Western Mass Copwatch is teaming up with PLOT2 to host a Know Your Rights Training at the Urban League of Springfield (765 State Street) on Wednesday, November 19th at 4pm.
Download the flyer here: Know Your Rights Workshop - November 19 [PDF - 148KB]
The three following interviews were conducted on June 24th, 2008 in the Bronx and Harlem. G1 of Rebel Diaz, Panama Vicenta Alba (former member of the Young Lords) and Dennis Flores of NYC Copwatch share their encounters with the police and analyses of police brutality.
G1 of Rebel Diaz one day after the police raided his home with guns.
Panama Vicenta Alba outside of his home in the Bronx.
Dennis Flores shares his encounter with the police.
By now you’ve likely heard about the police repression of protesters at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota last week. Police made a massive show of force, arresting over 800 people, making a special effort to target journalists who were documenting the protests and the police violence going on.
Perhaps more shocking and concerning than the now-expected repression of political expression is the treatment of the jailed protesters and journalists. The Twin Cities IndyMedia Center reports that prisoners in Ramsey County jail have been beaten, Tasered, tear gassed and denied emergency medical care. Read the coverage from Twin Cities IndyMedia here.
It’s crucial to remember that such abuse of power is widespread. This is not an acute problem; it is a pandemic. And police brutality doesn’t take place only on the streets—it happens in the jailhouse (and prisons) as well. It is not just “enemy combatants” in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba who are tortured at the hands of U.S. officials—people in our communities face similar treatment in local jailhouses.
For example: let’s recall the experience of Packratt over at Injustice in Seattle. After being wrongfully arrested after a stabbing in a club, he spent a long stay in King’s County jail, inhumanely being denied medical care despite his legal rights and the internal injuries he suffered before being arrested. Read Packratt’s story in his own words. Know that people in St. Paul and around the country are suffering similar torture in jails and on the streets.
Along similar lines to Geert’s recent blog post on quality of life policing and a forthcoming blog post about the return of Springfield’s blackshirts, here is a post about ‘elite’ police units and the abuses they commit around the United States. It’s from a SUPERB blog, Injustice in Seattle.
Link: Becoming The Monster: Problems With Proactive Policing
Thanks to A.Z. for bringing this story to our attention:
by The Republican Newsroom
By DAN RING
dring@repub.com
BOSTON - Police did not use excessive force while arresting David J. Woodman of Southwick last month, according to a preliminary review, the Boston police commissioner said today.
But a lawyer for Woodman’s parents said yesterday the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office should investigate Woodman’s death to ensure an objective inquiry. The lawyer said it appears Boston police did not immediately provide medical attention for Woodman. [read on at masslive.com]
If you see these two men:
Holyoke police officers Sean Shattuck and Joseph Wilson
They are part of an armed and dangerous gang, dressed in blue, that has the law on its side.
Do not get caught near them inside or outside a bar.
They have been known to beat up folks and get away with it.
If you see these men on the job or in plainclothes, TAKE CAUTION.
And if they or their cohorts give you any trouble, call Copwatch at 413-559-8823.
Less than one month after being sworn in as Springfield’s acting top cop, Commissioner William Fitchet announced the formation of a new four-officer Ordinance Squad to issue warnings and citations for violations of city ordinances ranging from playing music too loud to jaywalking to having an unkept lawn. (See “Police hearten blight victims” from April 12, 2008 Republican) Since then, Fitchet and Republican Mayor Domenic Sarno — who had been pushing for the Ordinance Squad since being elected last fall — have been singing the praises of the Ordinance Squad (See Republican articles below the cut).
Sarno, Fitchet and other police officers refer to this new, more forceful gust blowing through the SPD in terms of “quality of life” improvements, “Zero-Tolerance Policing” or “the broken windows theory.”
What is this broken windows theory? According to Officer Mark E. Kenney of the Ordinance Squad, it is the idea that relatively minor problems like a single broken window can infect entire streets and neighborhoods (Republican, “Police hearten blight victims”). This theory, also called Quality of Life Policing, or Zero-Tolerance Policing, is based on the works of criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. The idea is simple: when police take care of (have zero tolerance for) small “quality of life” problems such as public drinking, excessive noise, and, indeed, broken windows, a sense of order is restored to the neighborhood, which will reduce more serious, violent crimes such as murder and rape.
The question is: Does the broken windows theory hold up in practice? Does quality of life policing really reduce violent crime rates? According to various studies, the answer is no, it does not. But quality of life policing does two things: it increases police brutality, police violence and police murder. In addition it targets Blacks and Latinos.
Springfield is not the first city where the broken windows theory of policing has been tested…and failed. The broken windows theory was first put into practice in the 1990s in New York City under NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudolf Giuliani. Cities such as New Orleans, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Anaheim and Minneapolis quickly followed suit.
Did crime go down in these cities? Yes, it did. But crime went down everywhere during this time period, including in cities where this aggressive form of policing was not used.
The crimes that did go up were the crimes committed by the most dangerous gangs in town — the police. Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas Frazier, who oversaw the institution of Zero-Tolerance policing in his city, was at first opposed to this new form of policing, calling it “one iota away from discriminatory policing.” And what was the result of this new quality of life policing in Baltimore in its first six months? Seventy civilians shot by the cops. Similarly, from New York City to New Orleans to Anaheim, complaints of police brutality skyrocketed between 65% and 100%. In its first three years in practice, NYC paid out over $100 million in damages from police brutality. And the targets of the police violence were overwhelmingly Black, Latino, and/or queer.
A 2003 evaluation of the NYPD Zero-Tolerance policing, “Does Quality of Life Policing Widen the Net?” (PDF, 1.5 MB), showed that the targets of these quality of life policing are Blacks and Latinos. Misdemeanor arrests quickly increased by 75% and 90% of all those arrested were Blacks and Latinos.
The broken windows theory is a bogus theory. Quality of Life Policing will not lower serious crime. But it will increase police brutality.
How long will we have to wait for our next victim of police violence in Springfield? How long will it take us to stand up to this new form of draconian policing and realize that it will not solve our problems but only create new ones?
For more information:
See Christian Parenti, Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in Age of Crisis (available for sale from Western Mass Copwatch) Read More
Copwatch invites you to a public forum:
Tuesday, June 24 - 7:00 p.m.
El Mercado (413 Main St., Holyoke)
Free on-site childcare provided.
Do you know your rights if you are stopped by the police? If a police officer asks you for identity, do you have to give it to him? Can he take a photo of you? Can he search your car without permission?
This forum will inform people of their legal rights and give them a sense of the “big picture” when it comes to police harassment. Local attorneys will be present to explain individuals’ rights in relation to law enforcement. A representative from Western Mass. Copwatch will also speak.
Download the flyer here: in Engish or in Spanish [PDF]
Western Mass. Copwatch is outraged but not surprised that Holyoke police officers Sean Shattuck and Joseph Wilson have been cleared of all charges stemming from the December 18, 2007 incident that landed 23-year-old Holyoke resident Christopher Martinez in the hospital ER with a smashed-up face. Now that these armed and dangerous thugs in blue are just about back out on the streets, it’s just a matter of time until they and their gang hurt someone else — or worse. And the odds are pretty high it won’t be a white person.
As for The Republican’s sloppy, one-sided coverage of the trial (story below the cut), we ask: whatever happened to fair and balanced reporting? Don’t bother answering; we already know that, like most mainstream “news” media, Hampden County’s top rag is merely a mouthpiece for the police and the criminal injustice system they uphold– whether in uniform or not. Not mentioned once is the fact that besides being a college graduate, Martinez is currently serving active duty in the U.S. military. And, he has no criminal record.
Copwatch has been in touch with Martinez and his family and will be reporting soon on their version of what happened outside Pal Joey’s and inside the courtroom. Stay tuned. Read More
Thanks to everyone who helped organize the WMCIWR (Western Massachusetts Coalition for Immigrant & Worker Rights) rally on May Day and to everyone who attended! Check out the WMCIWR blog for an assessment of the event.