City Council candidate Suraj Viswanathan is asserting his “100% support” for local public safety agencies in “these times of pandemic and civil unrest.”
Suraj pointed out that FBI statistics show that Milpitas has a crime rate that is 68% higher than similar-sized California cities. “This is unacceptable and validates why we need to be supporting law enforcement, not undermining its ability to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
At the same time, he encouraged “greater efforts to build better relationships and bonds between communities of color and the police,” through improving the recruitment and assignments of minority officers, strengthening multilingual skills and cultural sensitivities. He stated that the residents of Milpitas “know that strong and well-funded public safety agencies, whether they be police, fire or EMT, are essential to a smoothly-functioning city.”
Suraj said he would work with Milpitas police to give them greater flexibility to adjust the focus of patrols and surveillance to potential “hot spots” of crime or suspected crime venues, including neighborhoods with gang activity, the new BART Station, and shopping areas like the Great Mall.
He also called for new efforts to expand volunteer civilian reserves to bolster the Milpitas Fire Department in the ongoing battle against local wildfires.
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