Newsbites and Updates
New on the web "The Police Complaint Center" is a national non-profit organization that provides assistance to victims of police misconduct. Using available technology, the Police Complaint Center documents and investigates incidents of police abuse. Their primary service is assisting victims of misconduct with the filing of complaints against law enforcement personnel. You may file your complaint over the Internet, or you may also call 800/681-1874 and request a complaint form through the mail. You should receive the form within 10 days. Due to the volume of calls received, it may take at least 72 hours to respond. If you need direct assistance, you may reach them more quickly using email."
S.T.A.R. Update: Our Summer '97 issue reported the announcement of the CHP's "Northern S.T.A.R." program, which was to feature increased enforcement presence (including Special Enforcement Units) on secondary roads. Although it's certainly true that these roads experience higher accident rates than freeways, the statistical rationale offered for the program was sufficiently lame that we conjectured it might really be nothing more than cover for a year 'round drug sweep. But as of year end, nothing has come to CLMP's attention to support that suspicion.
In fact, there's been no indication that they're out there at all. This may be about to change, as the CHP recently announced a one-year federal grant of nearly a million dollars to fund 19,000 hours of enforcement overtime throughout the State for a County Roads Enforcement (CORE) Project. They say they'll focus enforcement attention on "primary collision factors...unsafe speed, right of way violations, DUI, improper turning, and driving on the wrong side of the road." But it seems reasonable to assume that once they're out there, they'll have to show the home office they're awake by cranking out a reasonable number of tickets per shift however light the traffic may be; so expect a closer scrutiny out in the boonies than you've been used to.
Police Review: CLMP's Winter '96 issue mentioned briefly the decision by the Humboldt Supervisors to assign the County Human Rights Commission to make recommendations on forming a citizen review board for police. A subcommittee of the HRC has been meeting for nearly a year now, studying police oversight models around the country and working to come up with a proposal which is tailored to Humboldt's particular needs and circumstances. It looks as though that proposal will be ready pretty soon.
What will be needed when the Supervisors receive it -- and seems lacking so far -- is clear evidence that a broad-based public demand exists for acting on it. The recently formed "People for Positive Policing" in Eureka is circulating a petition which would help demonstrate that support, and they may also be able to help groups and individuals with interests in policing reform to coordinate their efforts. Contact Sarah Kavasharov in Eureka at 707/445-3208.
Bear Lincoln: A defense motion intended to preempt the further agony of a retrial on manslaughter charges was rejected on January 2, 1998, so the new trial is scheduled to begin in Ukiah on March 2, again before Judge John Golden. Lincoln supporters expressed the hope that if a retrial is unavoidable, at least it may provide an opportunity to go beyond establishing what Bear Lincoln didn't do and provide an opportunity to look into evidence of what actually did happen that night.
(After the January hearing it was rumored that Tony Serra was withdrawing from the defense team; that rumor is incorrect.)
Oakland Bombing: The glacial progress of Judi Bari's and Darryl Cherney's civil rights suit against the FBI and Oakland Police may have finally passed the "legal minuet" stage. A status hearing is to take place in Oakland Federal Court in March, which is expected to be the long-awaited occasion for setting a trial date. The Redwood Summer Justice Project would like to see a big turnout there. Check with CLMP -- or with the Mendocino Environmental Center at 707/468-1660 -- toward the end of February for the details, if you want to attend.
Politics: This June a number of offices come up for election which are the sort which are particularly influential in determining the quality of local life, and which -- ironically -- are also those least likely to draw close attention from the affected public. The supervisorial seats occupied by Kirk and Neeley in Humboldt County and by Peterson and Pinches in Mendocino, as well as the positions of Sheriff and DA of each county, and the seat being vacated by Humboldt County Judge Buffington will be on the primary ballots for June 2 this year.
None too soon to start learning about the contenders so as to be able to make responsible choices.
Political Dynamics: "WACO: The Rules of Engagement," a newly available video documentary, may come to be recognized as a classic. It's sufficiently careful and thorough to leave you with the conviction that at last you know what actually happened and, further, why it happened. (And perhaps more than you really want to know about the conduct and principles of federal enforcement agencies and their nominal overseers.) When our circulating copies come home, one will roost in the CLMP office and another will be given to Pomegranate Video for their public affairs freebie shelf.
If you can't wait (and this one is worth not waiting for), call 800/201-7892 and order your own.
Civil Liberties Issue?: If the government forced you to divulge the combination to your safe, and then posted that number along with your address on a public bulletin board, would you have legitimate reason to object?
This month, the State Franchise Tax Board mailed its 1997 Personal Income Tax Booklet. Its mailing label is a peel-off design which you're supposed to use by transferring it to your return; thus, it contains your basic government identification information -- name, address...and full Social Security Number. "Security?" Anyone who handles this thing on its way to you is welcome to make a note of that information for future use, and if you threw yours away at the post office, anyone pawing through the P.O. trash cans (which my Postmaster assures me is a national pastime of some professional crooks) can do it even quicker by just peeling off the label.
If you'd like to thank the prople who bring you this service, the Chair of the FTB is State Controller Kathleen Connell, 300 Capitol Mall, 18th Floor, Sacramento 95814.
CLMP's 1997 Annual Meeting Update: CLMP's annual meeting was held Thursday, November 13, 1997 at the Mateel Community Center, and featured speakers Bear Lincoln and his defense attorney Phil DeJong. It was probably the best attended general meeting CLMP has held. New board members Bruce Kantor and Ben Wesner join ongoing board members Eric Kirk (1998 president), Bernadette Webster (1998 vice president-secretary), Joy Call (1998 treasurer), Bonnie Blackberry, ED Denson and Richard Evans.
And Finally...
CLMP is being supported in part this year (1997 - 1998) by generous grants from the Drug Policy Foundation, the Vanguard Public Foundation, and the Greenville Foundation. Many thanks to our grantors and other supporters, for making our work possible.
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