Stop LAPD Spying

Campaign to Rescind Special Order 1(1)

May 24, 2012 Media Advisory For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Hamid Khan, (562) 230-4578 Pete White, (213) 434-1594 Mariella Saba, (323) 382-1631

Coalition Rejects LAPDs So-Called Reforms to Special Order 1

The diverse Stop LAPD Spying coalition rejects the Los Angeles Police Departments (LAPD) claims of minor modifications to the Suspicious Activity Reporting program called Special Order 1 (SO 1) and continues to call for the rescission of SO 1 and its old version SO 11. The coalition believes that the LAPD needs to take this broad range of community voices and concerns into account when developing its policies. An LA Times story on May 19th, 2012 titled LAPD to alter policy on data possibly related to terrorism referred to agreed upon reforms by LAPD. However, there has been no official notification of changes to SO 1. There has been no opportunity for community members to weigh in and engage in public comment. There is also no clarity about whether enforcement based upon current policies has been halted. Even the LAPD itself has stated that there are no real changes to SO 1. In an email to securitymanagement.com, LAPD Deputy Chief Downing stated, There is no real substantive change." In a May 21st Huffington Post article titled LAPD Modifies Surveillance Program of Muslims, LAPD Commander Blake Chow maintains that, The program is as robust as it is now. Kim McGill, a member of the Stop LAPD Spying coalition and Organizer of the Youth Justice Coalition, said, LAPD continues to ignore our voices and the impact of their policies on youth, downtown residents, homeless and poor folks, lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people, undocumented immigrants, community-based organizations and others in Los Angeles. On April 9th, 2012, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, in partnership with the National Lawyers Guild, filed a Request for Information under the California Public Records Act but has not received complete documents from the LAPD in order to fully understand the magnitude of SO 1. To claim victory based upon partial information and before a real change occurs is not only nave but dangerous: it creates an illusion of safety which renders Angelenos vulnerable and suspect under this program. The Stop LAPD Spying coalition rejects any LAPD initiatives that make us all suspects in the eyes of the state. Both Special Orders 1 and 11 infringe on privacy and civil liberties, legitimize spying by local law enforcement, and promote further racial profiling of Angelenos. These Suspicious Activity Reports and Special Orders are a way for the LAPD to create a problem, real or not, and then find their solution to it. It justifies their spying, abuse and violence, said Stop LAPD Spying coalition member Raul Anorve, a long term resident of Los Angeles, and Founder and former Executive Director of Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA). The Stop LAPD Spying coalition continues to build community power and hold LAPD accountable. The coalition will continue to demand answers and expose LAPDs surveillance and spying apparatus until SO 1 and SO 11 are fully rescinded.
### Visit www.stoplapdspying.org for more information. Member organizations participating include Dream Team LA, LA Community Action Network, Youth Justice Coalition, Interfaith Communities United in Justice and Peace, Labor Community Strategy Center, Enlace, Southern California Immigration Coalition, National Lawyers Guild, IDEPSCA, Sin Fronteras, Desis Rising Up and Moving, Gender Justice LA, Advocates for Black Strategic Alternatives, Occupy the Hood LA, Occidental College - Urban and Environmental Policy Institute