URGENT: Save the SF Pretrial Diversion Project

Call your Mayor.

Call ONE of the Supervisors. Note: only one of these Supervisors represents you. Find out which one here.

Script

My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.

I'm writing to urge you to approve the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project's contract and deny Adult Probation's budget request to eliminate SF Pretrial.

[If writing an email:]

SF Pretrial is one of the most uniquely effective public safety programs in the city. 93% rate of no new charges while enrolled. 96% court appearance rate across 19,000+ court dates. 630,394 jail bed days saved in 2023 — at a fraction of the cost of comparable probation. It is a national model, one of a small handful of independent, community-based pretrial programs in the country at this scale — backed by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office. SB 129 includes a named carve-out allowing San Francisco to contract with the existing pretrial services office — not a probation department. There is no legal mandate for this transfer. Funding Adult Probation expands the city's budget deficit and government footprint — and will cost more money in the future. Please vote to preserve SF Pretrial's contract at the June 12 budget hearing. Thank you, [Your name]

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Background

San Francisco is poised to dismantle its most uniquely effective public safety program. The SF Pretrial Diversion Project is one of the core reasons the crime rate is falling. But this 50-year, community-based public safety program is being handed to an armed probation department. Email your supervisor ahead of the June 2 meeting about SF Pretrial. Visit dontdismantlesf.org for sample text.

Source: https://dontdismantlesf.org/

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