In the aftermath of the 2008 murder of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, NY, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a comprehensive investigation into the operations of the Suffolk County Police Department. The DOJ spent several years on this investigation of discriminatory policing against Latinos. This month they tentatively agreed to a settlement with the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), which calls for SCPD to implement new and enhanced policies and procedures to ensure nondiscrimination in the provision of police services to Latino communities in Suffolk County.
Key DOJ findings include:
◾ Inconsistent tracking and reporting of hate crimes
◾ Failure to instruct officers adequately to understand what hate crimes are
◾ Police policy and instructional documents containing “vague and inconsistent” guidance on hate crimes; for example, not making clear that youth could be charged with hate crimes
◾ Failure to recognize the severity of criminal conduct by brushing off attacks as “just kids being kids”
DOJ recommendations included the following:
Blog
December 19, 2013 - 2:12pm
The packed gymnasium erupted on Tuesday night with applause as the Oakland High School varsity boys basketball team ran onto the court for the first home game of the season. But their usual blue and white Wildcat jerseys were replaced by cerulean T-shirts with the message “NO H8” printed on the front, and a single name printed on the back, “Sasha.”
That name refers to Sasha Fleischman, a high school senior at nearby Maybeck High School in Berkeley, CA, who was badly burned after being set on fire while sleeping on a city bus. Sasha, who identifies as agender, was wearing a skirt at the time of the attack, leading police to investigate the incident as a hate crime. A student from Oakland High School has been apprehended and charged with assault with a hate crime enhancement.
December 17, 2013 - 5:56pm
The air in Leith, ND is an uneasy mix of relief and anxiety, as citizens nervously wait for the trial of the white supremacists who were trying to take over their town.
Craig Cobb and Kynan Dutton are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 13, after being arrested in November for threatening Leith residents with guns during an “armed patrol,” according to a report by the Bismarck Tribune. The felony charges of terrorizing could land the duo in prison for up to 35 years.
December 13, 2013 - 4:26pm
Originally published in One Voice, the official blog of the National PTA.
By Becki Cohn-Vargas, Not In Our School Director
You could hardly blame me for thinking of the past two years as proof that humanity is doomed and deserves it. That’s what I told myself as I thought back on some of the recent horrors: schoolchildren massacred in Newtown, Connecticut. Movie watchers mowed down in Aurora, Colorado. Sikh worshipers murdered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Gang rapes in broad daylight. Not to mention that after the bombings in Boston, people are afraid to go out to cheer for a marathon. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.