BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The chair of the Kern Sheriff's Community Advisory Council announced Thursday that she and several others are stepping down from the council.
The resignations come soon after the release of "Killing County," a docu-series on Hulu detailing lethal use-of-force incidents by Kern law enforcement agencies.
In Chair Arleana Waller's resignation letter, dated February 9, 2023, and addressed to Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, the resigning chair says councilmembers Tiara King and Susan Lawol are joining her in exiting the council.
"It has been a pleasure founding and leading the efforts of the CAC. It has renewed my faith in good law enforcement. This will be work that I and others will continue outside of the CAC," reads Waller's letter. She goes on to say that her time with the council has improved her impression of law enforcement.
In her letter, Waller says the three who are resigning feel they have "reached an impasse in our ability to make a material change for the community that trusts us to speak on their behalf."
Waller goes on to say her decision was affected by events at the council's most recent meeting, where she says it was clear to her that the council's mission was being "subverted by politics and bureaucracy" by what she refers to as "a very vocal subsection of the CAC."
"In the interest of serving the community, we do not want to use up this important space to have ongoing discussions about dogma," Waller wrote.
In an email 23ABC got from Waller following Monday's meeting, she wrote "(Monday's) meeting was dedicated to strategizing how our structure can best suit the community. Our focus was on the underlying themes of the docu-series and ensuring that incidents highlighted never occur going forward."
READ THE FULL RESIGNATION LETTER BELOW:
