police brutality

SUPERVISORS SPLIT ON SUPPORT OF GEORGE FLOYD POLICE REFORM BILL

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left, by Henri Migala:  protest in La Mesa on May 30 called for justice for George Floyd

May 7, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to endorse the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a federal police reform measure aimed at improving law enforcement accountability and addressing racial disparities. Supervisors split 3-2 on the issue, with East County Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson opposed while Supervisors Nathan Fletcher, Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas supported the action.


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LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEADERS REACT TO GUILTY VERDICTS IN DEREK CHAUVIN TRIAL FOR KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD

By Miriam Raftery

Updated with reactions from the President and Vice President

Photo, left: Screenshot via CNN, Derek Chauvin is remanded into custody after verdict
 
April 20, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Local social justice advocates voiced gratitude for today’s jury verdict in Minneapolis, where a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts (second degree murder, third degree murder, and manslaughter) in the death of George Floyd. But activists also cautioned that more action is needed to bring about reforms in policing to prevent future injustices.
 
After video of Floyd’s death under the knee of officer Chauvin on May 25, 2020 went viral on social media, protests erupted nationwide including La Mesa, Santee and El Cajon in San Diego’s East County.
 
Francine Maxwell, President of the NAACP San Diego branch, called the verdict “a step in the right direction.” In her statement, she adds, “This has taught my son today what hope looks like, that when police don’t obey the law, this is what justice looks like. This police officer, who joined a noble profession, he was not noble. He operated under the color of the law.”

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THE RACIAL JUSTICE COALITION DEMANDS JUSTICE OR RESIGNATION

By Briana Gomez

October 9, 2020 (San Diego) -- In a climate of uproar against national police brutality, the Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego County is demanding that police officers in our region are held accountable for ample shootings of unarmed individuals over the course of 25 years.

Background

According to a review from the District Attorney’s Office, between 1993 and 2017 there were 451 police shootings of civilians, 55 percent of which were fatal.

According to this report, the DA’s office took on average 183 days to send a letter of review to law enforcement after these shootings (a letter was sent in only 432 of the cases).


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LA MESA POLICE RELEASE DETAILS ON DETENTION OF STUDENT WITH DOWNS SYNDROME THAT PROMPTED SUIT AGAINST CITY

By Miriam Raftery
 
September 1, 2020 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Police Department today released details on the brief detention  and handcuffing of an 11-year-old Murray Manor student with Downs Syndrome on August 29 of last year. The child’s parents have filed a lawsuit against the city and the La Mesa Spring-Valley school district, alleging that their son was traumatized.

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GOVERNOR SIGNS SAN DIEGO ASSEMBLYWOMAN'S LANDMARK POLICE USE-OF-FORCE LAW

By Dan Morain and Lauren Rosenhaall | CalMatters

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Assemblywoman Shirley Weber stands to the left of Gov. Gavin Newsom at signing ceremony for her police use-of-force legislation. Photo by Dan Morain for CalMatters

August 21, 2019 (San Diego) - California will soon have a tougher new legal standard for the use of deadly force by police, under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today that was inspired by last year’s fatal shooting of a young, unarmed man in Sacramento.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

TRUMP CALL FOR VIOLENCE BY POLICE DRAWS CONDEMNATION

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Screenshot, the Washington Post

July 30, 2017 (San Diego) -- Law enforcement leaders across the nation are denouncing remarks made by President Donald Trump that critics say encourages police brutality. View video of Trump’s remarks.

Here is what President Trump said while speaking to law enforcement officers at Suffolk County Community College in New York:


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A SURJ OF AWARENESS

 

Story and photos by Byron Croft

Shooting sparks broader conversation on police-citizen relations in East County and San Diego,  facilitated by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

October 14, 2016 (El Cajon) -- The recent shooting of Alfred Olango in El Cajon has sparked a surge of conversation on the topic of how police handle people in some sort of mental distress, and how that handling may sometimes be different when the people police encounter happens to be with someone with skin darker than “white.” What for many, until recently, was viewed as a concern for those in larger cities, such as Chicago and New York, has now become a topic of discussion in East County, and surrounding San Diego.


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FORCIBLE ARREST OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN AT SDSU SPARKS OBJECTIONS FROM STUDENTS

 

East County News Service

September 15, 2016 (San Diego) — An arrest at San Diego State University today sparked protests after videos posted online showed SDSU police officers forcing the African-American man, who was not a student to the ground.  Videos posted on the Daily Aztec show the man standing on a balcony at the student center near where the rapper Chance was slated to perform when he was tackled from behind.(Warning, strong language). Video does not show events leading up to the incident.  The man, whose identity has not been released, shouted to the officers, “You’re breaking my arms!” and insisted he didn’t do anything wrong. He was arrested after the take-down.

Students took to social media with the hashtag #BlackUnderAttackSDSU.  But SDSU’s president Elliott Hirshman issued a statement indicating the man had jumped a construction fence and had been reported by two callers to be acting erratically.


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