Police

Mike Katz-Lacabe on SLPD’s use of Licence Plate Cameras – and on Stingrays

 Mike Katz-Lacabe on SLPD’s use of Licence Plate Cameras – and on Stingrays  Media, People, Police  No Responses »
Feb 102015
 
Mike Katz-Lacabe on SLPD's use of Licence Plate Cameras - and on Stingrays

My husband, Mike Katz-Lacabe, is a human rights and privacy advocate. Several years ago, he discovered that the SLPD was secretly using license plate cameras to photograph both cars and the areas around them – and were keeping those records indefinitely.  Since then, police departments have refused to share this data from citizens, but if you drive a car in the Bay Area, you can assume that the police has access to hundreds of photos of your car, you and the area around it. Mike’s activities have been covered by the news media. Here, in reverse chronological order, are stories [Continue Reading]

Notes from San Leandro City Council Meeting on Police Department

 Notes from San Leandro City Council Meeting on Police Department  Police  1 Response »
Feb 062015
 

These are Mike Katz-Lacabe’s tweets from this year’s San Leandro Police Department report on itself to the City Council.  While video of the meeting is available online, the Council no longer takes minutes of its meetings. This meeting took place on Feb. 4, 2015. There was no discussion of racial profiling. ⇒ indicates an instance in which San Leandro Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli “misspoke”. My comments are in italics. – San Leandro Police Dept. annual report to the City Council at 7pm tonight at City Hall – 835 E. 14th St. Agenda – San Leandro City Council meeting on annual [Continue Reading]

San Leandro Mayor Considers Anti-Tank Protesters to be a Threat

 San Leandro Mayor Considers Anti-Tank Protesters to be a Threat  City Hall, Civil Liberties, Police, Transparency  No Responses »
Feb 022015
 
San Leandro Mayor Considers Anti-Tank Protesters to be a Threat

Fear is a stone throw away from political repression, literally. Update: The closed session meeting was finally cancelled on the day of the vote, but the City Council chambers were filled with police officers in uniform, in order to intimidate public speakers.  Two dozen citizens still spoke out against the tank. Only one San Leandro citizen without business ties to the police department spoke in favor of it. Mayor Pauline Cutter has called for a special closed session meeting of the San Leandro City Council  tonight, to take place before the Council votes to acquire a BearCat (Ballistic Engineered Armored [Continue Reading]

Proposed Policy Places No Restrictions on BearCat Use

 Proposed Policy Places No Restrictions on BearCat Use  City Hall, Police  No Responses »
Feb 012015
 
Proposed Policy Places No Restrictions on BearCat Use

If the San Leandro Police Department gets their way, not only will they get a brand new Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck (Bearcat), but they will be able to use it in whichever way they want.  The proposed policy allows use of the vehicle for “purposes including, but not limited to, calls for service involving potentially armed subjects, Tactical Team callouts, search warrants, officer or citizen rescues, or authorized training” (emphasis added).  The policy, furthermore, allows the use of the BearCat “during non-violent demonstrations” when “there are objective facts demonstrating a risk of injury or death to police [Continue Reading]

Chief Spagnoli’s Attempt to Buy Bearcat is a Slap in the Face of the Memory of Martin Luther King

 Chief Spagnoli’s Attempt to Buy Bearcat is a Slap in the Face of the Memory of Martin Luther King  Civil Liberties, Police  1 Response »
Jan 242015
 
Chief Spagnoli's Attempt to Buy Bearcat is a Slap in the Face of the Memory of Martin Luther King

The following essay is by San Leandro citizen Tim Holmes San Leandro Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli marched with our San Leandro High School students in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To claim to honor Dr. King while simultaneously propagandizing the purchase of a Bearcat for local police use (a tank with the lipstick of “medical” slapped on it) is a slap in the face of the memory of a man for whom that tank would represent the very boot of the oppressor. To claim to walk in Dr. King’s honor while sitting at the helm of a rapidly [Continue Reading]

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