After engaging over 350 Watsonville residents in conversation about public safety and the quality of interactions with police, COPA leaders presented their findings to the Watsonville City Council.  Their findings, rooted in the experiences of hundreds of people from diverse walks of life and ages, were quickly integrated into an official report by an ad hoc committee on Policing and Social Equity. 

COPA pointed out that policing and safety are not necessarily equivalent terms, and that systemic investments in mental health, youth and family programming, and budget alignments in city and police spending would go a long way towards making Watsonville safer -- particularly for youth of color.   

Prior to the pandemic, over 100 COPA-IAF leaders had convened with the Watsonville Police Department Chief and Santa Cruz County Supervisor to address identified concerns about engagements between police and community.  Soon after, the City responded with an invitation to participate in an ad-hoc committee on Policing and Social Equity.  But COPA leaders first wanted to include more residents in the discussion, and with the support of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), COPA engaged hundreds more residents in substantive conversations about direct experiences with Watsonville police and what restorative justice can look like. 

COPA's reported findings have so far been met with a positive reception by Watsonville elected officials.  Leaders plan to persist in their efforts as the City identifies a new Chief for the Watsonville Police Department.

[Photo Credits: (top) Tarmo Hannula, Good Times; (middle) courtesy of COPA]

Watsonville's Policing Committee Releases Report, Readies Recommendations,  The Pajaronian 

South County Residents' Mixed Response to Watsonville Police Department, Good Times 

Watsonville Committee Calls for more Police Accountability, Santa Cruz Local 

City of Watsonville Report, Watsonville Ad Hoc Committee on Policing and Social Equity

Report on Police Reforms Filed by Watsonville City Council, Santa Cruz Sentinel [pdf]

Wrapping Up My Term as Mayor, The Pajaronian [12/2020]

A Deep Look into the Watsonville Police Department, The Pajaronian [08/2020] 

Watsonville Police Oversight Committee in the Works, The Pajaronian [07/2020]

Watsonville, Santa Cruz to Start Police Reform Committees, Santa Cruz Local [07/2020] 

New Committees Address police Reform in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz Local [02/2021] 

[Excerpt]

COPA, which stands for Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action, held meetings with its different core teams at different locations throughout California and paid attention to the voices demanding help. As a result, rental assistance regulations were modified to include people living in rooms and garages whether or not they had a lease. Once [COPA] learned this great news, [they] immediately started to plan a way to get this assistance to the people in our town....

Every Wednesday for the last month, members of COPA Castroville have been gathering outside Our Lady of Refuge Catholic church for a noble cause. They are helping community members apply for the rental assistance program authorized by the U.S. government that provides relief for the economic struggles families have experienced because of COVID-19….

Once Congress approved legislation to provide economic stimulus for families, some organizations like COPA organized community members demanding an eviction moratorium and the allocation of federal funds to help families struggling to pay rent. The problem for Castroville, and other small rural communities in the area, is that rental assistance was approved only for tenants with formal leases. And when it comes to Castroville, the picture of rentals is completely different.

[Photo Credit: Voices of Monterey Bay, Adriana Molina]

Helping families in Distress, COPA Assists Castroville Residents Applying for Rent Relief, Voices of Monterey Bay [pdf]

 

[Excerpt]

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took two important steps today to respond to the pressure on renters unable to earn a living because of the impact of the pandemic on their jobs and businesses. The Supervisors extended the moratorium on evictions to keep tenants housed while providing funds for landlords to cover missed rent payments. Speaking in support of the Board’s actions, COPA leader Jorge Savala said, “Families have abided by the government call to shelter-in-place to reduce the spread of Covid-19, bearing the consequence of lost income, only now to be faced with losing the roof over their heads. Today’s decision to extend the moratorium on evictions will help to prevent a new pandemic of homelessness.”

Landlords are also feeling the pinch when rents are unpaid. As a result of meetings with COPA in June, Supervisor’s Leopold and McPherson sponsored a $1 million rental assistance program from CARES Act funds for inclusion in the 2021-22 budget. Supervisor Leopold, having initiated the original moratorium on evictions at the start of the pandemic, added; “I recognized the severity of the problem in our community and worked hard to find the money to help people during their time of need.”

COPA Leads Community Effort to Extend Renters Protections and Funding for Landlords, Communities Organized for Relational Power

At least 70 leaders from Communities Organized for Relational Power (COPA) organized a meeting with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff to address immigrants' fears about reporting crime and the preponderance of racial profiling.

Participants included people like Johnny Delmar, a UCSC student who shared his story about being profiled recently by rifle-armed police looking for robbery suspects.

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