Butte County Democrats support a criminal justice system that provides timely, fair, and equitable treatment for all. We are committed to public safety and believe no one is above the law. We are dedicated to eliminating racial and economic disparities within the criminal justice system and to ending mass incarceration in California prisons and jails. 

 

The Butte County Democratic Party…
 

• Supports providing law enforcement officers with the training and resources needed to work in an environment that is conducive to effective, positive community engagement including de-escalation; conflict resolution; recognition of implicit, unconscious and explicit bias; cultural competency; interacting with people with disabilities, including individuals with mental or behavioral health challenges; and dealing with individuals under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
   

• Demands limitation of the use by law enforcement personnel of carotid restraints and kneeling on the neck, uses of force that have resulted in unintended deaths.
   

• Opposes criminalization of persons who commit low-level offenses due to homelessness or mental illness by directing them to public health and housing services. 
   

• Supports effective drug treatment programs that are easily accessible to every person with an alcohol or substance abuse disorder, and that reduce the demands on law enforcement agencies created by the current lack of treatment. 
   

• Supports the implementation of restorative justice practices, which bring together those who have committed crimes with victims and community members in an effort to recognize and repair the damage caused by criminal activity.
   

• Supports the creation of local civilian oversight for all law enforcement agencies and insist on state or federal investigations in the cases of police use of deadly force or in-custody death. 
   

• Supports a just and inclusive society by speaking out with a public and unified voice against all forms of racism, discrimination, harassment, hatred, and violence directed at racial and ethnic minorities, including support for movements that address targeted discrimination. 
   

• Supports the concept that Black Lives Matter, recognizing that all lives matter only when all people matter.
   

• Supports policies that ensure equal opportunities for all people, guarantee equal pay for equal work, and oppose all forms of discrimination, harassment, hatred, and violence at home and in the workplace. 
   

• Supports protections against discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, or religion in matters of employment, housing, public spaces and services, state and federally funded programs, credit, education parental rights and jury service.
   

• Expects elected bodies, such as city councils and the Board of Supervisors, to provide qualified resources to assist the public with disability rights issues. 
   

• Supports reforms to the state Administrative Office of the Courts that will steer more resources to serving the public. 
   

• Supports restoration of full funding for the Courts.