Turlock Police supporters, calling for more funding, dominate city council meeting

Turlock residents debated police funding for more than two hours during Tuesday’s city council meeting, dominating the public participation session.

The majority of the roughly 60 callers opposed defunding the Turlock Police Department, with many urging the council to increase its resources and services.

While the council on Tuesday unanimously approved an agreement on school resource officers for Turlock and Pitman high schools, City Manager Toby Wells said discussion on budget priorities should take place around the end of October. Staff are scheduled to provide an update on the first fiscal quarter of the financial year then, he said, which would provide an opportunity to revise the budget.

Many of the 14 callers who supported defunding police, or reallocating police funding to social services such as mental health and youth programs, referenced the Cap at 40 Campaign. The effort seeks to limit Turlock Police funding to 40% of the city’s general fund budget by reducing funding for SWAT teams, ammunition and other resources. The police department makes up about half of the $42 million budget for 2020-21, but the council has also frozen about a dozen of its positions in the last two years amid financial troubles.

“Taking even more from them (Turlock Police Department) is going to cause a huge safety issue not just for them, but for our citizens,” said a caller who identified herself as Mel on Zoom.

Of the 45 people who spoke against defunding police, several said they don’t want to see police response wait times increase. How the department’s limited resources causes it to prioritize responding to immediate threats to life was also discussed.

In remarks after the public comment session, Councilwoman Nicole Larson said housing and youth programs deserve more funding, but not at the cost of cutting police services further. Larson also agreed with Councilman Gil Esquer, who said the city needs more revenue.

“I will not in any way, shape or form support any measure to eliminate any police services,” Esquer said. “This department is already understaffed and overworked. I personally want more boots in the field. However, if the city does not receive access to additional revenue soon, I fear the next option we will be hearing is cutting staff from multiple departments.”

In November, a Turlock sales tax measure titled “911 Safety/Emergency Medical Response, Community Services Measure” is scheduled to appear on the ballot. If passed, the three-quarter-cent tax will generate about $11 million annually and go toward the general fund.

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 4:00 AM.