Activists rally at Salinas City Hall calling for reinvesting police funding into social services

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Activists took their calls for reinvesting police funding into social services to Salinas city leaders Tuesday afternoon. It's part of a national movement, also referred to by some as 'defunding the police.'

They rallied at City Hall on Lincoln Avenue at 3:45 p.m., shouting chants like, "refund community" and "it's our money, it's our community."

Roughly 40 demonstrators attended and some took turns stepping up to a microphone to share their cries for change.

“This is my community and I believe action starts right where you are,” Salinas resident Andrea Rocha said. “There are so many programs that deserve time and attention: the library system, the education system, our mental health care system.”

More than 40 percent of the budget goes toward police.

According to a flyer, organizers say limiting police funding to 30% Of the budget, would open up $17.8 million that they're proposing to go toward affordable housing, parks, senior services, repairing streets, youth after school programs, and mental and public health services.

“This doesn’t mean that we’re all against police. This means that we just 
want our police officers to have the ability to focus on their job, which is 
focusing on crime our city, not social work issues,” organizer Corina De La Torre.

At the rally, demonstrators took a knee in honor of George Floyd, a black man who died while being taken into custody by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Locals want to put an end to police brutality.

“As a Salinas native, my self and many others are very familiar with police 
brutality and violence within our community,” De La Torre said.

But not all agree with the plan and say that while the community needs more resources, cutting the police budget is not the right move.

“The number one priority is making sure that residents are safe so 
completely defending police or cutting services is so short sided,” Salinas City Councilmember Steve McShane said. "I think that we need to be thoughtful in our people that protect the city. Ultimately, these are positions that we couldn't just cut and lay people off with. There's more to it than that."