Every adult, young person and child in San Diego County deserves to feel safe. Whether at home, on a walk through their neighborhood, at work, or school - a person's safety should not be threatened in any situation.
The Supervisor's commitment to reduce gun violence is second to none. She passed a landmark policy preventing the possesion and distribution of illegal, unserialized ghost guns in San Diego County. In addition, the board approved her ordinance requiring all guns to be secured with a trigger lock or in containers in homes, or structures near homes. She also passed a policy to authorize the County to explore lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
Between 2021 and 2022 there was nearly a 6% decrease in firearm-related deaths in San Diego County, and the total dipped again in 2023, when it was 4% lower than in 2022, according to available medical examiner data.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer believes delivering high quality community services ensures fewer people fall into incarceration which makes more public safety resources available to protect and seek justice for victims wronged by violent and serious crimes.
Criminal justice reform is about repairing the status quo systems that were allowed to remain for decades, and leveraging modern best practices, services and equipment to rehabilitate the incarcerated people in the County's care.
Supervisor Lawson Remer passed groundbreaking policies to make phone calls free for incarcerated people in County jails, championed the creation of a Safety Through Services effort, and fought to ensure the Community Corrections Partnership Plan outcomes used equity as a guiding principle to measure program delivery and outcomes.
She worked with the San Diego County Sheriff to add more mental health services and staffing to jails to reduce deaths. When the Sheriff said more support was needed to recruit deputies, Supervisor Lawson-Remer backed hiring bonuses and referral bonuses to get more deputies hired.
Her efforts to eliminate gun violence and prevent death extends beyond San Diego County. She hosted a community gun violence reduction summit where she advocated for and launched an effort to advance local policies to support enshrining common sense gun safety measures into the United States Constitution.
Progress has been made by Supervisor Lawson-Remer, but more must be done every day to increase public safety and advance criminal justice reform.
