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45th Precinct Residents to File Complaint Against Abusive NYPD Officers

11:08 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Police Violence · No Comments

7 May 2012

Bronx, NY – A group of Bronx residents will gather on Monday, May 7th, at 3:30pm across the street from Lehman High School and march to the 45th NYPD precinct to file a lawsuit against two police officers accused of harassment against Lehman High School student Malik Ayala.

Ayala, 16, became the target of police harassment in the hallway of his school, while waiting to take an exam. Ayala was engaged in conversation with some of his fellow students, and demands were made for his ID, records, and documents, first by Peace Officers, then by his Dean and then by the NYPD. Ayala was told that the literature he planned to hand out to fellow students was illegal because it had the Black Panther logo. He was then issued a summons for disorderly conduct. As a result of the time he spent with officers, Ayala was forced to miss that very important examination.

Less than two weeks later, Ayala noticed a young man being arrested in the subway and began to record the police actions with his cell phone. Officers demanded to see the phone, slammed him against the wall, and searched him despite Ayala’s refusal to agree to let them do so, which was his legal right. Once again, Ayala was served with a summons for disorderly conduct.

This is not a unique case. Local youth, predominantly of color, often go through the same experience daily in their schools and communities. On Monday May 7th we will march with fellow students and residents of the Bronx community to file complaints against officers who are harassing youth of color.

In schools where the majority of the student body is comprised of youth of color from working backgrounds, young people are treated not as students, but as criminals. There are metal detectors, peace officers, and the NYPD is called in routinely. Apparently the aim is to condition the students to be subjects of a police state, to create an atmosphere of intimidation and to establish a pipeline from schools to prisons.

Who: People Power Movement, Lehman High School students, members of the Bronx community.
What: March to 45th Precinct in the Bronx.
Where: Meet across the street from Lehman High School, 3000 East Tremont, Bronx NY 10461.
When: Monday, May 7th, at 3:30pm.
Transportation: 6 Train to Westchester Square, or use www.hopstop.com

NYC : Confronting Police Violence in the Courts – May 19, 1-3pm – Justice Committee Workshop

7:19 am By Maegan La Mala · Events|New York City|Police Violence · No Comments

4 May 2012

In order to achieve real change, we must address police violence on multiple fronts: on the streets, with policy-makers, and in the courts. This workshop will address one important aspect of this struggle.

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Join us for a panel discussion with lawyers and organizers from THE BRONX DEFENDERS and the JUSTICE COMMITTEE.

CONFRONTING POLICE VIOLENCE IN THE COURTS:

LEGAL STRATEGIES AND LEGAL CLINIC

May 19, 1-3pm @147 W24th Street, 3^rd floor (1, C/E, or F/M to 23^rd St.)

This workshop will include:

Pros and cons of filing complaints with the CCRB and IAB
Individual and class action civil suits
Organizing for justice
Lawyers will be present to answer legal questions

To RSVP email: JusticeCommittee@gmail.com. RSVP highly recommended but not required.

Please note: This workshop is open to Latin@s and other people of color who are concerned about police violence in their communities.

The Justice Committee is a Latino/a-led grassroots organization dedicated to building a

movement against police violence and systemic racism in NYC.

NYC Orgs Try to Redefine CPR for NYPD

1:48 pm By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Police Violence · Comments Off

27 Feb 2012

Courtesy. Professionalism. Respect. That is what CPR stood for when the New York City Police Department rolled out a public relations campaign in the mid-1990′s. The PR campaign was a response to growing protests and attention against a police force that was more violent and more racist by the day. The late mid-1990′s up until 2011 saw a rise in stop and frisks against young men of color. It also saw a rise in officers acting with impunity in neighborhoods of color, harassing, abusing, and killing. Amadou Diallo, Anthony Rosario, Yong Xin Huang are just three of the names from a long list of young men of color killed by the police. Prosecutors across the boroughs, with their long history of working alongside the NYPD, failed to bring justice to the families of the dead who followed then Mayor Giuliani and Police Chief Bratton with photographs of their own disappeared. In response people took to the streets, blocked bridges and the entrances to government buildings, and there were hearings held on the local, national, and international level.

Seems like now we are in the same place again in NYC. Stop and Frisks are at record numbers and again it is people of color who are stopped the most often. Since 1997, when the New York City Department took over school safety, over 90 percent of the young people arrested in the halls of learning are Latino or Black. We are seeing a rise in killings of unarmed people of color, most recently 18 year old Ramarley Graham in the Bronx. The difference between now and the late 1990′s however is that now the level of police surveillance is up. Watchtowers stand on street corners. Mobile command centers park outside supermarkets. The NYPD most recently had to come out about spying on Muslim communities inside the city and even in New Jersey. These tactics done in the name of “national security” are the new broken windows and Giuliani time has expanded under Bloomberg’s all seeing eyes.

Many of the answers proposed to counter the threat that the NYPD pose aren’t new. City council person Jumaane Williams from Brooklyn wants police officers to give their card to every one they stop and frisk. There was a proposal in the 90′s that was similar in that it asked that officers give a paper document explaining to people why they were stopped and frisked. That proposal didn’t go anywhere and I doubt that the current proposal will go anywhere either. It seems the only union that Bloomberg seems to respect (fear?) is the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA). There are renewed calls for a special prosecutor for when police shootings end with criminal charges against the police. It is a worthy demand but without intervention from Governor Cuomo and the state Attorney General, we will continue with police not being prosecuted.

This week, a coalition of organizations who have been on the front lines of fighting police violence in NYC since the 1990′s, launched a campaign demanding police reform (their word, not mine). Communities United for Police Reform seek to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and policing practices based on cooperation and respect– not discriminatory targeting and harassment.

Today in NYC : Day of Action Against the Layoff of the 700 DC37 Workers & Against Criminalizing Schools

8:51 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Education|Labor|New York City|Police Violence · Comments Off

4 Oct 2011

From the VivirLatino Inbox:

DC 37 employees play a critical role in our school community as parent coordinators, tech support, and school aides who help our schools run like clockwork. They are invaluable members of every school community. Laying off DC37 workers not only hurts the learning of all children, but disproportionally affects low-income communities of color like the Bronx. Some neighborhoods are slated to lose up to 25% of their DC 37 staff members!

How can you get involved?

•                Wear GREEN to school on Tuesday, October 4 to show your support to all DC37 employees throughout the city.
•                Join DC37 workers at a protest rally at City Hall on Tuesday, from 4pm-6pm.
•                Call 311 to tell the mayor to stop the layoffs of all 700 DC37 workers. Our students need these workers and there is a surplus in the budget!
Tuesday, October 4: Day of Action Against School Pushouts and to Create Positive Discipline in NYC Schools (City Hall, 5pm)
•                In collaboration with the DC37 rally, students, parents, educators and organizers involved with Dignity in Schools Campaign-NY will also be at City Hall on Tuesday, at 5pm. This New York City rally and student street theater action is part of a national campaign supporting local and federal policy change to reduce suspensions, expulsions and arrests, and implement positive approaches to school climate and discipline like restorative practices and positive behavior supports.

• Supporters will walk from the DC37 rally to the other side of City Hall for the Street Theater Action at 5pm.October 1- October 8 (this week) National Week of Action on School Pushout.

Students and educators across the country are participating in political actions to raise awareness of the negative impacts of zero-tolerance discipline policies and over-policing of public schools. These policies contribute to a disproportionate number of poor (especially Black and Latino) students who end up dropping out of our schools. Some facts:
•                Nationwide, over 1 million students who start high school this year won’t finish.
•                In New York City in 2008-2009, there were 73,000 suspensions in public schools.
•                Students with disabilities in NYC are four times more likely to be suspended than students without disabilities.
•                More than 38,000 Black students are suspended every year in NYC, and the majority are male.

#Occupy Wall Street & the Language of Resistance

3 Oct 2011

As the #OccupyWallStreet protest enters it’s third week, I was finally able to head down to Zuccotti Park aka Liberty Plaza to get a first hand sense of what was happening.

I will admit to feeling somewhat ambivalent about the #OccupyWallStreet actions. Not because I don’t believe that Wall Street is fucked up – I temped at a big investment bank for a number of years and witnessed first hand the manipulation of other people’s money and other people’s governments. My lack of full support is not because I don’t think the economy is jacked up – no one needs to tell me how hard it is for people to pay bills, keep roofs over their heads and feed themselves. These are issues I struggle with daily – as do most of my neighbors. My guarded enthusiasm comes from a concern with the messaging – which is critical in any action that claims to be resisting existing power structures. So I went to witness and to feel the messaging, not just by reading words on signs but by seeing who are the participants and who are they representing.

Puerto Rico, Policing, and Colonial Politics

1:28 pm By Maegan La Mala · Police Violence|Puerto Rico · 2 Comments

15 Sep 2011

Earlier this month the United States Department of Justice issued a report accusing the Police Department of Puerto Rico of engaging in a pattern and practice of civil rights violations including suppressing free speech, using excessive and even deadly physical force when it was not warranted, and engaging in unlawful searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

From the report :

Indeed, the marked disconnect between residents and tactical officers, who routinely enter neighborhoods en masse with high-caliber rifles drawn amid children, seniors, and other bystanders, reveals PRPD’s reliance on law enforcement strategies that run counter to widely accepted models of community-oriented policing. Distressingly, an officer assigned to one of these units told us openly and without objection from his supervisors that officers need to violate civil rights to fight crime and meet the goals set by government officials. This conduct deprives the people of Puerto Rico of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law.

The report also points to ethnic profiling against Dominicans on the island, which is is important considering that Puerto Rico is a Secure Communities jurisdiction, meaning police officers check the immigration status of those they arrest.

In a police state, women are especially vulnerable, not just because of direct physical and sexual assault by law enforcement itself, but also by not acting when called to cases of sexual and physical assault. The Puerto Rican police are accused of failing to adequately police sex assault and domestic violence cases including spousal abuse by fellow officers.

Chilean Police Kill Student Protester – Pattern & Practice Leftover from Pinochet Days?

10:07 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina|Chile|Latin America|Police Violence · Comments Off

30 Aug 2011

Last Thursday, people gathered in the streets of Jaime Eyzaguirre Macul in Chile, participating in a two-day national strike. Among those was 16 year old Manuel Gutierrez. While police violence against protesters, especially students, is not uncommon in Chile, Manual probably expected to return home after the protests. Instead, he was mortally wounded due to shots fired by the police.

Originally the police denied responsibility, a position they have since retracted. Officer Miguel Millacura, who said he was responding to shots fired by protesters by shooting his Uzi 9 millimeter in the air, was asked to resign. An investigation continues.

Someone in Chile sent me the following video, demonstrating how common unprovoked violence is from the Carabineros de Chile. I urge you not just to watch the disturbing images but to also listen to how some the audio references Pinochet, so many years after the dictatorship.

Chile Debe Ser Distinto 25/8/2011 from ALAA ALSADI on Vimeo.

While a recent article in The Guardian, looks at police brutality specifically in Argentina and its role as part of the legacy left by right-wing dictatorships there, I think the following quote is applicable to the Southern Cone as a whole:

A recent study at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University identified Argentina as having one of the worst records of police violence in Latin America, with 8.7% of the population subjected to some form of violence and abuse by the Argentinian police forces in 2009… 28 years after the end of the military-led dictatorship, still hangs over Argentina’s human rights and security practices. Nationally, “there is almost one case of police violence every day”, says Gerardo Netche, Argentinian lawyer and researcher for the anti-police corruption organisation Correpi. Most cases are “easy trigger” murders (so named by a 1980 judge who thought it was more sensitive to victims’ families than “trigger happy”) or torture. “These days,” says Netche, “generally all prisoners get beaten up, with more or less force depending on their case. Sadly it is very rare that any of these cases reach any kind of conviction.”

For all people interested in getting their hands dirty in some powerful radical work to stop police violence in NYC!!

11:38 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Police Violence · Comments Off

29 Jun 2011

These folks are friends of mine and they can be your friends too!

Peoples Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability
Volunteer Open House

Want to volunteer with the coalition?

For all people interested in getting their hand dirty in some powerful radical work to stop police violence in NYC!!

Come find out how your can support PJ’s work on the group through our Cop Watch Network, Know Your Rights Educational Campaign, Public Art and Advertising and Fundraising efforts.

Thursday, July 14 from 7-9pm
@
Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway 6th FL.
(D, F to Broadway Lafayette, 6 Train to Bleecker street)

*Spread far and wide and take a stand against police violence*

In Between the Puerto Rican Day Parade and the President’s Island Visit There is the Matter of Brutality

14 Jun 2011

On Sunday an alleged 2 million people hit the streets of Manhattan for the Puerto Rican Day Parade and later today who knows how many will greet U.S. President Barack Obama as he visits the mainland of Puerto Rico. But between now and then there are a few issues which the President is likely not to address which are critical to the future of a healthy Puerto Rican community on the island and here in the United States.

Police Brutality and Police Inaction
This past weekend, the ACLU restated the fact that the island is facing a pattern of police brutality and governmental suppression.While the issue of the extreme violence faced by the University of Puerto Rico student protesters and supporters was addressed in the U.S. Congress, President Obama has turned a blind eye.

Connected is the spike in violence against queer Puerto Ricans and the impunity that has come with it. In the last year and a half there have been at least 18 killed in anti-queer, anti-transgender, anti-gay violence on the island. I think it is critical to use the words “at least” because these are the murders that the officials have recognized and identified. Chances sadly are that incidents of violence against the queer, transgender, lesbian and gay community on the island are highly underreported.
There should be no expectation that a police force which so willingly and with impunity enacts violence against their own, would protect segments of the community when under clear attack from others.

The Puerto Rican Colony and Political Prisoners

It is expected that among those “greeting” Obama will be those demanding the release of political prisoners like Oscar López Rivera and others, as well as independence for the island which has been under U.S. control since 1898. Already there have been acts of civil disobedience on the island that are expected to continue.

President Obama, to date has refused to identify Puerto Rico by it’s true status, that of colony, and so long as there is a denial of that, there can be no real expectation of change in terms of how the status issue is handled.

Using Puerto Ricans to Cover Up Failure on Immigration

It has been widely reported that Obama is hoping that his visit to Puerto Rico will help gain the Puerto Rican vote in the United States for his 2012 reelection campaign. Puerto Rico allegedly played a similar role during the President’s initial run for the White House. What Obama and his camp probably did not count on was the linking of his Puerto Rican visit with the issue of immigration, specifically the DREAM Act. After all, immigration is seen a virtual non-issue for Puerto Ricans today since Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and can travel freely between the island and the 50 states. There is a denial however as Puerto Rico as an immigration hub especially for many Dominicans, which has raised tensions both on and off the island as divide and conquer politics among Latinos has us fighting each other over scarce economic opportunities instead of unifying against the conditions that have created that situation. In a conference call yesterday, a young Dominican immigrant student, who would be DREAM Act eligible spoke out about her experiences in Puerto Rico.

“I arrived in Puerto Rico when I was 9 years old in a small fishing boat from Dominican Republic. I graduated a few weeks ago from high school with honors, but because I’m undocumented, I’m stuck with the impossibility of reaching my dream of becoming a doctor,” expressed Esmeralda Hidalgo, one of hundreds of undocumented students who graduate from schools in Puerto Rico. “I need President Obama to pass an executive order to stop deportations of DREAM Act students like me until we have the DREAM Act.”

DREAM Act student are left very vulnerable for the lack of immigration reform. Jose Rodríguez, spokesperson for the Dominican Human Rights Center in Puerto Rico, also joined today’s call and expressed that at least 3 immigrants from the island have been recently killed due to their immigration status. “There are hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in Puerto Rico who live in constant fear. We urge President Obama to at the very least stop deporting our youth right away until there is a legislative solution to our human rights crisis.”

I think it’s still very hard for many to conceptualize immigration as a Puerto Rican issue. The truth of the matter is that as long as the colonial status of the island remains intact, how the issues of violence, identity, access, and self-determination are dealt with will continue to happen in a lopsided and incomplete manner. Brutality is much more than the outright use of physical violence in order to control and create submission. In terms of Puerto Rico, brutality looks like over a hundred years of the United States manipulating the lives of our people. Basta ya!

It’s Only a Matter of Time : Police Abuse Chinatown NYC Musicians

8:00 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Police Violence · 3 Comments

13 May 2011

Ever since I came back from Los Angeles, almost two weeks ago now, there has been a mobile police unit, basically a tricked out RV, parked down the street from my apartment. The police lights are always flashing their red and blue, always in a state of warning. Police form a line where workers, families walk past everyday. There has been no incident in the neighborhood to spark this. It’s supposed to make us aware, feel safer but it’s only a matter of time.

As police nationwide are being deputized into immigration agents via programs like 287g and Secure Communities, it’s only a matter of time before the already confrontational relationship between police and the communities they work in explodes. These officers generally are not part of the neighborhoods where they patrol. They are visitors, invaders, always a state of warning because they can and will stop you.
It’s only a matter of time.

From CAAAV, Organizing Asian Communities :

On Mother’s Day last Sunday, Yi Zhuo Wu, a Chinese immigrant, was pinned down by four NYPD police officers who beat him bloody and then handcuffed him in Chinatown’s Columbus Park. Wu, a musician, is a member of the Street Musical Club, a group that has played music regularly in Columbus Park for more than four years. Aggravating the situation even further, as the community was watching Mr. Wu being arrested and calling for him to be released, a police officer threatened to mace people who did not move back.

The graphic and possibly triggering video is after the jump.
Read more…

Maegan La Mala: Thank you Julio! To be honest I was a little nervous. [...]

Ana L. Flores: I was very excited when you decided to join us. I really wanted your voice there as it would add dep [...]

Maegan La Mala: Hola Juliana and thanks for commenting. There is a dearth in activist/critical thinking Latino blogg [...]

Julio Ricardo Varela: Good for you for asking. I got goose bumps just reading this and yes, yes, yes, to it all. Thank you [...]

julianabritto: The sense that I get is that you might feel a little frustrated at the dearth in activist bloggers? [...]

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