MicroscopeFocusOnLASD
Please come out:  tonight, Monday, 4/27/15; tomorrow, Tuesday, 4/28/15 or Thursday, 4/30/15  Final Public Forums of LA County Board of Supervisors’ Working Group Established to Recommend Structure for Sheriffs’ Civilian Oversight Commission
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the following locations:

4/27/15 Exposition Park, 700 Exposition Park Drive, LA, CA 90037
Park in Main Coliseum Parking Structure Off of Figueroa and 39th Street
4/28/15 East Los Angeles Public Library, 4837 East 3rd Street, LA, CA 900224/30/15  West Hollywood Library, 625 North San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046

The BOS Working Group has agreed to send the plan to the BOS.
Now we need to push to make sure the Community Composition Plan is the one adopted.  You can read the plan directly below:
Proposed Composition and Selection ProcessLASD Civilian Oversight Commission CompositionEndorsed by:In Los Angeles:A New Way of Life
All of Us or None
Anti-Racist Action LA
AWARE – LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere)
California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
CADRE
Coalition to End Sheriffs Violence in LA County Jails
Dignity and Power Now
Dignity in Schools Coalition (Los Angeles)
Enlace
Equal Action
Fair Chance Project
FACTS (Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes)
FREE LA High School
Gay Straight Alliance Network of Southern CA
Immigrant Youth Coalition
Justice Not Jails
LA No More Jails Coalition
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Public Counsel
S.T.O.P. Police Violence
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition
Youth Justice Coalition
Groups in other counties and national groups have endorsed the statement because they are concerned that punitive policies and inhumane practices that are created in LA are too often exported to the rest of the nation and even to other parts of the world.
Center for Community Alternatives, New York City, NY
Dignity in Schools Coalition (National)
Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, New Orleans, LA
Racial Justice Now, Dayton, Ohio
Community Proposal for Composition of a Civilian Oversight Commission
1. The Oversight Commission shall consist of at least nine members.  Each member shall be a resident of Los Angeles.  The members shall be selected as follows:
A. Each Supervisor shall choose one member to serve on the Committee who lives in that Supervisor’s district.
Each County Supervisor and/or their staff will review written applications and conduct interviews with candidates, and will make final selections in accordance with LA County Charter policies to ensure selection meets standards of fairness, ethics and transparency.
In addition to their duties on the Commission, each Commissioner will work with the County Supervisors’ staff and social justice groups working to LASD to coordinate a community-based hearing in the district once a year on a weekend or evening to ensure that the Commission hear directly from residents in each district (for a total of 5 community-based hearings a year).
Justification for Residency Requirement:
The only way to guarantee geographic diversity is to require that County Supervisors’ representatives live in their districts.  An added requirement should be that they are familiar with the impacts that LASD patrols, Metro patrols and jail custody have on the residents of that district.
B.  An Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board shall select 4 people to serve on the commission who represent the concerns of:

  • People who have been detained or incarcerated within LA County jails;
  • People who have been stopped, frisked and/or added to gang databases by LASD, with a particular emphasis in representing the experiences and solutions from youth of color;
  • Families who have loved ones who have been killed or severely injured due to LASD use of force;
  • Communities – especially public housing developments – who receive the most constant and intensive contact with LASD deputies;
  • Consumers of public transportation patrolled by LASD; and
  • Schools that are patrolled by LASD deputies.
  • Vulnerable populations that are most severely impacted by LASD use of force including, but not limited to, people with mental health conditions, people without permanent housing, people who are differently-abled physically and/or mentally, LGBT2Q2 community, people who speak a language other than English, people who practice a religion other than Christianity, and undocumented people.

B2. Special consideration must be given to ensure that
 

  • The Commission membership includes people who have been directly impacted by LASD actions on the street, on public transportation, in schools and in custody settings.
  • The Commission include at least one youth member under the age of 25.
  • The Commission reflect the age, geographic, racial, ethnic, religious, national origin, immigration status, gender and sexual orientation diversity of Los Angeles County.

B3. In addition to their duties on the Commission, each Commissioner selected by the Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board will work with the Office of the Inspector General and service and social justice groups working in the jails or with people coming home from jails to coordinate a jail-based hearing of the Commission twice a year to ensure that the Commission hear directly from people, staff and volunteers within the County’s jail system.
2. The Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board shall:
A. Be made up of groups who:

  •  Are led by people who have been detained and/or incarcerated in LA County jails;
  • Are led by families and individuals directly impacted by LASD use of force
  • Work directly (in a service, legal, advocacy or organizing capacity) with people who have been detained and/or incarcerated in LA County jails;
  • Provide services and support to victims of crime and violence; or groups who
  • Have successfully transformed LASD policies or practices through litigation or public policy development.

B. The Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board shall be staffed by the staff of the Office of the Inspector General.
C. The Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board shall meet on a bi-monthly basis.
D. In order to select four Commission representatives, the Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board will distribute an application for inclusion on the LASD Civilian Oversight Commission, will review written applications and conduct interviews with candidates, and will make final selections in accordance with LA County Charter policies to ensure selection meets standards of fairness, ethics and transparency.
E. The Outreach, Recruitment and Training Board shall also assist in recruiting applicants to the Commission, in planning and implementing community forums in the supervisors’ districts and within custody, and will review and recommend on the training program for Commissioners.
3. Consistent with its name and stated purpose, the Oversight Commission shall be a fully civilian body, and not consist of retired, former or current law enforcement.
Law enforcement is defined as municipal police, state police, school police, school resource officers, university/campus police, sheriffs deputies, highway patrol, Probation officers, Parole officers, corrections officers.
Justification for Strict Civilian Oversight:
A. Every aspect of LASD oversight, supervision, policy development, recruitment, training, investigation and discipline – with the exception of the proposed body – is already managed by LASD and other law enforcement, often without transparency or access.  B. The Sheriff and other LASD staff will participate as a non-voting member of the Commission, and will have the most access to both address and respond to the Commission. C. Law enforcement is already heavily represented in County, state and local government.  A growing number of elected officials all levels are former law enforcement.  All but one of the representatives on the LA’sCountywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee (CCJCC) are law enforcement, and the community representative on that body has no vote.  D. If law enforcement – including the LASD – were able to monitor their own actions, and ensure fairness, equal protection for all individuals and groups, transparency and adherence to ethical standards, there would be no need for civilian oversight of the LASD.  E. The definition of “civilian” is non-law enforcement, in order to ensure that the community – especially civilians most impacted by LASD patrols, use of force and custody – have a place in County government where they can seek a forum to air concerns and solutions, an objective hearing of and follow-up on complaints, and an opportunity to raise program and policy changes that can improve public safety for all LA.