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Protestor at Oscar Grant rally. Photo by Geoffrey King http://www.geoffreykingphotography.com/
Who polices the police? Do you or your neighbors have any say in the way your town’s cops and sheriffs do business? For more than 35 years, cities around the country have been creating civilian oversight agencies – trying to make local police and sheriffs accountable to the communities they serve.
On this edition we take a look at the police killing of Oscar Grant in Oakland, and the debate over who gets to decide when an officer has done something wrong.
Featuring:
Barbara Attard, civilian oversight consultant, former San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints investigator and former Berkeley Police Review Commission Director; Marcel Diallo, artist and victim of police harassment; Rashidah Grinage, PUEBLO Executive Director; Jason Wechter, National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement Board Member; Reginald Lyles, BART consultant and former Berkeley Police Officer; Gary Gee, BART Police Chief; Jesse Sekhon, BART Police Officers Association President; Quintin Mecke, California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s Communications Director; Greg Kaufory, attorney; Omar Osirus, Jan, and Bo, protestors; Daniel Buford, Allen Temple Baptist Church Reverend; Joyce Hicks, San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints Director and former Oakland’s Citizens Police Review Board Director; Patrick Cacares, Oakland Citizens Police Review Board acting director; Paulette Hogan, tasered Oakland resident who filed complaint with Internal Affairs; Chris Shannon, Oakland Police Lieutenant; Cephus Johnson, Oscar Grant’s uncle; Mark Kroeker, Portland Police Chief.
For more information:
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police
Berkeley Police Review Commission
Berkeley, CA
California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano
Sacramento, CA
Oakland Citizens’ Police Review Board
Oakland, CA
Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant
National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE)
Indianapolis, IN
People United For a Better Oakland (PUEBLO)
Oakland, CA
Portland Copwatch
Portland, OR
San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints
San Francisco, CA
Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other:
NACOLE list of Civilian Oversight Agencies
US Dept of Justice Report:
Citizen Review of Police: Approaches and Implementation. March 2001
City of Berkeley Police Review Commission 2004 report
Justice for Kendra James Community Information
From Oscar Grant, Where? Seeking Structural Change
Photography by Geoffrey King of the Streets of Oakland after the Mehserle Verdict
Music:
KRS-One – Sound of the Police
Tags: activism, civil liberties and rights, police, race
Maybe you didn’t notice if/when you checked out the site, but there is no “Justice For Oscar Grant Committee” — that site has not been updated since March 2009 and was merely a placeholder for some of the members of the now-defunct group called CAPE.
If you want more current info from grassroots activists, there is the Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant at http://www.oaklandforjustice.org/ — this group organized the Jan 1, 2010 anniversary events, the BART action in SF in April of this year, and the recent speak-out at 14th and Broadway on the day of the verdict. The site is updated when new events are scheduled.
There’s also http://www.indybay.org/oscargrant which has a broad array of coverage from Jan 2009 all the way up to the pro-Mehserle counter demo on Monday, and almost everything in between. Court documents, protests, essays, and more.
Thanks, Dave. We added these links to our show page. We appreciate the tips and additional information. Let us know what you think of the show, and please re-post to your social networks!
Re: Oscar Grant and Oakland
Justice must be seen to be believed. Shipping such a trial out of town was an error. Some how getting a judge with a dubious record (re: the Ramparts trial a while back) and a jury not of poor Mr. Grants peers were serious deflections of justice.
I listened to KPFA most of the day of the Messerly trial and have I believe a fair idea of what went on in Oakland that day. Of course I am aware that a number of rowdy people in cluding non Oakland people misbehaved after dark. It was the Day time events told the tale both as far as public reaction is concerned and that the trial should have been conducted. I’d say that Oakland showed itself to be both sophisticated and mature in the face of very real adversity.
The next time we in the Bay Area face something like this must tell government that we ourselves must see that justice be done. I think that public meetings must be inaugurated where all such matters will be discussed with conclusions conveyed to our elected officials. These may be invited to speak and interact with citizens. So also with police providing they come in dress uniforms only.
I believe such meetings should be initiated now with regard to the Messerly Sentencing. In behalf of the Grant family and the rest of us the court in LA must know know how concerned we are that we see Justice must be done.
George Pope
San Mateo