Police the Police

NYPD Is Slowing Down With Stop-And-Frisks

March 28, 2015 Prachi Gupta, www.animalnewyork.com Educate! Mass Incarceration, NYPD, police brutality, Police the Police

While he predicts that the number of cops on the streets of New York is going to increase this year, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says that the number of stop-and-frisks are going to decline. Bratton told the New York Daily News that the NYPD will have one million fewer interactions with the public “based primarily on dramatic drops in stop-and-frisks, summonses and marijuana busts.” The drop in activity has not led to a spike in crime; in fact, the city currently faces a 10% drop in crime. Bratton hopes that the move will improve relations with communities of color, who are disproportionately targeted by stop-and-frisk.

Group Organizing To Disarm And Displace NYPD

March 27, 2015 Ashoka Jegroo, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! New York City (NYC), NYPD, police brutality, Police the Police

A newly-formed group of activists are teaming up with Copwatch, an anti-police brutality group that records video of police conduct in their communities, to create “no-cop zones,” and maybe even disarm the police, through the use of direct action. “Disarm NYPD” is a new collective seeking to immediately stop the New York Police Department from killing anyone ever again. The group seeks to monitor and pressure police, with the help of local communities and Copwatch groups, until they retreat from over-policed neighborhoods and then maintain these cop-free zones with alternative, community-based forms of conflict resolution. Along with that, the group also seeks the total disarmament of the police.

Denver Cops Not Using Body Cams 75% Of Time

March 18, 2015 Terrell Jermaine Starr, www.alternet.org Educate! police brutality, Police the Police, Technology

Body cams are suppose to help increase accountability of the police to the public, but they’re useless if the cops don’t turn them on. Denver police officers turned on their body cameras just once out of every four use-of-force incidents during its 6-month pilot program that concluded in December, according to the Denver Post. Denver's independent police monitor Nick Mitchell said in a report that there were many cases where officers punched people, used pepper spray or use Tasers that went unrecorded because cameras weren’t turned on or malfunctions occurred. Of the 80 use-of-force cases filed by officers, only 21 were recorded. Thirty-five of those cases involved sergeants and other supervisors or officers working off-duty assignments; ironically, none of those groups were required to wear body cameras.

Ferguson Police Shooting Not From Area Of Nonviolent Protest

March 13, 2015 Democracy Now!, www.democracynow.org Educate! Ferguson, Nonviolent Action, police brutality, Police the Police

Two police officers have been shot during a protest outside the Ferguson police headquarters early this morning. Both of the wounded officers have serious injuries. The shooting came just hours after Police Chief Thomas Jackson quit following last week’s Justice Department reports finding widespread racial bias in the city’s criminal justice system. Jackson is the sixth Ferguson official to be forced out in the wake of the report, including the city manager and the top municipal judge. We are joined from Ferguson by Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, who witnessed last night’s shooting, and Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is part of the Ferguson Legal Defense Committee.

Investigation Finds Officer Aiming Weapon At Protest Within Policy

March 9, 2015 Jennifer Baker, www.revolution-news.com Educate! Bay Area, police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice

The California Highway Patrol has concluded a plainclothes officer acted within department policy when he drew his gun without identifying himself and aimed it at protesters during a scuffle when he and his partner were unmasked during an anti-police brutality protest in December. The unnamed officer was found to be justified for drawing his gun and aiming it at everyone present after his partner wrestled with a protester who struck him on Dec. 10. The investigation concluded about three weeks ago. Despite the obvious error of having CHP Officers armed and undercover, walking amongst an anti-police brutality protest while instigating violence and vandalism along the way being the flawed behavior. Avery Browne, chief of the CHP’s Golden Gate Division says: “Was it unnerving? Yes. Shocking? Yes,”.

Family Files Lawsuit Over Fatal Shooting By Chicago Police

March 6, 2015 Jason Meisner, www.chicagotribune.com Resist! Chicago, police brutality, Police the Police

Tears streamed down Lane's face Wednesday as she stood in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where her lawyers announced a federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleging the police killed McIntosh without justification and have since conspired to cover it up. "I would just like to know why, why did they shoot my son?" Lane said in a voice choked with emotion. McIntosh's killing in August was one of the first shootings by Chicago police officers after an unarmed black teen was fatally shot by police in Ferguson, Mo., sparking nationwide anger over the use of force by law enforcement against black youths. After McIntosh's shooting, protesters marched through the streets of Chicago's Lawndale community, claiming he was unarmed and surrendering to police when officers opened fire — similar to claims made by relatives of Michael Brown in Missouri.

Cops Attack Unity Rally — Against Police Brutality

March 4, 2015 Betsy Piette, www.workers.org Educate! Civil Rights, New Jersey (NJ), police brutality, Police the Police

A peaceful protest against police brutality outside the Cumberland County courthouse here on Feb. 28 was disrupted by an orchestrated police provocation that resulted in two people being arrested. The rally was cut short after police converged on the gathering, confronting demonstrators and pushing them out of the street, even though organizers had a permit. Demonstrators reported seeing police armed with M16s. The demonstration, initiated by the Salem County-based civil rights group National Awareness Alliance, was held to unite families from New Jersey and Philadelphia who have been demanding justice for loved ones killed or injured by police. Starting at the intersection where police killed Jerame Reid, 36, of Bridgeton on Dec. 30, 2014, it was the fifth event demanding justice for Reid since his death.

Obama Task Force Urges Significant Changes In US Policing

March 3, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Educate! Law, Obama, police brutality, Police the Police

Rights groups and others are welcoming the release of a report by the president's policing task force on Monday, saying that the policy recommendations are the best chance the White House has for improving the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are meant to protect and serve. The President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing was established in the wake of recent police killings of people of color in an attempt to build trust between citizens and law enforcement. The Interim Report (pdf) calls for increased transparency around incidents of police brutality, an emphasis on de-escalation, and policies that prohibit police profiling and discrimination of any kind, among other things.

DOJ Finds Racial Bias In Ferguson Traffic Stops

March 3, 2015 Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Educate! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice

The Justice Department has nearly completed a highly critical report accusing the police in Ferguson, Mo., of making discriminatory traffic stops of African-Americans that created years of racial animosity leading up to an officer’s shooting of a black teenager last summer, law enforcement officials said. According to several officials who have been briefed on the report’s conclusions, the report criticizes the city for disproportionately ticketing and arresting African-Americans and relying on the fines to balance the city’s budget. The report, which is expected to be released as early as this week, will force Ferguson officials to either negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department or face being sued by it on civil rights charges. Either way, the result is likely to be significant changes inside the Ferguson Police Department, which is at the center of a national debate over race and policing.

Even Police Not Safe From Backlash When Criticising The Police

January 12, 2015 Crystal Shepeard, www.care2.com Educate! police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice

Nashville, Tennessee was also the site of protests last month. One Nashville resident, who considered himself pro-cop, was upset with the police response. He was so incensed with Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Police Chief Steve Anderson’s refusal to take a harder stance, he emailed him. The fact that the chief had allowed the peaceful protests to happen without police interference and served the protestors coffee and hot chocolate while they listened to their concerns was unforgivable. In his letter, he said he was upset that the protestors were not arrested and that he no longer felt safe in the city. Police Chief Anderson responded with a very public letter saying that the police were responsible to all of its citizens and that all were deserving of respect, even if their opinions differed.

America’s Authoritarian Police Violently Enforces 1%’s Rule

January 5, 2015 Chauncey DeVega, www.alternet.org Educate! police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice, wealth inequality

While the public rituals that accompany the loss of a police officer are by definition designed to hide and obfuscate complex realities through the use of powerful symbols and rhetoric, the basic truth remains that police as a social institution and group are not victims. Rather, in the United States the police are a protected class of people. They are the day-to-day face of the State—and its power to visit violence upon the American people. Police are enforcers of the law; in many ways they are positioned above and outside it. The examples of this Orwellian abuse of power are many. The Supreme Court recently ruled in Hein v. North Carolina that even when a police officer stops a person without proper cause such an act is not a violation of the Constitution’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Whistleblower Cop Fired For Calling Out Corruption In Her Department

January 3, 2015 Matt Agorist, www.thefreethoughtproject.com Resist! Corruption, Labor Rights, Police, Police the Police, Whistleblowers

A New Albany police officer of 19-years is being fired after she blew the whistle on her department. In May, Officer Laura Schook made several claims against her department including corruption, padded overtime and discrimination. “My supervisors [were] padding their overtime, stealing time from the city, also doing other jobs while they were at work, essentially being paid for two jobs at one time,” Schook said in an interview. After the allegations were made, Chief Sherri Knight and Assistant Chief Greg Pennell both resigned and asked to be reassigned within the police force.

Is Zero-Tolerance Policing Worth Chokehold Deaths?

January 1, 2015 Robert Wilbur and Martha Rosenberg, www.counterpunch.org Educate! NYPD, police brutality, Police the Police

Such letter-of-the-law police work is also called “zero-tolerance” policing and is based on the “broken windows” theory of crime which postulates that crime flourishes when apathy for enforcement of minor laws is perceived. For example, when an abandoned automobile with no license plates and its hood up was left in a Bronx neighborhood, its radiator and battery were taken in a short period of time and windows smashed and upholstery ripped, reported Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford psychologist, in 1969. Professor Harris told us the progressive decline in violent crime, which continues to this day, is an inexplicable nationwide trend that is seen equally in cities that practice zero-tolerance and those that do not. Professor Harris deemed zero-tolerance policing “harsh” and “unyielding” and devoid of any deterrent effect.

Police Chief Explains Why He’s Not Arresting Protesters

December 31, 2014 Steve Anderson, www.nashville.com Educate! Law, Non-Violence, police brutality, Police the Police

As imperfect humans, we have a tendency to limit our association with other persons to those persons who are most like us. Unfortunately, there is even more of a human tendency to stay within our comfort zone by further narrowing those associations to those persons who share our thoughts and opinions. By doing this we can avoid giving consideration to thoughts and ideas different than our own. This would make us uncomfortable. By considering only the thoughts and ideas we are in agreement with, we stay in our comfort zone. Our own biases get reinforced and reflected back at us leaving no room for any opinion but our own. By doing this, we often convince ourselves that the majority of the world shares opinion and that anyone with another opinion is, obviously, wrong. I have to admit, I am somewhat puzzled by this announcement. None of the demonstrators in this city have in any way exhibited any propensity for violence or indicated, even verbally, that they would harm anyone. I can understand how you may feel that your ideologies have been questioned but I am not aware of any occurrence that would give reason for someone to feel physically threatened.

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