Story Archives 2013

State-wide Coalition converges on the Capitol on April 22 and 23 before Homeless Bill of Rights Hearing

Homeless communities, grassroots organizations, and advocates across the state join together to ensure the passage of the Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act (AB 5)

Rally Today, April 22nd 2:30-6p - North Steps of Capitol, Sacramento, California
Coalition On Homelessness Press Conference – North Steps Capitol, April 23rd 7:30 or 8:15 AM

APRIL 12, 2013—Momentum for the Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act is building steadily, with critical revisions to the proposed bill now complete and Judiciary Committee hearings scheduled for April 23rd. Hundreds of homeless rights activists from across California will rally in Sacramento on April 22nd

Assembly Bill 5 was introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). “This bill,” he says, “is really about basic justice. People who are Homeless not only have to struggle with life on the street, they often have the indignity of being treated like criminals because they have nowhere to eat, sit, or sleep except in public. My bill is not about privilege. It’s about making sure they are treated equally before the law. I’m proud to be standing with, and for, anyone seeking justice.”

In a Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) survey of 1,267 homeless people, 81% of participants reported that they were harassed by police for sleeping. In addition, 78% reported experiencing police harassment for sitting. Six hundred of these respondents were in California. Tickets for "status offenses" like sleeping or sitting often result in the arrest and imprisonment of homeless people.

With shelters filled to capacity and thousands of people on waiting lists for housing around the state, homeless people have no choice but to sleep, rest and eat in public places. Paula Lomazzi from Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee said, “These are basic rights that allow all people to stay alive—things most of us get to take for granted, but which remain a daily challenge for many of the poorest members of our communities.”

"Laws that segregate, that make criminals of people based on their status rather than their behavior, or that prohibit certain people’s right to be in public spaces are not just sad relics from the past, " says Paul Boden, Organizing Director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP). “The California Homeless Bill of Rights is a response that will protect homeless people from discrimination and ensure their right to exist. This is not about special rights - this is about equal rights.”

Last year, Rhode Island became the first state to pass a statewide homeless people’s bill of rights. Building on the community organizing that led to this success, social justice organizations around the country have been working on bills that aim to protect the rights of homeless people. While the states of Vermont, Oregon, Connecticut and Missouri have already had bills introduced, California’s Bill - co-sponsored by the Western Regional Advocacy Project, Western Center on Law and Poverty, JERICHO: A Voice for Justice, and the East Bay Community law Center - is the first bill since Rhode Island’s to be to have a hearing in the state legislature. Judith Larson of Jericho said, “This is the essence of what Jericho was formed to do, and has continued to do for the past 25 years.”

Upcoming Events

Editors Note: After a marathon meeting on January 22nd,  that saw an attendance of more than 500 Oakland residents and nearly 4 hours of public testimony, the Oakland City Council voted in the early hours of Wednesday morning to move forward with spending $250,000 on a contract to hire controversial police consultant William Bratton. As well, POOR Magazine believes that not only should there be no Bratton, but that we as poor peoples of color in resistance we should Never engage with any Po'Lice/plantation forces.

William Bratton is not the best choice for Oakland in terms of Law Enforcement and crime reduction strategies. His “stop and frisk” law enforcement strategy targets poor people and people of color in the United States and in other countries. Bratton is a consultant with the private international security firm, Altegrity Risk International, serving as a Chairman of a new division where he consults with security for police departments worldwide. Bratton states that racial tensions and distrust of the police are hindrances to reducing crime.  Many are concerned with racial tensions, police brutality, racial profiling, and distrust of the police. Like most people of color, I reject Bratton.
　
On Tuesday, January 15, 2013, the Oakland City Council chamber was filled to capacity.  It was a "Special Public Safety Committee" hearing to discuss the possible hiring of William Bratton as consultant to the distrusted and embattled Oakland Police Department.　
　
If Bratton is hired by the City of Oakland, Oakland Police Department could implement his selective discriminatory policy against Black and Brown, people of color, and minorities.
　
Masses of people gathered outside Oakland City Hall giving speeches and protesting against the hiring of Chief Bratton. The public got fired up and the room was standing room only for item 4 on the agenda.
　
Item 4 was a recommendation to adopt a resolution authorizing Oakland's City Administrator to amend the contract with Strategic Policy Partnership, LLC in the amount of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) to hire a consultant to put in place a much needed short-term crime fighting strategy and a citywide reduction and Community Safety Plan (12-0231).
　
Why does Oakland need an antagonist racist like William Bratton, to conceive a public safety plan coordinating a multi-agency programmatic and law enforcement approach to violence and crime prevention?
　
According to Critical Resistance.Org, Bratton is a “tough cop”. Bratton "relies heavily on the controversial Compstat crime tracking system which has been used to manipulate data to justify repressive police strategies. Bratton favors gang injunctions, curfews, anti-loitering ordinances, stop-and-frisk, aggressive ticketing and harassment as policing tools which disproportionately target young people, people of color, and poor people. He recommends breaking up policing jurisdictions and decentralizing the police chain of command. Bratton's zero tolerance policing relies on racial profiling. Stop-and-frisk not only relies on racial profiling, but has also resulted in complaints against cops for harassment, brutality and other misconduct which have skyrocketed. In early January 2013, a Federal Judge found that stop-and-frisk violated Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Gang injunctions destabilize neighborhoods, compromise people's civil liberties, give police overly broad authority to label people as gang members, and have no proven track record of stopping the kinds of harm they claim to.
　
Who is William Bratton? From the LAPD website I was able to find this information. "...He led the development of CompStat, the internationally acclaimed computerized crime mapping system developed by the NYPD in the 1990s and now used by police departments nationwide. By bringing all crime and arrest data together by category and by neighborhood, CompStat revolutionized policing, enabling officers to focus their efforts in problem areas, armed with real-time information, accurate intelligence, rapid deployment of resources, individual accountability, and relentless follow-up..." (LAPDonline.org). Does Bratton's law enforcement strategy reduces crime by repressing Blacks and Brown people of color?
　
I do not stand with Police repression. Although POOR Magazine has a solid No Po'Lice engagement ever policy, I agree that societies need Police, but police MUST be good police force; men and women in uniform with morals and integrity to serve communities public safety needs. Law enforcement is extremely necessary, but Police abuse is not necessary. I reject Police tactics that violate people's Constitutional rights, freedom, privacy, civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights. My experience was never too extreme. However, I had good and bad experiences with the Police. In all instances I was the victim. Police can be biased and negligent, particularly when dealing with a person of color, primarily, a Black man, African, or people with accent foreign to them. Some Police might think I am dumb and do not know my rights, those police officers are wrong and underestimating me. I heard so many stories from immigrants who had negative experiences with the police, and they fear police, in most instances. I prefer not to quote anyone as they do not permit me to do so.
　
If you have the characteristics I described above relating to accent and appearance of being an immigrant and person of color, police usually tend to profile you and may label you as dumb; someone who doesn’t know anything and you might end up be treated any kind of way. I went to college here in the United States, studied the California Penal Code, Constitutional Law, earning a degree in Criminal Justice. If a Police officer or anyone underestimates me and may think I'm a foul or stupid, they are wrong and heading to an unpleasant surprise because I know my rights and do all I can to the best of my abilities to not break the law, either intentionally or unintentionally. I was feeling it in Oakland.
　
Why Oakland Chief of Police, Howard Jordan, needs some old white man to travel from far way to come to Oakland to tell Jordan what to do? Chief Jordan got heckled. That guy, Jordan is pathetic. Chief Oakland’s City Council is going to adopt something to fight crime eventually, but who knows what that will be?
　
I witnessed firsthand what democracy is all about.  I saw what people's power is supposed to mean--an overwhelming rejection of racist William Bratton's law enforcement policy, his destructive comprehensive crime reduction strategy that ultimately will target Black and Brown young men in the City of Oakland if implemented. Bratton's crime reduction tactics is backed by uncle tom Chief of Oakland Police, Howard Jordan. "Do you prefer a tough on crime policy that increases violence and death in the streets by shooting, and so on, or do you prefer restorative justice?" asked one speaker.
　
A speaker who chose to be anonymous, told me, "it would be nice to see Oakland PD planting trees in Oakland to help the environment than to harassment Black men in the streets of Oakland with Stop and Frisk. The community would love the police if they start doing things like helping the community, not killing Black and Brown kids! They, most of the COPS, do not even live in Oakland. White racist supremacist rednecks---fuck them COPS, she continues! We do not want fucking William Bratton here in Oakland! Shit... look at what he did in New York and Los Angeles to the Black community, it did not improve crime situation. He will make crime go even higher if they hire this racist son of bitch here in Oakland. Why should the taxpayers pay one quarter of a million dollars for this guy to come up in here to commit injustice against Black and Brown folks?" She asks.
　
Another speaker had completed his 2 minutes for public speaking, and he said that he was going to use the time of Oscar Grant killed by OPD officer. The speaker also said that he was going to use time of others who got killed by the COPS.
　
There were as many as 83 speaker cards. Many speakers shared their time with other speakers who did not have enough time to finish his or her statement. Many of them were having similar concerns: "racial profiling by the Police may increase, don't hire Bratton; Oakland does not need more consultants to make OPD more effective. Stop the mass arrest of Black and Brown for the prison industrial complex, stop harassing, killing of Brown and Black young men. Stop police brutality. Use the money to benefit the community by investing in our children and other social programs, jobs, education, etc. We hate killer Police fuck you OPD!" Speakers were saying.
　
The debate has not ended.  It was approved unanimously to send the matter to the full Council to discuss and vote on Recommendation was to adopt a resolution authorizing The City Administrator to amend The contract with Strategic Policy Partnership, LLC In The Amount of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000). BUT, there was no agreement on staffing, meaning who To Hire As Consultant to Put In Place was not decided at January 15, 2013' meeting. There was an outpouring of disagreement and discontent among members of the public regarding bringing in William Bratton to Oakland. Many people attending the meeting were insulted that the City of Oakland even considered Bratton in the first place. 　
Should Oakland’s City Council Adopt the Bratton – Wasserman Oakland Police Department Proposal?
　
I  interviewed a person identifying herself as CAT from Onyx Organizing Community. She told me that 15 murders in Oakland in two days, 250 k for William Bratton is not okay. She said there is no data that more COPS reduce crime because we live in a culture of violence. Instead of expending money promoting more injustice for Black and Brown, we should invest in education, jobs, etc.
　
Chief Howard Jordan wrote a letter to the Community on Tuesday, January 15.  He writes: "Much needed and public conversation has recently occurred regarding crime reduction strategies and best law enforcement practices. Given the seriousness of crime in Oakland, my efforts to increase safety through prevention, intervention and enforcement are needed and expected. It is my obligation to use lawful tools, respectfully and professionally, to police within our communities. This is why it is important for me to address the issue of "Stop and Frisk," a concept that is often mischaracterized or poorly explained..." (Howard A. Jordan Chief of Police).
　
"...Furthermore, as Chief of Police, I am committed to police practices that build community relationships and trust; I firmly believe that every police contact is an opportunity to create understanding and worth in the eyes of the community. "Zero-tolerance" policing is not a strategy I employ or find valuable to these ends. Strategies and enforcement developed from objective evidence, intelligence and data should focus on those individuals or groups deserving of law enforcement’s attention, and not on community members who happen to be proximate..." (Howard A. Jordan Chief of Police).
 

Folo Santome is a graduate of POOR Magazine's PeopleSkool/Escuela de la gente in revolutonary journalism and an Afrikan brother in Diaspora

Apparently the State is not happy with the fact that Chairman Fred Hampton of the P.O.C.C. and B.P.P.C is building bridges and doing work in Oakland with like-minded community organizations dedicated to improving life conditions for oppressed, repressed and terrorized citizens in the city of Oakland and beyond.

Tonight, at approximately 4 pm, the Chairman and three of his comrades were trailed by police into the Target shopping center in Emeryville, just outside of West Oakland. Initially, they were stopped by two Oakland Police vehicles (IN EMERYVILLE). The police flashed their lights and ordered the passengers to both put their hands up and roll down the windows. As this was occurring, another 10-12 police cars arrived and blocked off the entire parking lot.

The passengers were separated and one of the sisters in the vehicle was pulled from the car, slammed against a Police SUV and her arm twisted. Her arm was so badly injured that an ambulance later took her to a nearby hospital. BEFORE THE COP HAD EVEN OPENED THE CHAIRMAN'S WALLET, HE SAID "Are you still at the same address in Chicago?" THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS BEFORE THEY PULLED HIM OVER. THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION OF HARASSMENT IN RESPONSE TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

When asked why they were being pulled over, it was explained to them that a robbery had occurred in which a cell phone was stolen and the phone had been tracked to the Target parking lot. NOT THEIR CAR BUT THE PARKING LOT. The Chairman pointed out that there were some 300 additional cars in the lot and so why their car but received no answer.

The police then brought the supposed 'victim' of the robbery to the scene and paraded each one of the passengers in the Chairman's vehicle in front of a bright light for the 'victim' to look at. S/he identified no one.

Following this, the police attempted to just walk away as if nothing had happened. The Chairman and additional passengers requested and received the Sergeants name and are planning to file a formal complaint.

It should not be overlooked that last month, the Chairman sat on a panel examining the MXGM report "Every 36 Hours" that focused on the execution of Black men, women and children by police, security guards and vigilantes every 36 hours in Amerikkka. Additionally, last week the Chairman joined hundreds of community members in speaking out against the hiring of William Bratton as a consultant to the OPD at a City Council Public Safety meeting. It should also not be overlooked that a follow up City Council meeting to address the Bratton issue was to scheduled to be held the following day