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by Freedom
Friday, May. 10, 2002 at 10:22 AM
Placentia residents protest police brutality and racial profiling.
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Placentia residents and community activists have held three protests against the Placentia police department's corrupt treatment of people of color in the Orange County city. The protests began after police violently attacked, pepper sprayed and arrested residents at a community gathering last month.
Police came to break up the gathering of community activists early in the evening. Most of the people at the gathering were people of color and youth activists. The police demanded everyone leave, they pepper sprayed several youth, and one was even arrested for trying to go to his car and leave as the police told them to do. His only charge was "resisting arrest," but he was never given a charge for what he was initially supposedly being arrested for in the first place. The police report said the community gathering was a group of "gang members."
At the most recent protest, about 50 activists held signs and chanted in front of the police department and city hall for two hours, then about 20 people, including several victims of police brutality, spoke at the city council meeting about ongoing problems with the Placentia police. A Chino Hills man who was driving home from work stopped at the protest and waited five hours to speak to in support of protesters at the City Council meeting about his negative experience with Placentia police after he had been in an accident and was inaccurately found to be at fault.
The activists had a list of five demands:
1) That the Placentia police investigate fully every complaint filed against them.
2) That the Placentia police make public every six months all reports of police misconduct.
3) That police chief Russell Rice meet with victims of police misconduct to work on resolving the problem.
4) That the police end racial profiling.
5) That the city set up a civilian police review board to keep the out of control Placentia police in check.
After activists took up more than an hour of the public comment section telling about their negative experiences with Placentia police, Placentia Mayor Chris Lowe met one of the protesters' demands and had activists set up a meeting with police chief Russell Rice, who was present at the meeting.
Earlier in the evening, police chief Rice accepted a commendation from the city council for National Police Week. As he spoke, activists throughout the audience held up signs condemning police misconduct.
Activists vowed they would keep up the protests and refuse to go away until all problems between police and Placentia residents are resolved.
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by Aaron Carapella
Saturday, May. 11, 2002 at 6:45 AM
acarapella@specialtyrisk.com 800 335-0611 ext. 344
As an activist and an American Indian at that, I am fully aware of the dangers of being a citizen within the confines of the Placentia patrol zone. I have been pulled over 50 times exactly by police officers, 33 of which stops evolutionized within Placentia. I have been pulled over and heard cops telling me that my tags were expired when they weren't, just so they could get a better view of the inside of my car with their flash lights. I have been cussed at, given tickets for erroneous infractions, and pulled over due to the content of messages on the bumper stickers on my car. Once I even broke down right in front of the Placentia Police Station. With my car in park in the middle of the intersection, I proceeded to enter the station and requested for a patrolman to aid me. Instead of the help I was expecting, I was told to call a tow truck. Needless to say, I was forced to have a 70-year-old man help me push my car into a parking lot. Placentia PD also makes it a point to hide by schools in an attempt to ticket poor students traveling to or away from Fullerton Community College and Cal State Fullerton. It seems as if they are punishing students for aspiring for higher levels of acheivement than those which the cops themselves have. This is unfair. The laqsidasical, irreverent behaviour of the Placentia PD, as well as their adamant anti-minority and anti-student dynamics must end. Let us create a community review community to monitor the actions of these bastards.
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