These are three of the four undercover officers which a parent recognized at the last San Leandro School Board meetings. Parents and children rallied against a program that will put police officers in the classroom to try to gain the trust of students so that they will snitch on one another. There were about forty parents and children protesting and speaking out against this program, and at least nine San Leandro Police officers, both in uniform and out, assigned to monitor them.
As the undercover police officers were not recognized until after the rally, it’s possible that some of them mixed with parents and kids pretending to be one of us. They may have tried to get information out of us, or even to suggest the commission of disruptive actions. If you were at the rally and recognize any of these three officers, or if you have photos of the rally or the school board meeting, please e-mail me.
This man, seated in the center of the last row, is one of the SLPD undercover officers.
SLPD Sargent Troy Young was seated at the far right on the last row. He turned his face around when he saw this camera, but was recognized by one of the parents anyway. Here is a photo of him before he grew his beard and went undercover.
The SLPD had two SUVs parked across the street with officers monitoring the rally. One was marked and had police in uniform, the other one was this one.
Note: I thought carefully before publishing these photos, given that I did not want to endanger the undercover police officers. I decided to publish them, however, because
1) I think there is a real and great danger to our civil liberties when police feel free to infiltrate peaceful political rallies. I can’t think of any legitimate reason why the SLPD wold put undercover officers (not just officer in plain clothing, but officers who are officially working undercover) to monitor us. I’ve written to Mayor Pauline Cutter asking for explanations and received no answer.
and
2) If SLPD undercover police officers can so easily and readily be spotted by a parent, they don’t stand a chance of not being recognized by actual criminals. By exposing them here and letting them know their cover was so easily blown, I may be saving their lives.