Ramparts Police

 

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Beyond Ramparts

 

Community Control of Police:

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

 

By Michael Novick

 

            The recent headlines about crimes by cops in LAPD's CRASH unit at the Rampart Division didn't surprise people who've faced police brutality. Cops operate in a racist manner under color of authority. Their 'us against them' mentality is protected by a code of silence, and by authorities allowing a 'margin of error' on police violence. The Dalton Street raids exposed the criminal nature of CRASH years ago. The jailhouse informant scandal exposed the DA's complicity with perjury. The Rodney King beating exposed the culture of racism and violence at the LAPD. What's different this time is that it's clear to everyone that it's not just a few cops - it's not just Rampart - it's the system!

            The media and the politicians are still in damage control mode, trying to contain what cannot be contained. They're focusing almost entirely on the admissions of Officer Perez. But the courts, the DA, the police brass are all part of the problem. The confessions of a cop caught stealing and selling cocaine have exposed so many frame-ups, the shooting and killing of unarmed men, planting drugs and guns to justify those crimes, perjury, that thousands of cases may be overturned. How many of those were second or third strikes? Judges forced innocent men to plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit with the threat of long sentences. Chief Parks claims he didn't have enough resources to supervise the cops -  but there were enough for Operation Hammer and other kinds of racial profiling to criminalize thousands of Black and Latino young people. D.A. Garcetti says he doesn't have enough resources to investigate and prosecute criminal cops - but he had enough to lock up more "third strikers" than any other DA, and to secure gang injunctions on perjured police testimony!

            Now they want to stick it to the taxpayers to clean up the mess they made!  Mayor Riordan wants to steal the money from the tobacco settlement, meant for health and education projects, to pay damages. According to Michael Zinzun of CAPA, a long-time organizer against police abuse, the Campaign for Community Control wants to make the cops pay! He says, "Let the liability come out of their pockets. Why throw more money into the police budget, when their internal investigation can never solve the problem?" Individual cops must pay for the damage they do, the Campaign declares.  When the cops are individually accountable for punitive damages, they will be more responsible with their power. Don't rob our kids of parks, libraries, health care and social services to pay for police abuse!

Community Control of Police-Now!

            This problem is as old as the Roman Empire-who watches the watchmen? The cops can't be trusted to investigate themselves. Only an aroused community exerting its control over the police can put an end to police brutality and racism! The problem is as current as the globalization of the American Empire. The cops function like an occupying army in communities of color, and like internal border guards on more privileged communities. As globalization proceeds, the distinction between cops and police becomes increasingly blurred. The US military is sent into other countries, or used in the US itself, on "police actions." The cops and FBI are armed with military technology and weaponry against people in this country, and also sent on overseas missions.

            Now a new grass-roots coalition, the Campaign for Community Control of the Police is seizing the time to push forward a solution to this long-standing problem. The Campaign for Community Control of Police is designed to impede and reverse this process.

            The Campaign is demanding that the DA indict the cops and sheriff's deputies who have taken the lives of people like Margaret Mitchell, Tyisha Miller, Ken Callis, Amadou Diallo, Julio Castillo, Juan Saldana, Ricardo Clos and others. The ACLU and the Coalition on Police Accountability that it initiated also recognize the need for a permanent independent special prosecutor who will focus on nothing but police corruption, brutality, racism and misconduct.

            The Campaign seeks to establish community assemblies that can watchdog the police in every division, and put forward people's policies to control police practices, pending the development of independent elected civilian review boards with subpoena power and the authority to discipline the cops.  Otherwise, they say, cops will continue to follow their unwritten customs and practices of abuse, and to protect and serve only the rich!

            When State Sen. Tom Hayden took testimony about police harassment from gang-truce advocates, the LAPD came out to identify those trying to maintain a truce. They eventually arrested and framed up a number of activists, one of whom, Alex Sanchez, they turned over to the INS for deportation to try to quash his testimony exposing another Rampart Division frame-up. The Campaign wants to end the militarization of the police, police spying on community organizations and disruption of gang truce efforts.

            It's calling on the LAPD to dismantle the CRASH units city-wide, now!

            Another key demand, according to Zinzun, is mental health intervention and training, so cops won't use their guns on mentally ill or disturbed people.  More than 60% of the victims of police killings had a mental disorder. And the mental health workers who are called in also need to be subject to community accountability, he says.

            The Campaign has called a demonstration against police brutality and for community control of the police for Wednesday, March 15, an International Day Against Police Brutality. Protesters will gather at 4:00 PM outside the offices of District Attorney Gil Garcetti at the County Criminal Courts Building on Temple at Spring St., then march from there to the City Council offices at City Hall East, and end with a picket at 5:00 PM outside LAPD headquarters, Parker Center, on Los Angeles just south of Temple.

            The demonstration is not a one-day affair, but the beginning of a concerted and consistent campaign. The Campaign is building a pro-active movement that can force the LAPD and the Sheriff's Department to respect the rules and civil and human rights that already exist

            Did you know that LAPD officers are required to give a business card with their name, badge number and supervisor's name and phone number to anyone they detain and release? Are you aware that the courts ordered a ban on political spying by the LAPD against community groups, especially those involved in police reform efforts? The Coalition intends to fight to implement these and other democratic reforms that can be won even from a system controlled by the oppressors and exploiters, as a way to strengthen the people's movement for total social transformation.

 

            The Campaign for Community Control of Police includes members of Coalition Against Police Abuse, People Against Racist Terror, Communities in Support of the Gang Truce, Mothers Reclaiming Our Children, Anti-Racist Action, International Socialist Organization, and a number of family members of victims of police abuse. It meets Thursdays at 7:00 PM at the offices of the Coalition Against Police Abuse (CAPA), 2824 S. Western, L.A. 90018. For more information you can contact Michael Zinzun of CAPA at 323-733-2107 or by email at csgt@pacbell.net; or Michael Novick of PART at 310-495-0299 or by email at part2001@usa.net.