police brutality is totally out of control

[wli]

What can we do about this? It's like Bushler has ordered the police to don SS uniforms and mutilate anyone who is remotely on the left. How do we even collect evidence when they target cameramen on the ground and it's nigh impossible to get independent video evidence collection?

They're gassing us. They're beating us. They're using chemical weapons on us (pepperspray). They're tasering us while we're handcuffed and bleeding from beatings on the ground. Now they've got these microwave weapons to fry us en masse and melt our eyeglasses into our eyes and blind us.

So, what can be done? Do we have to appeal to the UN for UN troops to guard us? That doesn't sound plausible to me. Is there some way to get realtime broadcasting out of the areas on shoestring budgets (so when the equipment is confiscated and/or destroyed the evidence is can't be suppressed)? Are lawsuits even going to do anything? They don't appear to be thus far. What now?

[Occulus]

1. What options for a legitimate cause are left when the legal ones are gone?

n/t... and no room to write it....

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Will not ALL PDs are out of control

options
'
Insist on civilian review boards, they work... San diego is a good example

oh and when all options are truly gone, you may have heard of that document callled the Declaration of Independence, if you catch my drift.

[wli]

3. I've never heard of a civilian review board. How do they work?

Do they monitor conditions on the ground?

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. That is what they do

they are formed by civilians who monitor police activities, for instance the one in LA tonight would go to the board if it happened in San Diego. That one would be tracked to the civilian review board that will literally go through it and review all actions by all officer.

They like it if the members have some law enforcement familiarity, after all knowing the conditions of police work helps, but it is not required. they also go on ride alongs with the force on all locations once a quarter. Their job is to review anything that should be brought to them, either by a civilian complaint, or a hot call (the aforementioned event tonight)

At times to the shock of the community they find for the police, but even when they do that, they usually include recommendations that lead to changes in procedure that make everybody cool tehir heels. San Diego got its board in the 1980s, and has gone from a PD that was out there, and quite John WAyne to a good department... even if right now it is having some budgetary problems from hell

Some of the original recommendations included painting all squad cars as black and Whites, they used to be white, and a standard blue police uniform, instead of the khaki, which made them look more profesional... they also recommended that all cops go through state sponsored training and are the reason for a regional police academy, hence all play from the same book.

[wli]

6. Well, one of the big issues is catching provocateurs

Whether it's on videotape or independent witnesses. So basically they need to be on the ground somewhere where they can actually see what happens.

And are these civilian review boards independent or are they staffed entirely by freepers?

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Independent

I don't qualify, even if would love to serve, since my husband is on the force... but they are independent and volunteer

[smurfygirl]

5. Louisville has one

There was a lot of police brutality and shootings that looked unjustified. So Louisville decided to put together a review board. So far it seems like it has helped. Less incidents and such. It also helped the community to get to know the officers and create a sense of "hey, they are here to help and protect us" instead of always thinking, oh crap I'm gonna get a ticket or they are gonna beat me. It still goes on but some officers have been fired because the review board recommended it.

[wli]

7. How do I find one? How do I get on one? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. First find out if your city has one, if not get the ground work

to form one, if they do have one, the police department shuold be able to tell you when they take applications for it... and yes I fully encourage people to get involved. Hell I may try to get into the grand jury once the business takes off

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. The board most likely tracked their findings to Internal

Affairs, which helsp to also break the thin blue line, which for the record is worst off the further East you go.

[yewberry]

11. We can document what happens.

No, they can't be everywhere, but www.indymedia.org is a really good resource. They serve as a kind of a clearinghouse for this kind of stuff.

(They were really helpful, for example, when we had that little WTO tiff here in Seattle.)

No, they don't get much in the way of real-time exposure, but they really are an invaluable resource as a sort of repository for witnesses.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Indi media

can and should also turn some of their info to the civilian board when it gets invovled and they have evidence, or the Grand Jury

To keep teh cops honest, well it takes everybody, starting at the Academy but also covering the press, and us civilians

[yewberry]

13. I think they did, at least in this particular case.

IIRC, there was a fair amount of indymedia footage that was used in the investigations of police behavior after the WTO protests.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. good I know Seatlle has a civilian review board

And yes I did hear some of this also went to the grand jury

the problem is that waht the officers did took at tiems ten seconds... but it takes at times upwards of a year for an investigation to be completed, which is the other daming thing about this.