Unequal and Targeted Enforcement Escalated again on Main Street Yesterday – People Cited for Handing out Seedlings to the Community and Police Monitor Arrested

Downtown Los Angeles gentrification continues to reach all-time lows as LAPD carries on with its mission to rid downtown of poor and homeless, and mostly Black, faces. In the May 20^th episode, LAPD took action to stop…wait for it…a seedling give-a-way in front of the LA CAN office. The bustling operation, coordinated by LA CAN’s community gardeners in front of our office, was being visited by a vast array of downtown stakeholders. In fact, our garden project almost always demonstrates the real potential of bringing together disparate communities and realizing the purported vision of a “mixed-income” downtown – there is widespread support for community gardens and giving residents access to seedlings to start their own gardens of any size.

The Great Plant Caper – Seedling Give-Away at LA CAN

LAPD Officer Owens apparently isn’t a fan of gardening, but is fine with perpetrating the Jim Crow policing used under Downtown’s Safer Cities Initiative.  The tool of choice for years to move poor and homeless people off Main Street has the been the enforcement of municipal code 41.18D – no sleeping or sitting on the sidewalk.  And that’s what Officer Owens was doing yesterday – issuing a ticket to an elderly gentleman sitting in a portable stool and two LA CAN members sitting in chairs handing out seedlings.  Never mind that all parties cited were actually on private property – within 3 feet from a private building.  Never mind that a legal settlement agreement requires LAPD to give people warnings and the opportunity to comply BEFORE citing or arresting anyone for 41.18D.

Fully aware of their rights, and the actual 41.18 D rules, the LA CAN members stated they could not be cited for 41.18D and requested to speak to a supervisor. Instead, within minutes, nearly a dozen police responded to the plant give-away “crime scene.”  Thelmy Perez was monitoring this incredibly over-use of LAPD with her cell phone camera when she was seized by three officers and arrested.  Thelmy was released later in the day and now faces a charge of interfering with police investigation.  Sean and Esteban also received misdemeanor citations for their community gardening activities, and Jody, our elderly neighbor, faces misdemeanor charges for just sitting down for a brief rest. 

Monitoring Police as they Detain Community Gardeners

We of course won’t accept Jim Crow in Skid Row – we will continue to fight for equal rights and equal enforcement through local fights and statewide fights like YES on AB 5, the Homeless Bill of Rights.  We will also fight these four cases together and ensure this most recent round of criminalization of perfectly legal community activities and organizing does not stick! LA CAN will continue our community gardening and seedling give-away programs in public space as well.

Yesterday is unfortunately just one example of the blatant selective enforcement and civil rights violations that define the Safer Cities Initiative, and the continued criminalization of organizers who stand up against these violations.  If you aren’t familiar with Main Street – wealthier residents and visitors sit and stand on the street regularly.  Below you will see the bench in front of the Nickel Diner and the tables and chairs for the new “Creamery”  - where their upscale customers sit without any police harassment, within a block of LA CAN.  Apparently the Nickel Diner can put a bench in front of their establishment (complete with a sign that says “customers only”), but LA CAN members can’t be found in chairs in front of our office.   Again – we won’t accept this and will fight for equity on Main Street and throughout all of LA and beyond.

LAPD Opens Fire on Skid Row Corner (AGAIN), At Least 1 Person Shot and Killed

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This morning, LAPD officers shot into a crowd on the corner of 5th and Wall in Skid Row. At least one person was shot and killed. LA CAN is still looking into the matter and collecting information from witnesses.

However, even if LAPD were responding to a crime, why was shooting the suspect necessary?  Was everyone on the corner a suspect? Why shoot multiple rounds in the middle of one of the busiest corners in Skid Row? How many innocent people were put in danger? Were more people wounded?

This is not the first time this happened. Police officers shooting suspects first and asking questions later, and shooting into crowds of civilians does not make the community safer. It is extremely dangerous and completely unacceptable. Community residents will not stand by idly and allow this to happen. We demand answers and accountability!

CCEA Illegally Using Bolt Cutters to Steal Skid Row Resident Property

Yesterday the LA CAN Community Watch Team came upon the Central City East Association (CCEA) Security Guards attempting to use bolt cutters to illegally confiscate the property of a Skid Row resident. The team intervened to prevent them from stealing the private property, which was clearly not abandoned. However, when the team returned an hour later, the property was gone and the lock was cut.

A September 2012 decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that bars the City of Los Angeles and LAPD from seizing the property of Skid Row residents. However, private Business Improvement District officers continue to illegally steal property from residents. They regularly claim that this property is abandoned, but LA CAN has documented time and time again that this is not the case. More often than not the property belongs to residents who step away for a few minutes to use the restroom, get a meal, or engage in other life sustaining activities.

Deborah Burton’s Trial Expected in Late April – These Unjust Charges Should be Dropped!

Yesterday, LA CAN was featured on Voices on the Frontlines with Eric Mann. Listen below to find out more about the coordinated efforts of CCEA, LAPD, and the City Attorney to silence the human rights work of LA CAN.

Deborah Burton, longtime LA CAN member and organizer, has been unjustly charged with three counts of assault for alleged actions during a legal protest in June 2011. She was not charged until August 2012, 14 months later, and public records show that in the interim months LAPD and the Central City East Association actively lobbied the City Attorney to criminally charge LA CAN members involved in a monthly protest of the CCEA’s “Skid Row Walk.” Deborah is just the latest target of the City Attorney’s ongoing campaign to squash protest and political dissent in Los Angeles, including other LA CAN members.

Since 2006, LA CAN has led the charge against LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative (SCI), which has brought up to 150 additional cops into the Skid Row community and resulted in mass criminalization of homeless and poor, mostly African American, residents. In 2011, LA CAN and partners began protesting the CCEA’s “Skid Row Walk” because it was a tool to promote SCI, perpetuated myths about homeless people, and lacked the voice and participation of community residents.

Immediately after we began our protests, the CCEA, LAPD, and the City Attorney’s office began coordinating and strategizing on ways to stop LA CAN’s opposition to the walk. The quotes below, from emails obtained through Public Records Request, begin to shine light on just how CCEA was trying to use LAPD and the City Attorney to criminalize first amendment rights.

In one email in April 2011, CCEA’s Estela Lopez assures her colleagues that the City Attorney informed her that “they would explore all legal options to protect us and allow us to conduct our walk without interference from LA CAN.”   In another email sent on June 1, 2011 — the evening of the purported assault — Estela confirms they were able to complete their walk “as planned” and never mentions being assaulted or injured by Ms. Burton or anyone else from LA CAN.   In a July 2011 email from LAPD’s Lieutenant Paulson, she tells the City Attorney that she needs information about the filing and documentation of cases related to the public safety walk because “This is going to be an ongoing problem until it gets too costly for them.”

Stay tuned for more information about the documents obtained.

The targeting of LA CAN members exercising first amendment rights by LAPD, at the demand of business leaders, is clearly unjust. The City Attorney should not prosecute this unsubstantiated case and should not continue his past history of criminalizing protest and first amendment rights.

LA CAN members and supporters will be calling on the City Attorney over the coming weeks to drop these charges and not pursue this trial. Please join us! You can call the City Attorney’s office directly (213-978-8100) and/or stay tuned for other ways to get involved by spreading the word through social media and other public actions.

Media, LAPD Misrepresent TB Outbreak in Skid Row Creating Unnecessary Fear and Further Demonization: Community Meeting to be held with L.A. Dept. of Public Health to Dispel Rumors Around TB and Promote Effective Health Education

Much has been made in the media this week about the so-called “outbreak” of Tuberculosis in Skid Row. Despite many rumors and mis-information spread by countless news outlets, the Los Angeles County Department of Health is telling everyone not to panic (Click HERE for an Info Sheet the Department just released). Excerpts include:

Should the public be concerned? No, the general public should not be overly concerned. The public needs to know that there is no immediate danger to their health related to the current situation. TB is spread from person to person through the air, and usually requires prolonged, close contact.

Should people working with the homeless population wear a mask? No, but persons working with homeless populations should remain alert to the signs and symptoms of active TB disease (e.g., prolonged cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss) and refer those individuals promptly for further medical evaluation.

It is shameful and irresponsible of the media to mislead the public in a way that causes unwarranted panic and that further demonizes Skid Row. LAPD gave a directive for officers to wear masks, something NOT recommended by Public Health officials. We have also already heard stories and witnessed LAPD sensationalizing the rumors around TB to further violate the rights of local residents.

In the video below, officers justified private security guards illegally going through private property by saying it was “for your own safety” considering “all the stuff that has been in the news” about “people getting sick.” LAPD sits by as BID guards cut open people’s bags – even those clearly marked with Not Abandoned signs.

To counter this mis-information, and promote community-based health responses, LA CAN is organizing a Community Meeting with the LA County Department of Public Health on Friday, March 1, at 6pm. The event will be co-hosted by SRO Housing and held at the James M. Wood Community Center on 400 E. 5th Street (5th and San Julian). Come find out what you really need to know and get involved in promoting community health in Skid Row!

Click HERE for a flyer and help spread the word!

Over 25 Squad Cars and 50 LAPD Officers Deployed in Skid Row Last Night – Does This Make the Community Safer?

Last night, February 6, was the first Wednesday of the month – the day that up to a few months ago was designated for the so-called “Skid Row Safety Walk” by the Central City East Association. LA CAN has continued using the first Wednesday of the month for a real, community-based public safety walk that engages residents in current health and safety projects, and promotes participation in our other human rights work.

However, around 6 pm it was clear that the police presence was unusually high, even for Skid Row. On Wall St. there were 20-25 squad cars and 50+ LAPD officers outside of Central Division. As we continued our walk, we saw dozens of instances of LAPD officers pulling up on residents, cuffing them, and rifling through their personal possessions for extended periods of time. More often than not, these residents were then uncuffed and left to re-organize their possessions without any explanation for why they were detained.

This pattern continued today as our Community Watch police monitoring team documented at least 10 incidents in less than an hour.

It is clear that there has been an enforcement policy change in recent days. The amount of harassment and civil rights violations that have occurred in the last week are above their regularly high rates, and the constant LAPD presence on every corner from Main St. to Central has only exacerbated tensions and escalated the feeling of occupation that has come to characterize our community.  Our community will not accept this and we will fight back against this resurgence of the occupation of Skid Row.

LA CAN remains steadfast in its dedication to defending the human and civil rights of Skid Row residents – and we will respond accordingly by documenting this surge in policy presence, educating residents to know their rights and to defend them, and organizing our community to stop the abusive, racist policing in Downtown LA.

LA CAN Releases a NEW Short Documentary on the Historic Operation Skid Row Festival

We’ve just released a NEW Short Documentary on the Historic Operation Skid Row Festival that was organized by LA CAN and Chuck D of Public Enemy last January 16 on Gladys St. in Skid Row.

The film features performances by Public Enemy as well as narratives and footage that show the devastation and injustice that have come as a result of LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative (SCI) and Broken Windows policing – and the growing resistance of Skid Row residents who are standing up and fighting back!

It is especially important that this be shared with our folks up in Oakland, where William Bratton (former LAPD Chief and architect of SCI) has just been hired as a “Police Consultant.”

Check it out!

The December 2012/January 2013 Community Connection is NOW AVAILABLE!

Click on the Photo above to read the December 2012/January 2013.

You can also view a high resolution PDF version HERE.

Join LA CAN TOMORROW for TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!

Join us TOMORROW, Thursday, October 25 at 6pm at the LA CAN offices for our annual TAKE BACK THE NIGHT event.

We will be marching throughout Skid Row to raise awareness about violence against women in our community, country and world. The event will conclude at the Downtown Women’s Center. This is always a powerful and liberating event for our community. Join us as we TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!

For more information, contact Deborah at 213.228.0024 or at deborahb@cangress.org.

Also, don’t forget to FRIEND and LIKE the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/downtownwomensactioncoalition.dwac?fref=ts

The October/November 2012 Community Connection is NOW AVAILABLE!

Click on the Photo above to read the Community Connection Online.