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Calls Grow Louder In San Francisco Bay Area To Defund Police Departments

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The message doesn't get any louder or more visible than on Polk St. in front of San Francisco's City Hall.

There in giant yellow letters, painted on the roadway by a group of student activists on Saturday, were the phases "BLM" and "Defund The Police".

Adriana Camarena was among those young activists, she told KPIX 5 she did not trust local politicians to make the right choices moving forward.

"Defunding the police is not going to be a process that they're (local politicians) going to be in charge of," she said. "It's going to be a community lead process... Board of Supervisors, it's time for a resolution to commit to dismantle this institution that has only brought a lot of suffering to their community it's time to find new solutions."

Across the San Francisco Bay, Betsy Rose was among a group of protesters who normally gather to demand action against climate change. On Saturday, they raised their voices in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"We're not stopping," Rose said. "There's something going on in this country right now, I think everybody feels is unprecedented and we're part of it right now."

The afternoon protest in Berkeley was peaceful. There were signs, chants and plenty of music.

"White people like myself are beginning to step up more," she said. "We need to take a look more and feel a little more uncomfortable...America is not working for everybody."

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