News Style Blog 2

Statement on LAPD Officers Pulling over Black Drivers at Disproportionately High Rates

The following statement is from Dignity and Power Now in response to the news that the Los Angeles Police Department is pulling over Black drivers at disproportionately high rates.

“Over policing has always harmed public safety, including the reality that it can allow an already unnecessary interaction with a community member to escalate to harm and death. The LAPD, unfortunately, has a well-documented legacy of such tragedies. While some may think traffic stops are innocuous, they are often the point of contact between law enforcement and community that leads to instances of abuse and loss of life. In addition, some fail to realize the real economic consequences that lead to thousands of dollars taken out of family’s homes to pay for the consequences of unnecessary traffic stops. Black drivers in LA and Black folks in LA, in general, do not have a healthy relationship with the LAPD, and the LAPD does not have a history where they can brush this news off, or make any reductive excuses.”

Statement on L.A. County Sheriff Reinstating Deputy Fired over Domestic Abuse and Stalking Allegations

The reinstatement of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy by Sheriff Alex Villanueva who was accused of domestic violence and stalking is very disturbing and sends the wrong message to women, survivors and the community.

Sheriff Villanueva’s decision to reinstate Caren Carl Mandoyan says that bad personal behavior will be rewarded and condoned if you worked on the sheriff’s political campaign. It also sends a conflicting message to the community about the Sheriff’s plans to “clean house” and rid the department of bad apples. To make matters worse, we are even more disappointed that Sheriff Villanueva would assign Deputy Mandoyan to South Los Angeles where women he is likely to come into contact with are disproportionately affected by domestic violence and intimate partner violence.

Several studies have found that the romantic partners of police officers suffer domestic abuse at rates significantly higher than the general population. It is especially problematic when domestic abusers are literally the people that battered and abused women in our communities are supposed to call for help.

The one profession where people who have been accused of domestic violence should never be employed is the profession where you are literally trained on how to stalk people without them knowing and given lethal weapons.

Sheriff Villanueva should believe survivors of domestic abuse and not reward their abusers.

Teacher’s Strike Solidarity

Dignity & Power Now stands in proud and committed solidarity with the teachers of Los Angeles. UTLA teachers stand on the frontlines of the generational struggle that is the impetus for our organizational existence, and we know that a better L.A. is not possible without a robust system of support for the incredible work and passion of our school teachers. In an era where more money goes to locking people away than it does to offering education, the demands of teachers represent a struggle we all share. The system of mass incarceration cannot be divorced from the generational undercutting of public education, and a healthy Los Angeles is only possible when the Los Angeles Unified School District is accountable to the youth who they are in service of.

Women’s Jail Stalled

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appears to be shifting its position piece by piece on its previously held commitments to expanding what is already the largest jail system in the world.

The #JusticeLA campaign–which got off the ground about a year and a half ago and was born from the work of family members in Los Angeles County who had loved ones harmed and killed by the L.A. County jail system–has been struggling with the Board of Supervisors on their dissonant plan for almost a decade. Today saw a huge shift, as one of the parts of the plan to expand and build a new women’s jail in Lancaster–a 160-mile round trip from downtown L.A.–was halted by the Board. In fact, the plans for the jail may end up being scrappedaltogether.

Below are two articles that covered last week’s #JusticeLA action–one from The Los Angeles Times and one from the Daily News. We’re also sharing with you the Facebook livestream of the press conference.

Onward.