Police Accountability and Human Rights.
I'd like to meet:
Everyone has the right to observe Police activity, so long as they don't interfere, and everyone has the right to know the identity of their officers (they are NOT secret police, they ARE public servants), so they must provide badge numbers and/or business cards when asked, that is the law. If you feel like Police in your area are acting more like secret police with special rights rather than public servants accountable to the population, you may wish to start a CopWatch in your community. We strongly suggest attending one of the "Know Your Rights"/Legal Observer trainings to get started. We are always happy to help people start new CopWatch groups.
Stay tuned to this section of the page for information (time, date, location etc.) about "Know Your Rights"/Legal Observer trainings.
Our next Know Your Rights Training will be:
Music:
Anyone who sings about the problem of police brutality and the need to address this issue today.
Movies:
Cop Watch- These Streets Are Watching
Cop Watch Documentary about the organization and what it does and how it can be effective
Video of Denver Copwatcher being arrested for asking a Denver Police officer for his business card. The officer charged him with tresspassing in response to his asking the officer for a business card, which has a badge number that officers are to provide when asked by law. The charge was dropped after the the prosecutor saw the video, and the ACLU took the copwatcher's case. The case was reported in the Westword news paper on June 8 by Jessica Centers on page 20. Recently the case was settled, and as part of the settlement the copwatcher was awarded $8,500 and the Denver Police Department agreed to issue a training bulletin reminding all Denver officers that they may not retaliate against members of the public for asking their identity, and must provide a badge number and/or business card when asked. The bulletin also states that police may not hassle people simply because they are observing. Everyone has the right to observe. We received much more press coverage when the case was settled, even grabbing the attention of Associated Press and both major Denver newspapers (which are both owned by the same company).
On Nov 11 2005 TC Armstrong was beaten into a coma by Denver Police. Expected to die, Denver Copwatch and Armstrong's Family protested frequently in the first days. TC finally came out of a coma on Thanksgiving. (In this video clip, Copwatch and Armstrongs family have just held a press conference at the intersection where the beating occurred. Earl Armstrong, Tc's brother brought forward a witness who gave testimony as to what she saw that night. Following the protest the witness pointed out two detectives pretending to be reporters. When posing to be good guys, Earl makes an important point. The police are never on the side of justice when investigating incidents of police brutality. Period Point Blank.) The Armstrong Familiy is still seeking justice in this attack.
In March 2002 documents were leaked to Denver Copwatch in the form of police intelligence files. These files were from a database maintained by the Denver Intelligence Unit that was kept on Denver Copwatch, their membership and activities. The most disturbing element of these files was the classification "Criminal Extremist" placed upon the membership of Copwatch. As time passed 1000's of these "spy files" would surface displaying a history of spying that would encompass almost 3000 organizations and roughly 10,000 people. Many of these documents had information on them that also conveyed an ongoing relationship between the Denver Police and the FBI dating back to the era of counterintelligence programs and carried out until the present.
I am a member of Berkeley Copwatch, an organization that began in 1990 around reoccurring themes of police harassment and misconduct. Copwatch is plain and simple. We observe police stops with members of our community. If the officer's actions are legitimate they are frequently kind and understanding in regards to us observing. If the stop is illegitimate the officers get frustrated, and often let the person go upon our arrival. Our documentation of incidents has assisted in victim's lawsuits, and has been vital in helping educate the community of their rights and empower them to witness, just as we do. I have worked closely with several copwatches including Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Santa Cruz, East Palo Alto and specifically Denver Copwatch. I have compiled footage and interviews from Denver Copwatch since its inception of End The Politics Of Cruelty in 1996. I recently interviewed 31 people from varies organizations and movements who found out that they had spy files with the classification "criminal extremist". I also have been able to get a large quantity of these spy files.
(some of the organizations spied on that I have interviewed)
My documentary shows how intelligence gathering has been misused by since the inception of police in America. I will show how counter intelligence programs were the key methods used to destroy civil rights and peace groups in the 60's and question the intentions of this type of surveillance in today's climate. Extremists also draws the similarities between the criminalization of dissent to the criminalization of poor people and people of color through intelligence gathering. While the "spy file" scandal was a major eyesore for the Denver Police, their own statistics on gangs in Denver was equally embarrassing. According to their own intelligence data almost every black and chicano male from 12 to 30 something was involved in a gang. To add injury to insult the FBI and other federalized police agencies have directly promoted this behavior through increased funding for anti gang programs, as well the increased development of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2002 the national violent criminal gang database that consolidates the most dangerous gangs in the country extended it's classification of violent gang member to mysterious labels such as domestic extremists, animal rights extremists, Asian extremists, European extremists etc. . . In late 2003 the FBI released a bulletin to all police agencies to be particularly vigilante of people video taping police in demonstrations. It suggested officers to identify these types and give the information to the nearest FBI field office.
This documentary will draw the parallels and make the connections on a major problem occurring in Denver that implicates every citizen in America. If the police in Denver are and always have spied on peaceful people with the support of the FBI, who says this hasn't and isn't happening in every city? The Joint Terrorism Task Force (a multi police agency organization designed to address terrorism threats on American soil) has expanded itself in recent years from a dozen offices to 56 and will continue to grow as the FBI deputizes local authorities and gives them powers that supercede regular local police department policies, (like spying on peaceful people)
