The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office keeps asking for more money for staffing and jails, but a new poll shows a majority of voters would rather take that money and invest it in crime prevention through investing in the community.
The poll, which was sponsored by The California Endowment, showed 69 percent of the respondents preferred taking money away from law enforcement, jails and the Sheriff’s Office and investing it in increased spending on mental health, access to early education and after-school programs and employment programs.
Given a list of items to invest in, 94 percent said they would want money spent on youth programs like sports leagues and the Boys and Girls Club. Building more jails came in last, at only 24 percent, although 68 percent did say they support more police officers on the streets.
Also high on voters’ list: job training for former inmates, increasing access to substance abuse programs, more recreation opportunities and cleaning up streets.
“Monterey County voters know we can’t police our way out of the issues in our communities,” said Juan Gomez, director of programs and innovation at Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement, in a statement.
“It’s time for our county to stop relying on quick fixes, and start investing in long-term solutions that empower and build up communities,” he said.
The poll results also show that half of Monterey voters agree that savings from reduced jail populations, resulting from the passage of Prop 47 in 2014, should be invested in community resources.
Other results:
- 81 percent of those polled said it is "extremely" or "very important" to increase access to affordable housing for working families.
- 75 percent identified the cost of housing as an “extremely” or “very” serious problem.
- 55 percent of voters think Monterey County should be a sanctuary county that does not collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants.
- 29 percent think the Sheriff’s Office should collaborate with ICE.
The poll was conducted by telephone—both landline and mobile—in English and Spanish by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, based in Los Angeles. It took place between March 4 and 16, surveying 601 registered voters.
(2) comments
This poll does not approximately represent even the Salinas populations views. Salinas has a popuLatin of 155000 residents and a meer 601 registered voters were polled? That means this review is based on less than one percent of the Salinas population. For this subject to be taken seriously a larger percentage of residents should be polled, and not just registered voters.
Additionally, I have personally witnessed our educational system say, "Educate not incarcerate" only to have them turn their backs on at risk children due to alleged liability reasons. Nice in thought....poor in action.
These are probably the same thug huggers that think legalizing marijuana and handing out pills to help with constipation from opioid use is the solution to drug abuse. They are all about alternatives to incarceration until they become crime victims and then howl at the police because they did not prevent the crime in the first place.
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