Follow the Coalition:
General Coalition Meeting: Join us Tuesday, May 20th at 6:30pm. Location: the Downtown UCLA Labor Center, 675 Park View Ave., Los Angeles, adjacent to MacArthur Park.
Coalition News:
Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council moves with swift action
Another amazing and powerful move to end police surveillance by local community leaders occurred on April 24, 2014. The Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council (LHNC)–during a special meeting–passed a resolution calling on the “Los Angeles Police Department to rescind Special Order 1 and the original Special Order 11 immediately , and to terminate the iWATCH “See Something, Say Something” Program immediately.” The LHNC also urged other neighborhood councils to do the same. This is the fourth Neighborhood Council to pass such a resolution. This resistance exhibited by four Neighborhood Councils – South Central, Rampart Village, Boyle Heights, and now Lincoln Heights – sends a very clear message that Los Angeles communities will not stand for policies that waste resources and engage in racial profiling. We commend these communities’ powerful leadership!
LA City Attempts to Hide from the “Hearing Process”
After over a month of delays by the HRC, on May 15th, members of the Coalition hand delivered a letter to City Attorney Mike Feuer demanding answers and clarification regarding HRC procedural capacities pursuant to City ordinance # 181193. The ordinance was provided by the HRC to the coalition in an effort to prove their “lack of authority” to hold public hearings. Passed in July 2010, the ordinance details the transfer of the HRC to the Housing and Community Investment Department and states nothing regarding HRC’s inability to hold investigative hearings or revocation of HRC’s subpoena power. Mr. Feuer was unavailable and the letter was left with his staff.
Additionally, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition attempted to follow up with the Human Relations Commission (HRC) regarding the status of the hearings/forums promised in October of 2013. Expecting to attend the HRC Board meeting on May 15th, coalition members were surprised to learn, that that meeting had been cancelled due to lack of quorum. The Executive Director of the HRC agreed to follow up next week on our issues.
This presents a striking contrast where community leaders among the neighborhood councils–who live in the communities they serve–understand the urgency of this matter and respond with action while, shamefully, more “powerful community leaders” don’t act and remain vague and distant from the communities they claim to serve. As the peoples’ power grows, the Coalition continues to build and support it. The people of Los Angeles cannot be ignored: We Demand Answers!
Surveillance in the Media:
Check out this debate between Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who helped reveal mass NSA surveillance, and a former head of the NSA. Check out his interview on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman.