Public Safety Advocates Converge upon Capitol

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A new movement is on the rise. On Wednesday, April 19, the state delegates and members of Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety (TiPS), the fastest growing union in California, will hold their annual Lobby Day at the State Capitol.

The focus of the Lobby Day is to promote the use of prisons for only those persons who are an actual danger to public safety, instead of non-violent offenders with whom society is merely angry and frustrated. TiPS seeks to redirect government spending to instead invest in intervention, prevention, rehabilitation, and opportunity whenever possible for at-risk youth and offenders; and to regain control of California’s wasteful and failing correctional system which yields a 79% recidivism rate for parolees.

A 1:00 p.m. rally on the South steps of the Capitol will feature a number of notable speakers including state lawmakers Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) and Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), as well as Victims Advocate Cheryl Ward-Kaiser. Ms. Ward-Kaiser was the victim of armed robbers who burst into her home while the family was asleep, raped her daughter with a shotgun, and shot and killed her husband. Her tormented journey and compelling story is not one of dogmatic retribution, but rather a realization of how political rhetoric is an impediment to actual public safety; and we need to altogether invest ourselves in smarter ways to prevent violence and thereby improve public safety.

TiPS is uniquely a victim and offender non-partisan public interest group. TiPS’ membership is comprised of victims, inmates, and prison reform advocates who have joined forces and set aside blind retribution for the sake of improving public safety.

The growing Sacramento-based union maintains two full time lobbyists in the Capital and is served by a board of directors whose members include retired State Senators John Vasconcellos and Richard Polanco, as well as criminologist Dr. John Irwin.

The TiPS rally will be joined by Proposition 36 clients, graduates and supporters, thru an event sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance Network of California.

WHO: Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety (TiPS)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 19th. 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: State Capitol Building, Sacramento
AGENDA:
10:00 a.m. Training, Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament, 1017 11th St, Sacramento
10:45 a.m. Commence meetings with Legislators
Noon Lunch & 12:30 march to Capitol with Proposition 36 proponents
1:00 p.m. Rally, South steps of Capitol
1:45 p.m. Resume meetings with Legislators
3:30 p.m. End of program

For more information visit Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety on the web at http://www.ForPublicSafety.com or call Matt Gray at 916-444-5551.