Media Advisory For Immediate Release
Contacts: Hamid Khan, (562) 230-4578 | Pete White, (213) 434-1594 | Mariella Saba, (323) 382-1631
Immigrants, Youth, Formerly Incarcerated People, and Other Concerned Communities Join Forces to Stop Civil Rights Abuses Authorized in LAPD’s “Special Order 1”
What: Town Hall Meeting on LAPD’s “Spying” Policies
When: Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 10:30am– 12:30pm
Where: 828 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Who: Stop LAPD Spying Campaign, including numerous organizational and individual members
A diverse group of concerned community members including youth, artists, immigrants, formerly incarcerated people, academics, lawyers, faith based and community-based organizations will hold a town hall meeting on Saturday March 3rd calling on LAPD to rescind their Special Order 11 and the newly revised version Special Order 1.
Community advocates believe that both Special Orders 11 and 1 infringe on privacy and civil liberties, legitimize spying by local law enforcement, and promote racial profiling of innocent Angelinos.
These special orders authorize the LAPD officers to document “observed behavior” in what is known as a Suspicious Activity Report, also known as SAR. Data collected and recorded as SAR is archived and shared with other law enforcement agencies thus placing law abiding people as suspects. Furthermore LAPD does not have to disclose to impacted persons if SAR has been filed on them, even under California Public Records Act.
Organizer of the Stop LAPD Spying campaign, Hamid Khan, said “By casting suspicion on non criminal behavior such as photography, using binoculars and many more, LAPD policies create pretext for investigation and open files on people without their knowledge. We have been down this road before and its time we put an end to this abuse of power.”
Over twenty community organizations are part of the Stop LAPD Spying coalition. Their members will share experiences of abuse at the hands of LAPD, educate the broader community about the issues, and demand immediate rescinding of Special Order 11 and its revised version, Special Order 1.
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Visit www.stoplapdspying.org for more information. Member organizations participating in the Town Hall include ACLU of Southern California, Dream Team LA, LA Community Action Network, Youth Justice Coalition, Interfaith Communities United in Justice and Peace, Labor Community Strategy Center, ENLACE, Southern California Immigration Coalition, National Lawyers Guild and IDEPSCA.
Prison Industry Divestment Movement 