Cop Watch Los Angeles
On May 1, 2007 (May Day), Cop Watch Los Angeles participated in the march
and rally organized by MIWON (Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Workers Organizing
Network) in MacArthur Park. Our role during the march was to observe and
document police harassment and brutality, and to defend the people in the
community as well, at the request of MIWON organizers. As the police began
their attack on peaceful protestors, Cop Watch Los Angeles and other
community members directed families to safety, acting as a buffer between
police and the people.
At no point did Cop Watch LA provoke the mass beating and shooting of
demonstrators that occurred on May 1st. There is no justification for the
actions of the Los Angeles Police Department. In some cases, community
members attempted to defend themselves as they were being brutalized,
acting on their human instinct of self-preservation, by throwing water
bottles or food; this level of defense is far removed from the injurious
rubber bullets, beanbags and tear gas being fired indiscriminately into a
park filled with thousands of people, including families, children and
elders.
The attack commenced when the police disturbed a sacred indigenous
ceremony by plowing their motorcycles into the participants. Armed with
only angry words, Cop Watch LA members and the community took on a
defensive position during the assault and posed no offensive physical
threat to the police’s weapons and technology. Cop Watch LA does not
control the imagination and will of other young people who want to take
any sort of action against the police, or imitate our organization in an
undisciplined manner. Our role was to defend those people and stand with
them. Members from Cop Watch LA were heard saying, “We need to get
children out of here, the police are about to attack.” There is also video
footage of members putting their bodies on the line for the people to get
them out of harm’s way.
Many organizations and media outlets have begun to place blame on youth
and anarchists, asserting that throwing trash necessitates a full-scale
police assault on peaceful protestors and families. Video footage from
numerous angles and at several locations clearly discredits those
accusations – it is unmistakable that the police are at fault.
Contacts from the Mayor’s office have confirmed that the attack on
protestors and the community of Pico Union was pre-meditated due to the
desire to test out months of counter-terrorism training and last year’s
embarrassment, when the LAPD could not stop the people from taking the
streets.
The strategy by the LAPD, the media, and even some “progressive”
organizations has been to focus on Cop Watch LA as the direct cause of the
May 1st incident is an attempt to get the people on the side of the state
and to isolate CWLA from the communities we live in and organize in. This
is the same tactics that were used by COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence
Program) to destroy organizations like the Black Panther Party, American
Indian Movement, and other groups who focused on making fundamental change
in society. Today as we live under the Patriot Act, these tactics of the
police state continue to go after anybody who resists the status quo. We
hope that organizations and individuals don’t fall into the divide and
conquer methods of the state.
The scapegoating of anarchists today is reminiscent of 1886 Chicago
Haymarket Square Massacre in the first May Day ever celebrated, where
police instigated a massacre during a worker’s strike. The state blamed
the anarchist organizers and railroaded eight innocent people into prison
and hung four (while the other committed suicide).
We must also hold the organizers, organizations, and individuals who are
falling into this accountable. We have to stand on the side of the people,
not the police state.
The mayor Antonio Villaraigosa found himself in El Salvador, on a trip,
while this attacked happened right in the middle of the biggest
concentration of Central American people outside of Central America. Then
he has the nerve to guarantee Chief William Bratton a second term. They
are both responsible for implementing this type of policing and repression
that our communities are facing today.
This attack is not unprecedented! It has happened before and will happen
again – until we put a stop to it. In communities where populations are
predominantly working class or unemployed people of color, police abuse
and harassment is an everyday occurrence. For years, our communities have
struggled to overcome oppression at the hands of those sworn to “protect
and serve.” Still, death tolls and brutality cases continue to climb in
the neighborhoods of South Central, Compton, Watts, Pico Union, Maywood
and Boyle Heights.
Cop Watch’s main goal is to put an end to the injustices that plague our
streets and to oppressive institutions like the Los Angeles Police
Department.
We stand on the side of the people and always will.
Cop Watch Los Angeles
May 8, 2007
¡Ya Basta!
Statement Signed and Supported by:
Asians for Jericho / Mumia
East Side Café
Garden Action Collective
Lea Chavez
Los Angeles – Anarchist Black Cross Federation
National Chicano Moratorium Committee
People’s Network In Defense of Human Rights
People of Color Caucus – Peace and Freedom Party
Puerto Rican Alliance
Revolutionary Autonomous Communities
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Students for Peace and Social Justice – Cal State Fullerton
Unity Mission to Free the Eight
Youth Justice Coalition
To be included in this statement, please contact us at:
copwatchla@riseup.org
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
APD, IRO strike deal on complaint against officer
By Maggie Shepard, Albuquerque Tribune
An Albuquerque police SWAT officer faces discipline for falsifying arrest documents, but has been exonerated on other charges leveled in a complaint last year.
The complaint filed with the Independent Review Office stemmed from a man's arrest in October on charges of littering and disobeying a police officer. It alleged that Officer Eric Brown made up a reason to justify the arrest.
Jay Rowland, the city's recently retired Independent Review Officer, investigated the complaint and sided with the civilian, but Police Chief Ray Schultz disagreed.
The differing views could have been brought before the volunteer Police Oversight Commission at its televised meeting Thursday night, but a last-minute deal between the Albuquerque Police Department and the review office kept the issue out of public view.
The deal concedes that Brown did falsify the documents, but not intentionally, said APD Internal Affairs Lt. Paul Feist.
It also concedes that the department's disciplinary plan for him is sufficient, said IRO investigator Trey Flynt.
Word of the agreement spread quickly through the audience, which was packed with Albuquerque police officers, including several of Brown's superiors.
Lt. Bob Huntsman, Brown's SWAT commander, said the two dozen SWAT team and bomb squad members came to the meeting to support their fellow officer.
Huntsman said he felt satisfied with the agreement, which has yet to be finalized by Schultz and must still go before the commission for final approval at its June meeting.
The police report of the incident says Brown found an American Indian man and his family parked in a handicap spot at a Wal-Mart.
Brown says in his report that "they obviously did not have any physical impairments."
He wrote that after he confronted the family, members yelled at him, accused him of racially profiling them and then one of the vehicle occupants tossed his gum on the ground. He only picked it up after several commands to do so, Brown wrote.
The report also says that when Brown suspected the man of being intoxicated, the man became belligerent and would not provide identification.
The woman in the car filed the complaint. It says the family showed Brown a handicap sticker for their son's illness, but that Brown continued to harass them using curse words to the point their children began to cry and bystanders began to ask if they were OK.
Feist and Flynt, representing the police and the IRO, respectively, agreed that Brown broke several rules in addition to falsifying documents, but was exonerated of other allegations in the complaint.
Discipline matters, including officers' names, are generally not made public by the Police Department; the oversight commission does not reveal officers' names.
Brown's name was found in several court and police documents related to the case.
In other news from the meeting:
The political stalemate between the City Council and Mayor Martin Chavez that has kept one commission seat vacant continued.
For at least the 12th time, commissioners heard the mayor's staff say he has submitted a candidate to represent Councilor Brad Winter's district on the commission and is waiting for the council to vote on it.
For at least the 12th time, commissioners heard City Council staff say the council rejected the mayor's candidate. The council maintains that the mayor must select one of Winter's two proposed candidates, and forward one for approval.
Chavez says the city charter allows him to pick whomever he wants, and this time it wasn't one from Winter - a political rival.
Newly selected Independent Review Officer William Deaton, up for confirmation at the next City Council meeting, did not attend.
Nor did his predecessor, Jay Rowland, who retired in April.
The commission gave Schultz its support in light of a recent police union action that may result in giving the chief a vote of no confidence.
Some union members started the process to denounce the chief in an April meeting. The final vote comes in about three weeks.
An Albuquerque police SWAT officer faces discipline for falsifying arrest documents, but has been exonerated on other charges leveled in a complaint last year.
The complaint filed with the Independent Review Office stemmed from a man's arrest in October on charges of littering and disobeying a police officer. It alleged that Officer Eric Brown made up a reason to justify the arrest.
Jay Rowland, the city's recently retired Independent Review Officer, investigated the complaint and sided with the civilian, but Police Chief Ray Schultz disagreed.
The differing views could have been brought before the volunteer Police Oversight Commission at its televised meeting Thursday night, but a last-minute deal between the Albuquerque Police Department and the review office kept the issue out of public view.
The deal concedes that Brown did falsify the documents, but not intentionally, said APD Internal Affairs Lt. Paul Feist.
It also concedes that the department's disciplinary plan for him is sufficient, said IRO investigator Trey Flynt.
Word of the agreement spread quickly through the audience, which was packed with Albuquerque police officers, including several of Brown's superiors.
Lt. Bob Huntsman, Brown's SWAT commander, said the two dozen SWAT team and bomb squad members came to the meeting to support their fellow officer.
Huntsman said he felt satisfied with the agreement, which has yet to be finalized by Schultz and must still go before the commission for final approval at its June meeting.
The police report of the incident says Brown found an American Indian man and his family parked in a handicap spot at a Wal-Mart.
Brown says in his report that "they obviously did not have any physical impairments."
He wrote that after he confronted the family, members yelled at him, accused him of racially profiling them and then one of the vehicle occupants tossed his gum on the ground. He only picked it up after several commands to do so, Brown wrote.
The report also says that when Brown suspected the man of being intoxicated, the man became belligerent and would not provide identification.
The woman in the car filed the complaint. It says the family showed Brown a handicap sticker for their son's illness, but that Brown continued to harass them using curse words to the point their children began to cry and bystanders began to ask if they were OK.
Feist and Flynt, representing the police and the IRO, respectively, agreed that Brown broke several rules in addition to falsifying documents, but was exonerated of other allegations in the complaint.
Discipline matters, including officers' names, are generally not made public by the Police Department; the oversight commission does not reveal officers' names.
Brown's name was found in several court and police documents related to the case.
In other news from the meeting:
The political stalemate between the City Council and Mayor Martin Chavez that has kept one commission seat vacant continued.
For at least the 12th time, commissioners heard the mayor's staff say he has submitted a candidate to represent Councilor Brad Winter's district on the commission and is waiting for the council to vote on it.
For at least the 12th time, commissioners heard City Council staff say the council rejected the mayor's candidate. The council maintains that the mayor must select one of Winter's two proposed candidates, and forward one for approval.
Chavez says the city charter allows him to pick whomever he wants, and this time it wasn't one from Winter - a political rival.
Newly selected Independent Review Officer William Deaton, up for confirmation at the next City Council meeting, did not attend.
Nor did his predecessor, Jay Rowland, who retired in April.
The commission gave Schultz its support in light of a recent police union action that may result in giving the chief a vote of no confidence.
Some union members started the process to denounce the chief in an April meeting. The final vote comes in about three weeks.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
APD officer spied on couple's naked doings, entered home, then assaulted them, lawsuit says
By Maggie Shepard, Albuquerque Tribune
Naked dancing. A dead dog. A police officer with an eye for detail and a can of Mace.
It's not the beginning to a great country song. It's the story laid out in a civil lawsuit filed in state District Court on Wednesday by Gary and Penny Schinagel against the Albuquerque Police Department and the city.
On Sept. 6, 2005, the Northeast Heights couple, married for more than 20 years, decided a bit of romance was the best way to celebrate their youngest child's departure for college.
Clothes came off. Music came on.
And soon, Albuquerque Police Officer Russell Moore was at their window looking in, responding, police say, to a call from a neighbor about loud music.
According to the lawsuit, a tape recorder on Moore's belt that records his actions indicated he stayed at the window for six minutes before making his way into their home.
Alarmed, the couple rushed to find their clothes. Gary Schinagel ended up in his wife's robe, confronting the officer, who had entered the home without a warrant and made his way to the kitchen, the lawsuit says.
Here, accounts of the bizarre night differ. The Schinagels say the officer took their fear and shock as aggression and sprayed Mace at them and their dog. The dog later died from complications, the lawsuit says.
The couple said they were handcuffed, still partially dressed, while they bled from being hit with a flashlight and were prevented from relieving their burning eyes.
The officer, according to police reports, said the Schinagels were aggressive and assaulted him, hurting his jaw. They were arrested on charges of battery on a police officer, which were later dismissed, according to court documents.
The lawsuit says the police officers who arrived later failed to help the family dog and left the home unlocked.
An Albuquerque TV station on Sept. 7, 2005, broadcast a report showing the couple's home near Tramway and Menaul boulevards Northeast and noting that the Schinagels weren't available for comment because they were out of town.
The home was burglarized early the next morning, the lawsuit says.
"It's hard to believe," said Ken Wagner, the Schinagel's attorney. "We have a right to privacy in our homes, and there is a right way and wrong way to enter."
Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman was not immediately able to determine if Moore or other officers involved in the incident had been administratively sanctioned.
Naked dancing. A dead dog. A police officer with an eye for detail and a can of Mace.
It's not the beginning to a great country song. It's the story laid out in a civil lawsuit filed in state District Court on Wednesday by Gary and Penny Schinagel against the Albuquerque Police Department and the city.
On Sept. 6, 2005, the Northeast Heights couple, married for more than 20 years, decided a bit of romance was the best way to celebrate their youngest child's departure for college.
Clothes came off. Music came on.
And soon, Albuquerque Police Officer Russell Moore was at their window looking in, responding, police say, to a call from a neighbor about loud music.
According to the lawsuit, a tape recorder on Moore's belt that records his actions indicated he stayed at the window for six minutes before making his way into their home.
Alarmed, the couple rushed to find their clothes. Gary Schinagel ended up in his wife's robe, confronting the officer, who had entered the home without a warrant and made his way to the kitchen, the lawsuit says.
Here, accounts of the bizarre night differ. The Schinagels say the officer took their fear and shock as aggression and sprayed Mace at them and their dog. The dog later died from complications, the lawsuit says.
The couple said they were handcuffed, still partially dressed, while they bled from being hit with a flashlight and were prevented from relieving their burning eyes.
The officer, according to police reports, said the Schinagels were aggressive and assaulted him, hurting his jaw. They were arrested on charges of battery on a police officer, which were later dismissed, according to court documents.
The lawsuit says the police officers who arrived later failed to help the family dog and left the home unlocked.
An Albuquerque TV station on Sept. 7, 2005, broadcast a report showing the couple's home near Tramway and Menaul boulevards Northeast and noting that the Schinagels weren't available for comment because they were out of town.
The home was burglarized early the next morning, the lawsuit says.
"It's hard to believe," said Ken Wagner, the Schinagel's attorney. "We have a right to privacy in our homes, and there is a right way and wrong way to enter."
Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman was not immediately able to determine if Moore or other officers involved in the incident had been administratively sanctioned.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
New IRO will take charge in June: William Deaton says job is about `finding facts'
By Maggie Shepard, Albuquerque Tribune
One Albuquerque police officer admits but defends punching a handcuffed Downtown reveler in the mouth, busting her lip and breaking her tooth.
Dueling polygraph results support both a citizen who says an officer maced a homeless man for no reason and the officer who said he never maced anyone.
And the family of a handicapped boy says a police officer lied in paperwork to justify harassing them in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
The three cases pending before the Police Oversight Commission illustrate some of the difficult questions facing newly selected Independent Review Officer William Deaton as he prepares to take his post.
Deaton, set to become chief investigator into police misconduct complaints, has yet to be confirmed by the City Council.
Upon confirmation, he plans to start June 1.
He said he might not make the commission's Thursday meeting, where the cases will be discussed, but they likely will still require attention when he takes control of the office in June.
In addition to overseeing investigations into such cases, Deaton, an active 77-year-old, may also have to battle concerns that he is too closely tied to the police union.
The union did not support Deaton's predecessor, Jay Rowland, whom members felt was too tough on officers and overstepped his bounds by suggesting policy changes.
Rowland was informed in December that Mayor Martin Chavez would not renew his contract.
But with support from the citizen Police Oversight Commission and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz, Rowland put his name in for the job anyway.
The job was advertised for only one week, and only locally - not at the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, as Rowland suggested it should.
Among a handful of applications, Rowland, Deaton and Bruce Thompson rose to the top.
However, Rowland resigned his post last week and withdrew his name from the applicant pool, saying he wants to move to New York and focus on his family.
Thompson, an attorney and land-use policy analyst for the city, also withdrew his name in April.
Deaton, a long-time federal magistrate judge with a dynamic military history, said he put his name in the running after a police union attorney approached him about the job.
Despite the union's solicitation, Deaton said his investigations and rulings won't be biased toward the police officers.
"I can't say I don't have any biases. If I didn't, I'd be dead," he said Wednesday, speaking by cordless telephone from his roof, where he was doing maintenance.
"It's about finding facts. That is what I did at the state bench and the federal job, so I have the fact-finding-type experience."
Aware of the union's involvement in Deaton's application, commission Chairman Steve Smothermon said he is willing to give Deaton the benefit of the doubt, but said the commission will be watching for bias.
"We're going to take a more involved role in this, and the IRO works for us; we don't work for him," Smothermon said. "If we don't like the findings, we'll do what we'll need to do."
Here's how the process works:
• The IRO leads a team of investigators that digs into citizen complaints of police misconduct. The IRO judges whether investigators turned up enough evidence to prove or disprove an officer misbehaved. If there isn't enough evidence to prove it either way, the complaint is put into limbo - not sustained, but not proven false.
• While the team works on the case, police investigators do the same.
• Results of both investigations are brought to the Police Oversight Commission.
• Commissioners, chosen by city councilors and then appointed by the mayor, scrutinize the investigations.
• If the two teams disagree on what the evidence proves or a citizen pursues a complaint when the teams say it can't be proved - and both happen a few times a month - the commission must rule on who's right.
• Unsatisfied citizens have two chances to appeal their cases, first to the commission, then to the city's chief administrative officer.
In the complaint about the homeless man, investigators and commissioners sided with Scott Cameron, the citizen who witnessed the incident. Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz wants to appeal the decision, though the policy only allows citizens to do so.
The Downtown reveler, a 22-year-old woman, complained that APD Officer Debbie Heshley punched her in the mouth while she was handcuffed.
Though Rowland ruled in favor of the woman, the commission initially sided with the chief that there wasn't enough evidence to prove the assault occurred. The woman appealed the commission ruling and was allowed to give a statement in person. She was so persuasive that the commission, for the first time ever, changed its mind entirely and ruled in her favor.
The case is pending until Schultz, too, changes his mind and decides to discipline the officer. If he doesn't, the woman can appeal.
The Wal-Mart case is also waiting on administrative steps. It will be heard by the commission Thursday.
One Albuquerque police officer admits but defends punching a handcuffed Downtown reveler in the mouth, busting her lip and breaking her tooth.
Dueling polygraph results support both a citizen who says an officer maced a homeless man for no reason and the officer who said he never maced anyone.
And the family of a handicapped boy says a police officer lied in paperwork to justify harassing them in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
The three cases pending before the Police Oversight Commission illustrate some of the difficult questions facing newly selected Independent Review Officer William Deaton as he prepares to take his post.
Deaton, set to become chief investigator into police misconduct complaints, has yet to be confirmed by the City Council.
Upon confirmation, he plans to start June 1.
He said he might not make the commission's Thursday meeting, where the cases will be discussed, but they likely will still require attention when he takes control of the office in June.
In addition to overseeing investigations into such cases, Deaton, an active 77-year-old, may also have to battle concerns that he is too closely tied to the police union.
The union did not support Deaton's predecessor, Jay Rowland, whom members felt was too tough on officers and overstepped his bounds by suggesting policy changes.
Rowland was informed in December that Mayor Martin Chavez would not renew his contract.
But with support from the citizen Police Oversight Commission and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz, Rowland put his name in for the job anyway.
The job was advertised for only one week, and only locally - not at the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, as Rowland suggested it should.
Among a handful of applications, Rowland, Deaton and Bruce Thompson rose to the top.
However, Rowland resigned his post last week and withdrew his name from the applicant pool, saying he wants to move to New York and focus on his family.
Thompson, an attorney and land-use policy analyst for the city, also withdrew his name in April.
Deaton, a long-time federal magistrate judge with a dynamic military history, said he put his name in the running after a police union attorney approached him about the job.
Despite the union's solicitation, Deaton said his investigations and rulings won't be biased toward the police officers.
"I can't say I don't have any biases. If I didn't, I'd be dead," he said Wednesday, speaking by cordless telephone from his roof, where he was doing maintenance.
"It's about finding facts. That is what I did at the state bench and the federal job, so I have the fact-finding-type experience."
Aware of the union's involvement in Deaton's application, commission Chairman Steve Smothermon said he is willing to give Deaton the benefit of the doubt, but said the commission will be watching for bias.
"We're going to take a more involved role in this, and the IRO works for us; we don't work for him," Smothermon said. "If we don't like the findings, we'll do what we'll need to do."
Here's how the process works:
• The IRO leads a team of investigators that digs into citizen complaints of police misconduct. The IRO judges whether investigators turned up enough evidence to prove or disprove an officer misbehaved. If there isn't enough evidence to prove it either way, the complaint is put into limbo - not sustained, but not proven false.
• While the team works on the case, police investigators do the same.
• Results of both investigations are brought to the Police Oversight Commission.
• Commissioners, chosen by city councilors and then appointed by the mayor, scrutinize the investigations.
• If the two teams disagree on what the evidence proves or a citizen pursues a complaint when the teams say it can't be proved - and both happen a few times a month - the commission must rule on who's right.
• Unsatisfied citizens have two chances to appeal their cases, first to the commission, then to the city's chief administrative officer.
In the complaint about the homeless man, investigators and commissioners sided with Scott Cameron, the citizen who witnessed the incident. Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz wants to appeal the decision, though the policy only allows citizens to do so.
The Downtown reveler, a 22-year-old woman, complained that APD Officer Debbie Heshley punched her in the mouth while she was handcuffed.
Though Rowland ruled in favor of the woman, the commission initially sided with the chief that there wasn't enough evidence to prove the assault occurred. The woman appealed the commission ruling and was allowed to give a statement in person. She was so persuasive that the commission, for the first time ever, changed its mind entirely and ruled in her favor.
The case is pending until Schultz, too, changes his mind and decides to discipline the officer. If he doesn't, the woman can appeal.
The Wal-Mart case is also waiting on administrative steps. It will be heard by the commission Thursday.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Mayor would support arming campus cops
By Susie Gran, Abq Trib
Friday, May 4, 2007
If Albuquerque Public Schools were to dissolve its police department, the district would have $2.79 million to spend on contracted services. The 2006-07 school police budget includes:
$1.64 million for 51 salaried employees, including 33 certified officers.
$169,000 for secretarial, clerical and hourly employees.
$546,000 for employee benefits.
$77,177 for police chief salary.
$95,000 for supplies and materials.
$33,563 for furniture and equipment.
$15,530 for employee training.
Source: APS
Mayor Martin Chavez is siding with school police in the gunfight at Albuquerque Public Schools.
"Our kids will be better served if APS police are armed" at all times, Chavez said Thursday.
School police have long wanted to carry sidearms during school hours to react more quickly to emergencies. Current school policy requires them to keep their guns locked in their cars until they get the superintendent's permission to retrieve them.
The debate over arming school officers took a turn Wednesday when school officials said they wanted to explore the idea of contracting out police services rather than running their own police department.
The mayor also said he would support a merger of the school police with either the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department or the Albuquerque Police Department - but not all three.
The school district has 33 certified police officers who could be absorbed by the larger law enforcement agencies, which would then provide services to the schools.
"I'm receptive to it as long as it isn't a multiheaded creature," the mayor said of a possible merger.
Chavez said he recognizes that the school district could enter into a contract with the Sheriff's Department instead of the city.
If that were to occur, the city might pull its officers now assigned to high schools and middle schools, he said.
"That would be an option to look at," he said. "At the end of the day, whatever protects the kids is what we want."
The city currently assigns armed officers to all high schools except Rio Grande, which is located in Bernalillo County. Some of the middle schools also are assigned city police officers.
"If they (APS) ask us to come in, it would make very good sense," Chavez said. "We would be receptive to a request for a merger."
Albuquerque Board of Education member Robert Lucero said he and APS Superintendent Beth Everitt were going to meet with Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White this morning to discuss the possibility of a contract.
Lucero said he hopes Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz will also join the discussion and help change the focus from guns to an areawide safety plan.
"If truly safety is the issue, a safety plan is the way to go, not a gun plan," said Lucero, who opposes arming school police 24/7.
"We need to decide what would work covering all 130-some schools. That's impossible for our 33 officers," he said.
The only decision made by the school board Thursday was to hold a public hearing and continue the dialogue.
Board members invited the public, students, teachers and grass-roots organizations to a hearing, but no date was set.
Tom s Garduno of the SouthWest Organizing Project also weighed in Thursday with an anti-gun message.
"Arming security guards only perpetuates fear and violence," he said in flyers distributed in the board room.
Board member Gordon Rowe said he thinks the community wants the board to act, not spend months talking and listening.
"They expect us to do something," Rowe said. "We need to get out in front on this."
Friday, May 4, 2007
If Albuquerque Public Schools were to dissolve its police department, the district would have $2.79 million to spend on contracted services. The 2006-07 school police budget includes:
$1.64 million for 51 salaried employees, including 33 certified officers.
$169,000 for secretarial, clerical and hourly employees.
$546,000 for employee benefits.
$77,177 for police chief salary.
$95,000 for supplies and materials.
$33,563 for furniture and equipment.
$15,530 for employee training.
Source: APS
Mayor Martin Chavez is siding with school police in the gunfight at Albuquerque Public Schools.
"Our kids will be better served if APS police are armed" at all times, Chavez said Thursday.
School police have long wanted to carry sidearms during school hours to react more quickly to emergencies. Current school policy requires them to keep their guns locked in their cars until they get the superintendent's permission to retrieve them.
The debate over arming school officers took a turn Wednesday when school officials said they wanted to explore the idea of contracting out police services rather than running their own police department.
The mayor also said he would support a merger of the school police with either the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department or the Albuquerque Police Department - but not all three.
The school district has 33 certified police officers who could be absorbed by the larger law enforcement agencies, which would then provide services to the schools.
"I'm receptive to it as long as it isn't a multiheaded creature," the mayor said of a possible merger.
Chavez said he recognizes that the school district could enter into a contract with the Sheriff's Department instead of the city.
If that were to occur, the city might pull its officers now assigned to high schools and middle schools, he said.
"That would be an option to look at," he said. "At the end of the day, whatever protects the kids is what we want."
The city currently assigns armed officers to all high schools except Rio Grande, which is located in Bernalillo County. Some of the middle schools also are assigned city police officers.
"If they (APS) ask us to come in, it would make very good sense," Chavez said. "We would be receptive to a request for a merger."
Albuquerque Board of Education member Robert Lucero said he and APS Superintendent Beth Everitt were going to meet with Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White this morning to discuss the possibility of a contract.
Lucero said he hopes Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz will also join the discussion and help change the focus from guns to an areawide safety plan.
"If truly safety is the issue, a safety plan is the way to go, not a gun plan," said Lucero, who opposes arming school police 24/7.
"We need to decide what would work covering all 130-some schools. That's impossible for our 33 officers," he said.
The only decision made by the school board Thursday was to hold a public hearing and continue the dialogue.
Board members invited the public, students, teachers and grass-roots organizations to a hearing, but no date was set.
Tom s Garduno of the SouthWest Organizing Project also weighed in Thursday with an anti-gun message.
"Arming security guards only perpetuates fear and violence," he said in flyers distributed in the board room.
Board member Gordon Rowe said he thinks the community wants the board to act, not spend months talking and listening.
"They expect us to do something," Rowe said. "We need to get out in front on this."
Monday, April 30, 2007
Study: Police treat minorities unfairly
by Michael J. Sniffen, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - African-American, Hispanic and white drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but African-Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and arrested, a federal study found.
Police were much more likely to threaten or use force against African-Americans and Hispanics than against whites in any encounter, whether at a traffic stop or elsewhere, according to the Justice Department.
The study, released Sunday by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, covered police contacts with the public during 2005 and was based on interviews by the Census Bureau with nearly 64,000 people age 16 or over.
"The numbers are very consistent" with those found in a similar study of police-public contacts in 2002, bureau statistician Matthew R. Durose, the report's co-author, said in an interview. "There's some stability in the findings over these three years."
Traffic stops have become a politically volatile issue. Minority groups have complained that many stops and searches are based on race rather than on legitimate suspicions. African-Americans in particular have complained of being pulled over for simply "driving while black."
"The available data is sketchy but deeply concerning," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau. The civil rights organization has done its own surveys of traffic stops, and he said the racial disparities grow larger, the deeper the studies delve.
"It's very important to look at the hit rates for searches - the number that actually result in finding a crime," Shelton said. "There's a great deal of racial disparity there." He called for federal legislation that would collect uniform data by race on stops, arrests, use of force, searches and hit rates.
"This report shows there are still disturbing disparities in terms of what happens to people of color after the stop," said Dennis Parker, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's racial justice project. He said better reporting is needed.
Like the 2002 report, this one contained a warning that the racial disparities uncovered "do not constitute proof that police treat people differently along demographic lines" because the differences could be explained by circumstances not analyzed by the survey. The 2002 report said such circumstances might include driver conduct or whether drugs were in plain view.
Traffic stops are the most frequent way police interact with the public, accounting for 41 percent of all contacts. An estimated 17.8 million drivers were stopped in 2005.
African-American, Hispanic and white motorists were equally likely to be pulled over by police - between 8 percent and 9 percent of each group. The slight decline in African-Americans pulled over - from 9.2 percent in 2002 to 8.1 percent in 2005 - was not statistically significant, Durose said, and could be the result of random
differences.
The racial disparities showed up after that point:
-African-Americans (9.5 percent) and Hispanics (8.8 percent) were much more likely to be searched than whites (3.6 percent). There were slight but statistically insignificant declines compared with the 2002 report in the percentages of African-Americans and Hispanics searched.
-African-Americans (4.5 percent) were more than twice as likely as whites (2.1 percent) to be arrested. Hispanic drivers were arrested 3.1 percent of the time.
Among all police-public contacts, force was used 1.6 percent of the time. But African-Americans (4.4 percent) and Hispanics (2.3 percent) were more likely than whites (1.2 percent) to be subjected to force or the threat of force by police officers.
People interviewed described police hitting, kicking, pushing, grabbing, pointing a gun or spraying pepper spray at them or threatening to do so. More than four of five felt the force used was excessive, but there were no statistically significant racial disparities among the people who felt that way.
Two years ago, the Bush administration's handling of the 2002 report and its finding of racial disparities generated considerable controversy.
Departing from normal practice, the earlier report was simply posted on the statistics bureau's Web site without any press release announcing it.
The bureau's director at the time, Lawrence A. Greenfeld, appointed by President Bush in 2001, wanted to publicize the racial disparities, but his superiors disagreed, according to a statistics bureau employee. Greenfeld told his staff he was being moved to a new job following the dispute, according to this employee, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
This time there was a press release.
WASHINGTON - African-American, Hispanic and white drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but African-Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and arrested, a federal study found.
Police were much more likely to threaten or use force against African-Americans and Hispanics than against whites in any encounter, whether at a traffic stop or elsewhere, according to the Justice Department.
The study, released Sunday by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, covered police contacts with the public during 2005 and was based on interviews by the Census Bureau with nearly 64,000 people age 16 or over.
"The numbers are very consistent" with those found in a similar study of police-public contacts in 2002, bureau statistician Matthew R. Durose, the report's co-author, said in an interview. "There's some stability in the findings over these three years."
Traffic stops have become a politically volatile issue. Minority groups have complained that many stops and searches are based on race rather than on legitimate suspicions. African-Americans in particular have complained of being pulled over for simply "driving while black."
"The available data is sketchy but deeply concerning," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau. The civil rights organization has done its own surveys of traffic stops, and he said the racial disparities grow larger, the deeper the studies delve.
"It's very important to look at the hit rates for searches - the number that actually result in finding a crime," Shelton said. "There's a great deal of racial disparity there." He called for federal legislation that would collect uniform data by race on stops, arrests, use of force, searches and hit rates.
"This report shows there are still disturbing disparities in terms of what happens to people of color after the stop," said Dennis Parker, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's racial justice project. He said better reporting is needed.
Like the 2002 report, this one contained a warning that the racial disparities uncovered "do not constitute proof that police treat people differently along demographic lines" because the differences could be explained by circumstances not analyzed by the survey. The 2002 report said such circumstances might include driver conduct or whether drugs were in plain view.
Traffic stops are the most frequent way police interact with the public, accounting for 41 percent of all contacts. An estimated 17.8 million drivers were stopped in 2005.
African-American, Hispanic and white motorists were equally likely to be pulled over by police - between 8 percent and 9 percent of each group. The slight decline in African-Americans pulled over - from 9.2 percent in 2002 to 8.1 percent in 2005 - was not statistically significant, Durose said, and could be the result of random
differences.
The racial disparities showed up after that point:
-African-Americans (9.5 percent) and Hispanics (8.8 percent) were much more likely to be searched than whites (3.6 percent). There were slight but statistically insignificant declines compared with the 2002 report in the percentages of African-Americans and Hispanics searched.
-African-Americans (4.5 percent) were more than twice as likely as whites (2.1 percent) to be arrested. Hispanic drivers were arrested 3.1 percent of the time.
Among all police-public contacts, force was used 1.6 percent of the time. But African-Americans (4.4 percent) and Hispanics (2.3 percent) were more likely than whites (1.2 percent) to be subjected to force or the threat of force by police officers.
People interviewed described police hitting, kicking, pushing, grabbing, pointing a gun or spraying pepper spray at them or threatening to do so. More than four of five felt the force used was excessive, but there were no statistically significant racial disparities among the people who felt that way.
Two years ago, the Bush administration's handling of the 2002 report and its finding of racial disparities generated considerable controversy.
Departing from normal practice, the earlier report was simply posted on the statistics bureau's Web site without any press release announcing it.
The bureau's director at the time, Lawrence A. Greenfeld, appointed by President Bush in 2001, wanted to publicize the racial disparities, but his superiors disagreed, according to a statistics bureau employee. Greenfeld told his staff he was being moved to a new job following the dispute, according to this employee, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
This time there was a press release.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Cop Watch LA Interview on Uprising Radio
Maywood Police Department Accused of Brutality and Abuse
http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=1431
GUESTS: Joaquin Cienfuegos, Copwatch LA and Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, Ramon Medina, former President of the Maywood Police Commission
The City of Maywood’s police department has come under increasing criticism in recent months. Community members and organizations, such as Padres Unidos de Maywood, have accused the department of corruption, brutality and abuse. A recent Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that at least a third of Maywood’s 37 member police force had been hired despite having questionable past records which included terminations from other agencies for misconduct and brushes with the law. Following the investigative report, interim police chief, Richard Lyons, who himself has a criminal background, promised police reforms. Among the officers hired by the Maywood Police Department are Frank Garcia, who was charged with drunk driving and firing his weapon negligently. Among the allegations of police abuse is the case of a Maywood police officer impregnating a 15 year old teenager who rode along with patrols as a police explorer. Community members and lawyers have filed numerous lawsuits against the city. The Maywood Police Department is also being currently investigated by the FBI, the California attorney general, and the LA County district attorney.
http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=1431
GUESTS: Joaquin Cienfuegos, Copwatch LA and Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, Ramon Medina, former President of the Maywood Police Commission
The City of Maywood’s police department has come under increasing criticism in recent months. Community members and organizations, such as Padres Unidos de Maywood, have accused the department of corruption, brutality and abuse. A recent Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that at least a third of Maywood’s 37 member police force had been hired despite having questionable past records which included terminations from other agencies for misconduct and brushes with the law. Following the investigative report, interim police chief, Richard Lyons, who himself has a criminal background, promised police reforms. Among the officers hired by the Maywood Police Department are Frank Garcia, who was charged with drunk driving and firing his weapon negligently. Among the allegations of police abuse is the case of a Maywood police officer impregnating a 15 year old teenager who rode along with patrols as a police explorer. Community members and lawyers have filed numerous lawsuits against the city. The Maywood Police Department is also being currently investigated by the FBI, the California attorney general, and the LA County district attorney.
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