Greetings friends, check out what we’ve been up to:
On Tuesday 7/25 the Coalition supported Youth Justice Coalition’s action at the LA County Board of Supervisors demanding the closure of Los Padrinos Juvenile Center. The children’s prison has been the site youth abuse and death by county detention officers and despite continued calls to divest from the prison, county officials continue to funnel money into the juvenile detention center. Protesters interrupted the Board of Supervisors meeting, demanding a stop to the continuation of business as usual in the midst of this continued harm perpetuated against our children.
We were also at the Board of Police Commissioners meeting that took place at the same time at LAPD HQ. The Board discussed LAPD’s two year strategic plan, that included an expansion of LAPD’s community policing program (CSP) and an expansion of LAPD’s Records Management System. The RMS operates in the same way as the now widely banned CIA funded Palantir data aggregation software, also used by LAPD. LAPD is creating their own in-house system to replicate Palantir as it’s being discredited.
During this Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Chief Moore also released the name of the community member killed by LAPD in the Ford Hotel in Skid Row. Billy Stribling was killed by Shootin’ Newton officer Diego C Bracamontes. Interestingly Bracamontes shot Oscar Leon Sanchez in his home just months before shooting Stribling.
That evening we held our monthly Data Driven Policing meeting in-person at LA CAN. Community members discussed what community policing means to us and how LAPD is deploying and expanding it’s community policing practices. We also discussed Data Abolition, participants broke off into groups and answered a set of questions about whom they feel should have access to their data.
Thursday’s episode of Radio Insurrection featured guests from Youth Justice Coalition, who discussed their action at the Board of Supervisors earlier that week. One of the guests, Adreena, is the mother of a son incarcerated in Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center. Adreena described the horrid conditions her son has to endure and the violence she experiences at the hands of the center’s administrators in ensuring the well-being of her son. Adreena also described the work she was doing to build power against these systems, by working alongside other parents. You can listen to the episode at kpfk.org/archives.
Later that day and Friday we continued our internship with Fairfax High School’s Peace and Social Justice Club. The students spent the days working on a zine uncovering LAUSD’s new schools surveillance app, called LASAR (Los Angeles Schools Anonymous Reporting).
Friday evening we held our monthly movie night in front of LAPD HQ. This month we ushered in Black August with Gregory Everett’s 41st and Central, a film about the Southern California Black Panther Party. Our illustrious coordinating team member, General Dogon, discussed the history and importance of Black August and how we can put the values embodied in celebrating Black August into action.
To plug in with any of the work groups listed above, or for more information about the Stop
LAPD Spying Coalition, email us at stoplapdspying@gmail.com.
If you or your organization are interested in hosting a teach-in or discussion regarding our report, Automating Banishment, please fill out this google form.