what's going on is there are people, and the police are guilty of doing this too, and they know they are, and they know what I'm saying is true, and they know that I'm not crazy.

What's going on is people are following people and reading their minds and messing with them and saying what they're saying what they're looking at to drive them to make them paranoid, and it's driving people to suicide and drug overdoses, and is a genocide happening.

I don't want you to spend 400 grand on an armored vehicle when there's a genocide happening.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

Allegedly, Audra.

You guys need to quit gaslighting the people and saying this is not militarization.

That's what exactly what it is.

And the more you bring in military grade weapons to use on the public, uh, and I mean, again, like terrorist attacks.

I mean, ALPR can even help you guys with the Muslim shooting or the Islamic whatever center.

And so it's like, but yeah, we're gonna put more of that in.

We're gonna say that it works.

We're gonna say, I mean, how often are you gonna use this?

How often is there an active shooter that you're actually gonna have the time before they murder people to go in there and set that up?

And for it to cost 400,000.

Like, are you freaking kidding me?

Like a bobcat's like, this is the problem is that you guys want to gaslight the people and act like you're here to protect the people, not protect power.

That's bullshit.

You guys are here to protect the government, not the people, because you go against the people.

And that's what's so sad is that you are supposed to be here to protect the people, but when you go and you are uh actively engaging in things that are making the people feel like they are in danger, or you know, that they need to be protected from domestic terrorism and there's nowhere to go because you guys are engaging in.

Thank you.

Joy Sanyana.

Okay, uh a big yes on this for the Tat Cat Tech.

Uh love police safety being involved.

That's a big one.

Love the trust ordinance being involved.

Now, I can personally say yes on this.

This year I experienced a de-escalation moment.

I witnessed it, and I wasn't I was in the area, I wasn't part of the SWAT team moment, but it happened, and somebody I know well ex saw it happening.

So SWAT team and de-escalation, they're two absolutely critical areas to save lives, to help the public, to help everybody.

So a big yes on that.

Thank you.

That concludes testimony here in the committee room.

So I'll begin the five-minute timer for those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item number five.

Each speaker will have one minute, and we will begin with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, we're beakman.

I wish we were about two minutes today.

Uh thank you for the previous uh questions from Council Person Whitburn on the uh San Diego UASI item, by the way.

Thank you.

Nice question.

Um, thank you for this item.

Thank you for the report, and thank you for um uh just a really nice presentation, uh real earnest presentation.

It was nice to hear.

I am hearing the language that was used uh for these type of vehicles.

They're you've been used more by police agencies, at least in California.

And I think it's good.

I think it does something positive and realistic and and uh genuine, and and uh I from that with then we start asking the questions will it be used in the wrong way and stuff, but you have the intentions you're explaining here.

It it offers an important first step.

Thank you immensely for that.

And uh I don't know if you need the technology or not.

If you have a bunch of these uh cats already, do we need more?

Uh that's my basic question.

Do we need part more than a new one?

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Tony.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have one minute.

Yes, it's disappointing to see SDPD is falling into the trap of offloading their labor problem uh onto AI.

Uh, because this is gonna be one more tool that's gonna be utilized uh to take y'all out of jobs, just like flock surveillance cameras are right now.

And to say that this is a mutual aid resource is uh is honestly as it's a slap in the face to what mutual aid means, the definition of what mutual aid is.

If this is for natural disaster use, then why do you have it?

This should be with fire department, this should be with agencies that are actually trusted by the public with agencies that don't have a track history of unaccountability, of literally costing the city millions of dollars in debt.

Y'all have cost us 42 million dollars this year alone in the public liability fund.

When is enough enough?

You're trying to say this isn't a military vehicle, this doesn't build trust with the public.

You say you're trying to build trust with the public, show it.

Thank you for your comment.

Hector, please unmute and begin.

You will have one minute.

Alright, thanks.

Yeah, another thing like this.

Uh just you got to be careful, man.

When doing your job and stuff.

I know you guys are, but just be careful.

And then Elon Musk is doing Optimus robots.

He's gonna crank out thousands of them.

And he's gonna make some heavily armored ones like the Terminator.

He's kidding.

He's getting optimus robots.

They have really good hand IR coordination, like top of the line.

It's getting really, really good.

So I'm sure he's gonna make a version where it's gonna be bulletproof within like have guns just like the terminator.

It could be scary.

So leave leave some money out for the terminator, and you gotta have those terminator things.

That'll really change the whole game.

It is coming, I guess it's probably coming, man.

It's gonna be the terminators.

Go after the bad guys, whoever they call bad.

But if this is like watching on, okay.

Just thought I'd tell you.

Thank you for your testimony.

And seeing no other hands raised in the queue.

This concludes comment for item number five.

Thank you very much.

Uh I'll kick us off on this item.

First, thank you to our San Diego Police Department staff for their presentation and their good work on this.

Appreciate this opportunity to discuss this item and learn more about how this technology supports emergency response operations.

Just want to first note full cost of this equipment's covered by the San Diego SWAT association, no impact on general fund, correct?

That is correct, sir.

Uh for maintenance, just to just want to add that for maintenance costs that that's projected to come from the general fund.

Okay.

So it become essentially covered by fleet or within the police department uh over the long term, is what I'm hearing.

That's correct, sir.

Okay, but the cost to actually require an outfit this zero to general fund.

That is correct, sir.

Okay.

So from the presentation, it sounds like this could potentially be used for a variety of situations that are that are really important that the public expects our police department to be able to answer to active uh shooter events, uh barricaded suspects, rescue operations um that are unsafe for a person without this technology to try to rush in and go after themselves.

Um is there a real world example of this being used in a past incident here in San Diego where you were having a Tat Cat would have been instrumental in protecting someone, uh, rescuing someone, whatever situation came about?

Yes, um, it occurred uh during I can't uh specify exact time, but we did, and I'm gonna defer to officer Wall because he was president on the team at that time.

So we actually uh used this during a SWAT mission here in San Diego roughly two years ago.

Uh, it was a thirty-one hour mission barricaded suspect in uh the southeastern portion of San Diego.

Uh, gentleman was shooting at his neighbors, shooting at the cops, um, essentially barricaded himself inside the house.

We attempted to deploy chemical agents inside the house.

It wasn't effective.

Uh, he shot at us inside the bear cat um several times.

The bear cat is a rather large vehicle.

It's it's a little bit challenging to maneuver around.

At some point, we have no option besides, you know, taking the house apart, trying to pinpoint where he is inside to prevent him from shooting at his neighbors and shooting at us.

So we know Riverside County does have this asset.

Uh we reach out to Riverside County and uh talk to their SWAT commanders.

Their SWAT commanders actually loaned it, they brought it down for us to utilize it, and we actually utilize it in that mission to where we were able to successfully essentially pull apart the front of the house with the clause on it to pinpoint him into the bathroom where we were able to successfully place him into custody after pinpointing him to a bathroom.

Understood, okay.

Thank you for that.

Um, is this remotely controlled or is a person manipulating it in the middle?

It can be both.

It can do both from both, okay.

Um you have a sense of how many times you're gonna well, if you had it already, if you had out already ready, how many times do you think you would have used it this last year or the last couple of years?

It it's hard to say each time is I would imagine a lot on some chemical agent deployments because how we typically operate now is myself would go up to a window to deploy chemical agents.

So it's just me in between the house on an arm barricaded suspect.

So we would probably utilize it anytime we would have utilized chemical agents because our other option would be to um fire what we call ferrets inside of the house.

And anytime you introduce a projectile, it could be rather dangerous to the person inside.

You're not trying to harm them, but the potential is there.

Um so you can mitigate that by having this vehicle just place you know uh the the boom in through a window to deploy those chemical agents.

So I would say if I were to guess on the missions we had this year, if we had 10 of 10 missions, we probably could have used it on five of them.

Okay.

Sounds to me like one of the aspects of this is that it's not just about keeping the innocent folks and the police department safe, but in a manner of speaking, when deployed correctly, it could actually be for the benefit of the person you're trying to detain because it gives you a safer option other than current options by the very nature of it being able to pierce into a home or pierce through doors.

Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

All right, thank you for answering those questions.

Um ultimately giving you the tools uh necessary to uh protect both the public and yourselves uh is is a very high priority for the city.

Uh I appreciate the clarification uh that is an unarmed platform that is really about rescue, recon and emergency response.

Uh, and based on that information that you gave us today, I know that this tool uh will enhance uh officer and civilian safety in high risk incidents.

So with that, I will make a motion to approve staff's recommendation, which has subitem A, which is approving the use of this under the trust ordinance and subitem B, which is uh approving the acceptance of the donation under council policy 100-02.

So that's staff's recommendation, uh subitem A and subitem B.

Um we will now go to Councilmember Campbell.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for the presentation.

I think that I think of this vehicle more as an armored construction vehicle, and I was happy to see that instead of uh metal treads on the wheels, that it's rubber treads.

And so this will also help us to not tear up our streets, etc.

So I think you know it's a very well thought out uh idea, and uh it just everything that uh the vice chair of the committee has just described uh that is good for uh is really remarkable.

So I'm very happy to second the motion and I want to thank you for this.

Um I think it's going to add a lot of help for us in those type of situations.

So thank you so much for this.

Thank you.

We now have a motion and a second, and seeing no comments or questions, I will call the roll.

Councilmember Whippern.

Yes.

Council Member Campbell.

Yes.

And I am a yes, that passes three zero.

Thank you very much for the presentation.

Thank you.

Let's now move on to information item number six.

Uh let's uh let's go with that, sir.

Thank you.

Item number six is the the transitions support team pilot program.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream and you'd like to call in, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 161 398 0144 pound.

Vice Chair.

Thank you.

All right.

Our friends from UCSD are here.

Please introduce yourself and let us know how much time you'll need.

Uh thank you very much.

Uh I'm Dr.

Steve Coe, I'm the psychiatrist in chief for UC San Diego Health.

And uh just five minutes.

Thank you, Dr.

Co.

Please proceed.

Thank you.

Um, I'm here to present to you the work that's been going on for about two years or so.

Um and what we're planning to do for the third year.

Um, as all of you know, the San Diego opioid epidemic range is on.

Two San Diegans die uh from overdose every day.

Uh in 2025, 741 San Diegans died from this.

Uh the overall numbers uh uh uh is seems to be going down, which is great news.

Um however, fentanyl continues to be the leading cause.

In 2024, more than 6,380 uh encounters were due to substance overdose.

Um so this continues to be a major public health uh crisis in San Diego.

Uh in 2024, uh I'm sorry, in in uh uh 2023 we started a pilot project.

Um this was uh using the funding from the opiate settlement money uh to create uh what's called the transitions uh team, uh which was focused on the Hillcrest Hospital EV initially, and it was designed to ensure that uh patients uh with substance use uh disorder is getting the care that they need in the appropriate places outside of the ED.

Um when uh this was a uh a pretty successful uh pilot.

Uh it was expanded, and we expanded by increasing uh more uh TST social workers in the EDs, as well as piloting a project utilizing uh psychiatrically trained uh pharmacists and nurse practitioners to be deployed within the city.

Um and so uh what we did with the uh funding support um uh and this was a shared contribution from UCSD.

Um as you can see uh we funded uh not only uh staff but also provided physician leadership and supervision.

Um and what we did is we deployed the team uh into three uh EDs uh Hillcrest uh East Campus La Jolla, and we also deployed a uh psych pharmacist uh into uh our hospital-based teams as well as uh psych NP uh within our uh city-based teams, including our EMS and fire and rescue teams.

Um we've also established partnerships with FQHs and community-based organizations uh in uh city of San Diego.

Um, the success has been pretty great.

Uh addition of East Campus uh provided uh increased services to over 150 new patients per month.

Uh the encounter numbers have significantly gone up, um, and we continue to establish successful linkage from EDs to external community partners.

Uh we also have shown uh uh deployment of psychiatric pharmacists um has been a pretty big success.

As you could see here, um uh more than 160 patients have been getting specific medication adjustments and support uh to deal with substance use and uh deployment of our psych NP team uh with uh Sandigo Fire Department's RAP team and the homeless strategy solutions teams uh have provided a significant impact.

And this is uh the part that I'd like to highlight.

Um we've had uh since April of this year, uh 88 plus uh total patient encounters, um and we've been able to initiate uh Suboxone and sublocate initiations for the first time and have had significant impact on connecting to housing support and ongoing treatment.

These these uh four uh interesting cases I want to highlight.

Um, and what this shows is we still have an issue of patients who are being released from prison or who are calling 911 or who are utilizing EMS services at levels that are uh quite frankly not sustainable.

Um, and so we have individuals who are calling 911 uh uh multiple times uh within very short time periods, as you see here, and after encounters with our team uh with uh working with fire and rescue teams and EMS, um you see that the the significant drop in the utilization of uh 911 services uh over time.

And we think that this leads to decrease uh in ED utilizations and also increases the chance for these patients to get the care that they need when they need it.

Um so the key takeaways are listed here for you.

Uh uh we uh are targeting continuously over 300 San Diegans per month who are getting benefits from this.

Um, and we also believe that by uh deploying our teams outside of our emergency rooms and from our hospital walls, we're actually impacting lives uh out in the streets way before they need to get uh higher level of care and become sicker than they already are.

Um the next phase of the project uh uh what we would like to do is to actually uh increase our presence out in the streets and also uh uh actually support uh training programs so that um our folks could train others and we call this concept to train the trainers, where you could then have a multiplying effect where we could take the best practices uh to spread to other institutions and other teams uh across the uh the city and the county.

Um and so what's listed here for you is um if we were to continue the program uh and to increase the scope of what we could do, uh we are uh essentially proposing increasing and and doubling the uh psych MP deployment out into the city streets and also um creating a training supervisor who will be able to train folks um with in other teams so that we could actually uh sort of more uh lives uh in San Diego.

So that concludes my report.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Let's go to public comment.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

We've received three slips here in the committee room.

So we will begin with Maximilian Schmidt.

You will be followed by allegedly Audra and Joy Sanyata.

Each speaker will have one minute.

Um seven hundred and fifty um overdoses last year.

600, 6,030 emergency room visits.

That's almost two a day.

And I am begging the San Diego City Council to make a public service announcement that human beings can read another human being's mind and look through their eyes to try to make them paranoid.

Because I'm here.

They do this by not through technology, but through worshiping Lucifer in the Masonic Lodge to become telepathic.

And I am begging city council to make a public service announcement that human beings can read another human being's mind.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Allegedly, Audra.

Unfortunately, this is a business, and so you talk about investments to stop the revolving door, the revolving door keeps the business going, keeping people on the drugs.

And if you're talking about even providing housing at safe sleeping, I mean you go to Tent City or any of these safe sleeping sites, and fentanyl is being done on a massive scale.

It's being d uh dealt, done, uh, given to people to kill them.

They overdose for that reason.

And I don't understand.

If you guys want to stop it, why are you giving out pipes and needles that incentivizes drug use?

You claim or people claim that it's like so that they don't cross contaminate.

But like if you don't have the means to do it, you're probably not gonna do it.

But if you have unlimited means to go and do drugs and I mean police officers sit here and watch them do it, it's dropped all over the ground.

I mean, dog dogs have a, you know, chance of overdosing just by picking up a piece of foil.

It's like, so I mean, this revolving door continues because you guys incentivize the drug use.

So maybe if you stop doing that, then people will stop dying.

Thank you.

Joy Sanyata.

First of all, doctor, I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you do.

Really appreciate it.

So, and I loved what you uh your work out in the street.

That is just uh I out in the street is where it's happening, and that's where you need to be, and you're there, and I can't thank you enough.

And and replicating uh the service team so that there's more and more of you out there.

It just gives me a feeling that you know it's dropping now.

There, you know, there's less happening, and that's good news, but it's still hugely troublesome.

And I I just am glad to get this report and thank you, committee, uh, for bringing this forward and love to all.

Thank you.

That concludes testimony here in the committee room.

So I'll begin the five-minute timer for those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item six.

Each speaker will have one minute.

We will begin testimony with phone number ending in 8813.

Please press star six and begin.

Hey, fun follow here again.

Uh, yeah, just chiming in to say how unbelievable it is that, you know, the big pharma, you know, they're giving they're given so much, and yet, you know, we have all these overdoses on things, uh, drugs, synthetic drugs, it's not medicine, uh, by big pharma, and yet the the war is still on uh let's attack the marijuana.

Let's attack all these, let's vilify all these natural um solutions and remedies from the earth.

And um, yeah, well, and to the brother that's talking about the telepathy.

You know what, brother, everybody has the capability of being telepathic.

It's not a Luciferian thing, just FYI.

We've just been totally drugged not to be able to access that telepathy.

Imagine if we read all the minds of you guys on the on the board.

Imagine that.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have one minute.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Nice public comment previously on a lot of issues.

Uh telepathy is a natural part of life, and it isn't doesn't have to be uh so voodoo as is being currently described.

It takes a lot to learn that.

Good luck how to learn that lesson, guy.

Um we're with you.

Um I wanted to comment uh for this island or this island.

This island of an item.

Uh, thank you uh for its efforts.

Um the president of Mexico just recently spoke to uh uh uh spoke just words exactly that we have a major drug problem in this country.

How do we address it?

Uh addressing big pharma is one way to do it.

Uh, previously mentioned.

Um I used to live around the fourth and G area.

Uh there was fentanyl uh deaths uh uh always all the time.

Uh good luck in working that in in that area to address the issue.

Uh if the area really needs it.

I'm sure you have been already.

Uh thanks a lot for this item and the effort you can do.

Thank you.

Becky Rapp, please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Becky Rapp.

I support efforts to address substance use disorder and behavioral health challenges, but I believe this program should also acknowledge and work to prevent the growing mental health impacts associated with marijuana use, especially among young people.

Marijuana today does not come just from the earth.

It is synthetically derived and directly attacks mental health.

You see San Diego researchers using data from the nation's largest study of adolescent brain development found that teens who use marijuana experience these complications, including impacts on memory, attention, language processing speed during critical years of brain growth.

I respectfully ask that future program expansion include marijuana prevention, education, and reporting on marijuana related behavioral health outcomes.

A comprehensive approach to substance use prevention should address all substances that can negatively impact the health and well-being of our community.

That does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comment.

And with one hand remaining in the queue.

Tony, please unmute and begin.

This project sounds great at its surface, and ordinarily I would be inclined to be in support, but I was on the picket line last year multiple times with Ask Me and with Updi.

And I know about the greed of the CEO of UC San Diego, and I know uh how many millions uh he they are making every every year.

Um and I also know that UC San Diego um has bragged um in their quarterlies about making close to a billion dollars a month.

Um so asking the public for more funds to provide essential services um that y'all should be uh providing based off of how much profit is been given to you.

And I and this is not uh a jab at the representative.

I understand you're just doing your job.

Um that's not a knock on you.

Um it's a great presentation, but I just can't I can't support anything, and I and I can't see why any members of the public who knows what uh UC San Diego is putting its employees through would subsidize this.

Thank you for your testimony.

Peggy Walker, please unmute and begin.

You have one minute to speak to item number six.

Thank you so much.

I just wanted to add a comment um about marijuana.

It is no longer a plant of the earth.

It is synthesized in the lab from ten times uh what the natural plant uh has in terms of THC to much much more.

So this high potency is extremely dangerous, scientists and medical professionals tell us, and it has no resemblance when synthesized in the lab to anything that is grown in a natural plant.

So it's very dangerous to compare products sold in dispensaries today with a natural plant.

I just wanted to clarify that and thank you for the time.

Thank you.

And with the virtual cue exhausted, this concludes testimony on item number six.

Thank you very much to the members of the public for their participation on this item.

This is information item, so no motion is required, and we will begin with Dr.

Campbell.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Dr.

Co.

Really appreciate this.

What a fabulous pilot program this is, should be adopted around the entire nation and then around the world.

What a great way to handle this situation of which we had very little ability to handle in the past.

This has been a great uh pilot program, and I hope we can expand it.

I want to thank UCSD Medical Center for putting their money where their mouth is and really helping out.

And you know, it's it's the teeny weenie silver lining and the cloud of opioid addiction that we were able to get this money in order to start these programs.

Um I'm from the University of Pittsburgh, the pit, now known as the PIT.

And I actually started medical school 50 years ago this this year.

It's been a long time, and they were very uh very much involved way back when in getting the emergency medical services uh programs begun.

But um I'm very proud of of the progress made and especially in psychiatry, a realization that our problems in psychiatry have to do with the neurotransmitters and the chemicals in the brain, and that the ability to help people in those situations can be uh worked out with medications, and uh we have changed so much and advanced so much in our ability to treat those situations.

The fact that you guys are going out ahead of time trying to prevent ahead, and then doing the treatment in the ER, and what I was really impressed with in looking at this program was there were only four percent of the emergency room patients involved in this study who left against medical advice.

That is really a low percentage, considering the population that you're dealing with.

So I I believe that there must be a very empathetic caring uh way in which our patients are being treated and approached, which is how it should be in medicine.

And I'm I'm grateful for that.

And I I wanted to ask you about the post-emergency uh visits and the post-treatment visits, because I believe that the patients are followed even after they're treated and on their way to stability, is that right?

Yes, that is correct.

Um, so after uh the acute phase of the illness is done, which is really uh preventing mortality, because these uh agents that is being abused uh has a high mortality rate.

Um after the patients leave, they get established with care outside.

Um, and and the goal is to maintain them in the outside settings that they could get the they could get the care that they need for an extended period of time.

Um there was an idea once upon a time that it only takes about twenty-eight days to come off of these things, and uh we all know that that's actually not true.

You need a a longer period of time, and and and the first clue of this was actually from the studies that were done in uh alcohol use, and people couldn't understand why sleep patterns weren't changing within those 28 days.

Well, it turns out sleep patterns take up to a year to normalize.

Um, and so uh the the challenge, unfortunately, is that the resources are not out there outside of the hospital walls to maintain these patients um uh in a stable environment for quite long time.

Um, and so uh with limited resources we had a choice to make to be uh focus on only the post, um, or if we look at this from a cyclical type pattern, then what's post is also pre because they also come back to the ED.

Um, and so the approach was why can't we approach the patients um even before they become an official patient at a place like UC San Diego Health?

And so uh let's deploy folks outside of the walls, and that's sort of the idea, so that if you prevent uh overdoses or to decrease the overdose attempt prior to the present to the ED, then we could potentially disrupt the cyclical pattern, and that was the plan.

This doesn't mean that uh work is done, obviously, because you still need the long treatment type pathways, and uh that's not something that we could immediately tackle uh currently uh between us and the city, uh unfortunately.

Um, but that's uh the ultimate goal, um, so that we could now uh treat the patients in the entire uh the pattern that they've been following that we've seen.

Well, I can't thank you enough.

It's it's uh absolutely necessary.

It's been so helpful to so many people, change so many lives for the better.

And I thank you so much, and thanks for all you do in your branch of medicine.

Fantastic the progress that's been made.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Dr.

Campbell.

We'll go to Council Member Whipper.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh I too want to thank UC San Diego for the partnership on this.

Uh certainly there's a huge benefit in the center of the city that I represent, where we have a concentration of street homelessness, uh, but it really benefits people citywide.

Um, you know, for anybody who calls 911 uh having to wait longer or having a delay getting into the emergency room because there are others who are so frequently calling 911 or using the emergency room, it just impacts uh care for everybody.

Um I would think that there would also be a benefit uh uh from this to hospital employees.

I could only imagine the impact of having emergency rooms that are just constantly swapped, like they oftentimes are.

Uh I would imagine, but you tell me um that uh would this program benefit from expansion?

Uh would uh is there more that we could do with this regard?

What would it take to do more?

Um yeah, you know, I I think uh the I one of the reasons why our CEO has been very supportive of this and also um have provided support.

I mean, uh so we don't we don't use any of the city resources that come to this for support, you know, uh physician salaries or um any of the uh uh transport that we provide, and those are all covered by by UCSD.

So this is a a shared resources.

And the the reason why that's important is because um she and others uh at UC San Diego Health believe that emergency departments really should be reserved for the sixes of the sick and the last resort.

Um and so we're failing these patients by allowing them to um uh be patients who are not treated and living in the streets, right?

I mean, that's the worst thing we could really do to our our fellow citizens.

Um and so what I would love to see, I mean, quite frankly, is if we were to expand something like this, um, we would like to be able to deploy our folks with our fire and rescue and EMS uh teams throughout the entire city.

I mean, right now we just have one FTE that's out there.

Um, and uh, and then the other thing is by being more accessible and being more uh available throughout the region, this isn't just a UC San Diego issue.

Um this is also Paradise Valley, this is Scripts, this is Sharp, et cetera, et cetera.

Um, and and I think all of those EDs are seeing benefit from this.

Um, not just us.

I mean, you know, Scripts Mercy is just down the street from Hillcrest, for example.

Um, and so we like to deploy more folks outside of our walls.

Uh we like to develop more of a partnership with the other EDs uh that are not just UCSD.

Um and then uh um in order to replicate this into let's say other cities or other areas, you have to train people how to do this, right?

Um we're a public university, none of this stuff is is trademarked or you know, there's no uh there's nothing like that.

And so um as we start writing this stuff up and and we start uh uh funding folks to actually go out there and train other EDs and other teams how to do this, that's sort of the ultimate goal, because then at that point, the public good becomes not just a city of San Diego issue, it becomes more of a you know, the entire region and and hopefully uh across the state.

So that's sort of our long-term goal uh for this.

So so yeah, we we certainly would like to uh expand it um uh in those ways.

And and we see and our hope is um as this gets expanded and we show more and more of a benefit, um, other cities and and counties, et cetera, might see a value of doing this uh with or without the settlement money, right?

And so um what I would hate to see is that the settlement money goes away and then suddenly we have to shut things down.

Doesn't mean that the fentanyl and the opium crisis is gonna go away.

Um and so and that's that's what we're looking towards.

Yeah, thank you.

Very good.

Good to know.

Thank you again.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Whitburn.

Uh thank you, Dr.

Coe and everyone from UCSD Health and uh all the folks you work with across the board, whether it's city staff or fire rescue and EMS personnel and the community partners who are involved in the transition support team.

Uh as we all know, the opioid crisis continues to impact our region every day, families every day, and the coordinated solutions that connect people to treatment, uh, rather than the allowing them to cycle repeatedly through ERs and shelters and emergency response systems is very, very important.

Uh that cycle, uh it's not efficient, it's not cost-effective, it's not humane.

Uh so what stands out to me about this program is that it's not just about the substance use disorder.

Uh it's also about meeting people wherever you are going to interact with them in that system and get them the long-term care and recovery.

Uh and so when you have more than 3,500 patients with primary substance use disorder diagnoses that were served in less than a year, the program is reaching hundreds of residents every month, uh, which means uh hundreds of families every month have their loved one who is being served by this.

Uh that's what I would focus on.

Uh those uh parents and brothers and sisters at home who uh oftentimes are wondering where their loved one is uh and oftentimes they're very afraid of where they might be.

Um and yet there you are, Dr.

Co.

with so many people behind you helping them.

Uh I wish more people knew that.

Um we've heard about the reductions in ER rooms and EMS calls.

Can you share anything more about the impact you've seen um and the other ways in which we are measuring success?

Uh, because the public that doesn't have to interact with this on a daily basis or in their family, um, you know, they're they're seeing ER visits are shorter, and that's great.

Uh uh EMS uh workers who are not as heavily burdened because there are fewer of these fewer of these types of calls, that's great.

What else of what other types of metrics are we seeing?

I I think we we're just we're only at the the the tip of the iceberg with this.

I mean, this project uh from a pilot perspective has only been going on for for a couple of years.

Um and so seeing this level of interaction, connections, uh treatment modalities is actually quite amazing.

Um the psych MP uh deployment uh portion of the project uh has really only been active for about two, three months or s or so.

Um and so the number of encounters and the ability to dis uh to send out these uh countermeasure medications in the streets is uh is really going to be a game changer.

So so the treatment uh that is being deployed out in the streets is something that we're gonna be continuing to measure.

Um the second thing that you you mentioned that that we've been thinking about quite a bit is is the societal impact and the cultural impact of impacting these lives and their families.

That's hard to measure, right?

Because uh when we see the patients, we think of this as a um uh primary see of the patient, and then we do think about the family and the culture around them, but but they're secondary or tertiary.

Um what we know from uh data is when you uh curve down uh the substance use, the longitudinal benefit for the family and the patients as they live their lives and become so-called uh you know important contributing members of society, right?

That's the term that they use.

Um that valuation um is incalculable.

Um and particularly if you're getting to these individuals when they're early on in life, and the mortality goes down, um, and then we then track these individuals to see what they've done in their lives 10, 20, 30 years from now.

That's not something that we could easily measure uh because at the moment of, um, but we know how much we could do uh once uh these lives are changed.

Um and so those are the things that we like to uh study and follow uh over time.

Um, and and you know, hopefully, next time I present to all of you, like you know, I'll stop saying that this is a pilot program.

Um, and and then once once we're there, then and we're continuing to follow these patients, and I think we'll be able to show a lot more important data.

Uh, to your point.

Thank you.

Very good.

Well, I appreciate the focusing on the patient and and of course, uh trying to get a sense of what their uh long-term trajectory in life is because of of your services.

Um undeniably, every every day a family gets with their loved one is incalculable, as you say.

Um 12 years ago, my brother passed away from an opioid overdose, so my family knows this uh like thousands of families do in San Diego County and across the United States.

So, on behalf of my family and behalf of so many others.

Thank you for all you do and and for the team at UCSD Health.

See you sitting in the back of the room there, David Meyer.

Great work.

Appreciate you.

Uh that brings us to the end of our agenda item.

So no uh motions necessary on an info item like that.

Thank you a million.

Uh we'll now take up a non-agenda public comment.

Council members respect and appreciate the public's input, and we're fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Sarah, let's proceed with the non-agenda public comment.

Thank you, Vice Chair Camp Hugh.

Per rule point 2.7, non-agenda public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of this committee, and each speaker will have two minutes.

If you're watching on City TV or online and you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1669-2545252.

And when prompted, input webinar ID 161 398 0144 pound.

We will begin in-person testimony with Maximilian Schmidt.

Please approach the elector, and you will have two minutes to provide your non-agenda public comment.

I came here today to the SD public safety committee to urge the city council to declare a state of emergency in SD, and it has to do with a genocide that is happening.

People are being are being driven to extreme paranoia and then driven to drugs and suicide.

And what's happening is they are stalked and surrounded by people who are constantly saying their thoughts out loud, constantly reading their mind, sensitizing them to voices and driving them completely paranoid and killing them off.

And it is state sponsored and city-sponsored terrorism and state and city-sponsored genocide because the city's buildings are also complicit.

Where the buildings would make high-pitched noises that the people who are involved in the genocide, many of them homeless like myself, are sensitized to the noise the high-pitched noises these buildings make.

Also, the public transportation has makes sensitized noises that people in who are getting killed off or trying to get killed off like myself are experiencing.

Basically, you get a million intrusive thoughts a minute, and you don't you can't even think.

City council knows this, and there needs to be a public service announcement and a state of emergency declared.

Thank you for your final remark.

Our next speaker is allegedly Audra.

You guys just get up from the dies, you act like because you're in the room, we're just we're around.

I mean, you call public comment and then you're like you you take off.

Like you guys, it's so disrespectful.

You're paid to be here, and you you just act like whatever.

I mean, it's just it's the arrogance of you guys is just off the charts.

Um, but something that we need to be concerned about are the data centers that are coming in with the AI and all of this um, you know, power and water resources that it's using.

I mean, community power, I was telling you guys this yesterday, have set in place something where these data centers will make sure that their power is on if the power goes off.

And that's something that we're gonna have to fit the bill with, because they're gonna take all of this power that they're using and our fresh water while we're giving back the sewage, and have to, you know, uh make sure that we are not using our power in excess, but yet we have these data centers that can come in, and they can have their power.

I that is extremely egregious.

What is happening, and it's sad because it's like these are gonna take jobs.

I mean, right now it seems nice because it's it's able to collect data in a fast manner.

Sure, it's productive, but not when it's going to replace the human life.

And as you can look at China, like I say all the time, it's like, I mean, think about the way that Skynet is used, talk about the Terminator.

That is a real life situation that is coming here.

It's a digital prison, and the fact that we are allowing these data centers to come in and do that.

I mean, the 64 mile data center that's going in in Utah, like and these are all right by freshwater resources.

So I mean, this should be a concern to you guys in a public safety committee about what's going on.

And Jennifer, you can sit there and be annoyed all you want, but these are things that people need to be worried about, and shame on you for being so arrogant.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Joy Sanyata.

This is uh part one of two.

When the mosque attack occurred, Chief Wall called it a hate crime unless proven otherwise.

I'm focusing on unless proven otherwise.

His name is Caleb Vasquez.

Supposedly he and his friend committed suicide right after the mosque attack.

Please, if you haven't already, read the article in the UT dated.

I think it's May 27th of 26.

I'll be speaking on this again, probably tomorrow or next week and doing part two.

This is a tragic story.

This is what's happening to our youth.

This is an 18-year-old man, young man.

He's gone.

He didn't have a chance to do anything, except what he did, what they did supposedly.

Unless proven otherwise, we can prove otherwise.

Stay with me on this.

This is innocence ruined.

We mustn't let this happen to our youth, okay?

Thank you, love to all.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

I will begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide non-agenda public comment at this time.

We will begin testimony with Terry Ann Skelly.

Please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon, public safety committee chair von Wilbur.

My name is Terry Ann Skelly.

I'd like to share some thoughts from an article in the Atlantic written by Matthew Loftus, a family physician that I think is applicable to the policies that the public safety committee considers.

He wrote that policy plays a role in shaping the choices so that we can develop our best selves.

As he wrote in a quote, just as highways have guardrails from the moments when a driver isn't exercising perfect self-control, so we also need guardrails to help people from driving off the cliffs of bad decisions.

End quote.

Often opponents of these types of public policies make their case with idealistic situations.

For example, shouldn't responsible independent adults be able to make decisions for themselves about how they spend their money or use their body.

However, focusing on the ideal cases and basing our laws on them disregards millions of people who suffer because of their poorly considered decisions and the power of their addictions.

And importantly, it affects the underhanded tactics of companies who make money off the misery of addicts.

It is these underhanded tactics that concern me.

Parents like me feel that we are an extreme disadvantage for pushing back our marijuana policies that enable more marijuana storefronts here in our city and their advertising like billboards in our neighborhoods.

It is my hope that the public safety committee can create and enforce policies where youth can develop their best selves.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this afternoon.

Thank you for your testimony.

Phone number ending in 8813.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

Big pharma mafia accountable.

Um let's see, what else do I have?

Okay, so again, as I did at the county, I'd like to dedicate uh these comments to my friend Andrea Ebine, who's sitting in jail, um, and to every individual willing to stand up to this uh these powerful institutions and ask the questions, difficult questions, and challenge the machine and the monster puppets for running things temporarily.

Uh, you know, most people have no idea uh of who you people are, and you know, they also have no idea that they're living in a fishbowl.

Uh they don't see the policy, the partnerships, the planning frameworks, um, the layers and layers of bureaucracy and and conflicts of interest shaping their communities, um, because they've been programmed to to not look and to just trust government, our local government.

They pay attention to what's happening, you know, in Washington DC, but their own backyards they just look away.

Okay, that's fine.

Um somebody has to help you.

Uh yet many uh policies being implemented at our local level mirror the principles found in the United Nations agenda for the 21st century.

I have to I have to say that because many people still are unaware of what is happening, and that you know, their local officials are in fact catering to globalists and the globalist agendas.

So, again, um, the public deserves, they deserve transparency and honesty and an honest discussion about.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Kathleen Lippett.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have two minutes.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, public safety committee.

I'd like to suggest the city of San Diego update its e-bike rules and restrictions to adequately reflect the increased injuries and deaths that have occurred as e-bikes have grown in popularity.

State legislation allows banning riders under 12 and gives law enforcement more authority to penalize them, including confiscating bikes, issuing fines, $50 for the first violation, 200 or a third, and I'd like to respectfully suggest that impounding, banning, finding, confiscating e-bikes is a benign step to protecting these young lives because their brains are not finished, and we've all seen them riding without helmets, riding double, cutting across streets.

The city has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits for injuries related to unrepaired streets and sidewalks.

And I'd like to thank Councilmember Von Wilker for her astute observation that had the city done the maintenance of its roads and could have cost less than the lawsuits subsequently incurred.

We would not have to relearn the valuable lessons that prevention is the most effective, economical, and sustainable solution because they are proactive.

Whether they apply to e-bikes or drug use.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you for your testimony.

The five-minute timer has concluded with nine hands remaining in the queue.

We will take no other callers beyond these remaining nine hands raised.

Continuing public comment with Francine Maxwell, please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon, Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego resident.

I want to remind public safety that the City Council is responsible for the CPP.

Every staff member is a staff member for the City of San Diego on CPP.

So there's some responsibility there.

Please understand that we want to build trust.

We want more people to make complaints.

And to do that, we're leaning on the Human Relations Commission.

The Human Relations Commission has opened the doors of their meetings.

They are going out to the community and meeting people where they are.

We need to really lean in on the strategy that can move our city with our Human Relations Commission.

There's some important work that needs to be done in our city in every district, and we need to look and see how we can lean in on the Human Relations Commission made up of people across the city of San Diego.

Again, if we don't begin to have uncomfortable conversations in safe places, San Diego will continue on the road of non-accountability.

We have an accountability problem, and we need to have a hard conversation about that.

Again, eighth largest city, San Diego Police Department needs to expand the conversation to people that may or may not make them feel uncomfortable and point to the policy so that the communic the community is educated.

So let's look to our human relations commission moving forward and see the work that they're doing in the community, listening to the stories, coming back, and let's begin to hold some hearings.

Thank you.

Our next caller is Elena Scar.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi there, my name is Elena Scar.

I'm a prevention specialist with Say San Diego, and I work primarily with the LGBTQ community.

Just want to say good afternoon to the members of the committee.

Historically, tobacco companies have targeted marginalized communities such as the LGBT community, the black community, and the lactamate community.

There are far more tobacco retailers in these areas, especially here in San Diego, and the use rates of our communities do remain high.

The aforementioned communities are also much more susceptible to cancer and heart disease, which are both made worse by tobacco use, and tobacco remains the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide.

In the past, the vice unit for San Diego Police Department has provided the Public Safety Committee an annual report on their tobacco retail program with a number of the inspections that they completed as well as violations utilizing data from the previous year.

This report has not been made to the community committee since 2024 with data from 2023.

A recent report shows that 1,145 licensed tobacco retailers in the city of San Diego.

Only 25 of them received a compliance check using an under-HD coin.

I kindly request that these annual reports do resume, and I thank you for your consideration and your time.

Thanks so much.

Thank you for your testimony.

Peggy Walker, please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon.

As a public health educator, I'm here to speak to the safety or really the serious unsafety of recreational marijuana, falsely marketed as medicinal.

For some time, medical professionals and scientists have warned that smoked and ingested dispensary marijuana products have no medical benefit.

Yet unsubstantiated health claims by the industry persist.

That's in spite of hundreds of studies refuting medical claims while showing serious harms.

A Lancet psychology study, the largest ever review of the safety and efficacy of cannabinoids for mental health treatment, found no evidence marijuana is effective in treating mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Subsequently, lawsuits are searching, alleging that unfairified health claims of cannabis caused harm and even worsened medical conditions.

In addition to private lawsuits, the issue will be addressed in federal court in a class action suit against three major cannabis companies for, quote, systematically advertising our products as medicine, while knowing science does not support those claims.

Jurisdictions are now considering their own prohibitions against advertising or marketing of marijuana dispensary products as medicinal.

I urge this committee to consider the same for the safety of San Diego consumers being misled and harmed by DCFO claims.

By the way, this would not affect consumers who may feel they experience relief because marijuana products they buy as quote medicinal generally are the same as those sold as recreational.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tony, please unmute and begin.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you, please proceed.

Thank you.

Yes, I'd just like to offer a moment of silence for uh Councilmember Raul Campillo's brother, who passed away uh due to an opioid overdose.

Thank you, Council.

I know that uh I know that sometimes uh there is a perception that we're not listening to each other, that we're not engaging in fruitful dialogue and conversation with one another.

I've heard uh Councilmember Foster refer to it as the tale of two cities, and I know that it really spells out in the battle of how we interpret what public safety means.

And I know that oftentimes myself and the members of this committee are often at odds with what that definition means.

Um, I'm doing the best that I can to serve as a liaison or as a representative of the general public to help reconcile that difference in understanding.

Um, and it's one that really it boils down to our positions of power or our positions of feeling of a lack of power.

We're not the ones legislating, and therefore we're not the ones directing law enforcement, and therefore we're not the ones essentially by affecting how much they're budgeted, what they will and won't be able to do.

And so when we sincerely ask you to review the documents that challenge the notion that flock is a safety feature that's beneficial for the community, we hope that you will do just that.

Thank you.

Hector, please unmute and begin.

All right.

Okay, I'm doing I want you guys to know I'm doing uh my part in the public safety of San Diego.

I've been uh cleaning off the boardwalk in Mission Beach and all the way to SeaWorld with the I got a shovel from the Home Depot for like 18 bucks.

And I've been shoveling sand off.

And today I did about two hours of cutting the ice plant that did encroached into the boardwalk pretty bad.

You know, it's like a workout for me.

I'm doing it for working out and all the way around the boardwalk.

I'm doing it.

I did it down in uh the jetty with a huge amount of sand by the the girls down there playing volleyball at the end.

That took me like three hours of sand shoveling down there.

It's a good workout.

I'm getting a lot of public feedback from people that live around there.

I live in Mission Valley, but I ride my beach cruiser down every other day.

And I'm I've been doing this uh shoveling for about a week and a half different places.

So everyone's disappointed in the city, you know, for the maintenance around there and different parts of the bay and just the streets.

And uh the ladies were talking in Crown Point, that their streets were just a mess, man.

They had a lot of uh a lot of retired people are walking, and then um listening to people.

I had an experience with my one of my good buddies in high school, you like I'm 70, so he was 18, 19, and he started giving away his stuff.

He broke up with his girlfriend, and it's a telltale sign of some young kid committing suicide, they start giving away their stuff, and we didn't know that.

You know, his brother and me and uh my younger brother were really good friends to them.

We didn't know he was gonna do that, and all of a sudden he did it, and it was like shit.

And you're like, Yeah, we're giving away his stuff.

We didn't know what it meant at the time, but now that's one of the telltale.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comment.

Madison, please unmute and begin.

Hi, good afternoon, public safety committee.

Public safety depends not only on having good rules, but on consistently enforcing them.

Recent research on cannabis advertising shows why this matters.

Researchers found that advertisements containing illustrations, food and flavor references, and messages promoting positive sensations significantly increase young people's desire to use cannabis.

In fact, some of these features doubled the likelihood that youth would find an advertisement appealing.

What is most concerning is that brain imaging studies found that these advertisements trigger unique neurological responses in adolescents that are not seen in adults, areas of the brain associated with the emotion, motivation, and future behavior become more active when youth are exposed to high appeal cannabis marketing.

Despite regulations intended to protect young people, researchers found that 100% of a sample of California cannabis advertisements contained at least one youth appealing feature.

Other California cities have been responding.

Campbell, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Gilroy have all taken action to regulate smoke shops, address illegal products, and strengthen local enforcement efforts when public safety concerns emerged.

San Diego should do the same.

Effective enforcement of advertising restrictions, licensing requirements, and rules against illegal products as one of the most cost-effective ways to protect youth from exposure to marketing that has been scientifically shown to influence their attitudes and desire to use cannabis.

Rules only work when they are enforced.

Strong enforcement helps keep businesses accountable, prevents bad actors from gaining advantage, and most importantly protects the health and safety of our young people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Becky Rapp, please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Becky Rapp, and today I am asking this committee to take a serious look at the public safety impacts related to the permitting of marijuana products here in our city.

And for you to support a comprehensive review of whether the promises made to voters have actually been fulfilled.

Recently, California Senator Niello called for a serious analysis of the unintended consequences of proposition 64, and whether voters should be given an opportunity to revisit or reform the law.

And I do support that call.

Nearly 10 years after permitting THC products, San Diego residents deserve a detailed public report examining the real impacts on our communities.

We need current data on marijuana related emergency room visits, youth use, mental health impacts, impaired driving incidents, and crime around marijuana businesses, enforcement costs and the effectiveness of our system.

We also need an honest accounting of the burden placed on law enforcement, public health agencies, schools, and the neighborhoods.

Public policy should be guided by evidence.

At the same time, I urge this committee to publicly oppose legislation AB 2697 that would allow marijuana retail outlets to operate drive-through sales.

Marijuana is an intoxicating substance.

Expanding convenience and access through a drive-thru window sends the wrong next message and further normalizes use.

It also raises legitimate concerns around impaired driving and public safety.

So I asked this committee to request a detailed report on the impacts of permitting pot in San Diego, and also ask this committee to voice opposition to drive through marijuana sales.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

And the final hand in our queue this afternoon is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

There is simply a growing uh continual political will in the past year in the city of San Diego and across the country to no longer do business with the Flock Corporation.

From this, we should be continuing ongoing community dialogue and conversations and how to formally leave the LPR vendor flock as they often develop its data within the context of supporting international policies of war.

Simple as that.

San Diego can continue to look for a better principled AOPR vendor at this time if we want to.

And from this, we should be working in something of a yearly review process and how to create a consistent small reduction of unnecessary or redundant surveillance technology from local San Diego neighborhoods each year.

This can be good consensus building and compromise from all sides in San Diego toward measures of better principled, more responsible community tech use, and more clear oversight that will not limit or take away from the current use of surveillance technology within San Diego neighborhood public safety concerns.

I hope these ideas can be can be considered as ways to develop a step-by-step process of a more sustainable, responsible San Diego future.

I've been describing for months now how both the city of Oakland and its county of Alameda are creating an 18 month step-by-step process of full community input and best practices to leave Flock for a new better principled AOPR vendor.

This is simply a good model San Diego can refer to at this time.

And as the 2027 SD budget is still not yet finalized, there can still be many options and choices to offer some of San Diego budget savings by leaving Flock in the next few months, including the RLP procurement process, I think it is called.

A reminder is my understanding that former San Diego Councilperson Monica Montgomery Steph has always spoke that the numbers of new ALPR purchases for San Diego neighborhoods a few years ago could eventually be reduced.

And to conclude, I simply feel we need a more open, accountable, full community conversation about SDPD procedures and guidelines with the future of AOPR use in real time.

I hope these words can be taken seriously.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment and vice chair.

This concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you to members of the public for your participation in this uh in this meeting.

One second.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Uh we will now adjourn the meeting of the public safety committee to our next regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, August 19th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

And we are adjourned.

Thank you.