In the first part of the week, we continued our youth internship! We started the week on July 27th by getting to visit Students Deserve at their summer internship, and we got to do an organizational exchange together! On Tuesday July 28th, we all attended the Board of Police Commissioners meeting where we continued to speak out against Flock Safety. That night, we held our monthly Data Driven Policing community meeting, where we talked about the current political moment, and then did phone banking together for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) meeting about Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs)!
On Wednesday and Thursday, our interns wrapped up final projects and workshops, and we got to learn with LA CAN’s Food and Wellness Committee about urban rooftop farming in Skid Row, and we learned about the history of Skid Row!
On Thursday July 30th, we all mobilized to the OIG meeting on zoom, where 60 people spoke out against Flock Safety and Automatic License Plate Readers. Only a small handful of people, including city council member Traci Park, spoke in favor of ALPRs, citing “strange cars” as their basis and excuse for mass surveillance, criminalization, abduction and deportation. On Friday, we held our monthly movie night where we watched “Civil Brand,” a fictional movie about incarcerated women fighting for justice and freedom.