Public Safety Platform

Council Member Middleton’s public safety platform touts her law enforcement endorsements, which include the Palm Springs Police Officers Association. Her platform highlights her support for “...increasing the number of first responders to reduce emergency response times” and to “...keep weapons of war off our streets and out of the hands of criminals.” She has previously noted that the city budget for Palm Springs remains high because it is one of the only desert cities that has its own independent police department, wherein 40% of city payroll goes towards pensions including for law enforcement. Additionally, Middleton proposed a Palm Springs city ordinance in July 2024 that would allow police officers to arrest people for camping on the street.

IJ Action is recommending a harm reduction vote for Lisa Middleton. Although her rhetoric is supportive of law enforcement and she has supported carceral approaches to homelessness in her home city of Palm Springs, we believe that she would be the less harmful choice compared to her opponent, current Senator Ochoa Bogh, who has consistently voted against justice reform in the Legislature.