#5: Still Not Lovin’ the Police

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Police, Copwatch, Gezi Park interview, review of “To the Indomitable Hearts”

Listen to the Episode — 61 min

Summary

In this episode, the Ex-Worker takes a crack at the police; we speak with Kristian Williams, the author of Our Enemies in Blue, and members of East Atlanta Copwatch. Join us for news from around the world and a review of To the Indomitable Hearts: The Prison Letters of Luciano 'Tortuga' Pitronello. Also, comrades from Turkey and from Atlanta give us the digs on their respective anti-police riots! {July 10, 2013}

Notes and Links

  • The documentary “Inside Istanbul’s Taksim Square Protesters Remain Despite Police Attacks” with the complete Carşi interview heard on this episode is available online for free at globaluprisings.org. Global Uprisings is an independent news site and video series dedicated to showing responses to the economic crisis from around the world; visit their website for videos about the season of rebellion in Egypt, self-organization in Greece, strikes in the UK and Spain, and much more.

  • East Atlanta Copwatch

  • “The Abyss Does Not Stop Us” and “When the Fire of Anarchy Nourishes Our Hearts,”, excerpts from “To the Indomitable Hearts: The Prison Letters of Luciano ‘Tortuga’ Pitronello”.

  • Kristian Williams’ Top 5 Anti-Police Moments of the Last 10 Years: (1) How Oakland’s anti-police organizing after the shooting of Oscar Grant was broadly accessible but also militant; (2) How Rose City activists’ challenge of the city’s police union, in response to the shooting of Aaron Campbell, has largely, permanently discredited the police; (3) NYC neighborhoods’ opposition to Stop-And-Frisk [more info below]; (4) RNC 8 defense built political alliances between anarchists, radicals and liberals and exposed the foul conduct of police during anti-RNC mass demonstrations; and (5) Individuals practicing disengagement from cops pullin’ that community policingGood job, everyone!

  • The Stop-and-Frisk policy of the New York Police Department is a constant tension between NYPD patrol officers and the people of color who live in NYC neighborhoods. “In the first 178 days of 2013, the city averaged less than a murder a day, the first time the police can recall that happening for any sustained period. The latest n bers were recorded through Thursday. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly attributed much of the drop to a new anti-gang strategy meant to suppress retaliatory violence among neighborhood gangs. Police officials also credited their efforts at identifying and monitoring abusive husbands whose behavior seemed poised to turn lethal. In the first three months of 2012, police records indicate, there were 203,500 stops. But in the first three months of this year, the police recorded fewer than 100,000 stops.” June 26, 2013, nytimes

  • “Mayor Michael Bloomberg [recently] said that police “disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little” as compared to murder suspects’ descriptions, sparking criticism from activists and some politicians in a city that has been immersed in a debate about law enforcement and discrimination.” June 28, 2013, usatoday

  • “At a rate of every minute every day, the New York Police Department stops a person, questions them, asks for identification, and frisks them, sometimes at gunpoint, sometimes slapped against a wall. The number one reason for the stop, according to NYPD statistics, is that the person made a “furtive” look. The number two reason is “other.” Most of the time that person is black or Latino and most of the time they are living in the city’s poorest communities… . A very small percentage of these “stop and frisks” result in arrest or the seizure of any kind of contraband. Since 2002, the number of stop and frisks has increased from 149, 000 to approaching 700,000 in 2011. The NYPD claims that “stop and frisk” is an effective policing strategy but its own statistics paint a different picture. Opponents see it as an example of the New Jim Crow and are organizing cop watches and civil disobedience actions to abolish the practice.”

  • Stop and Frisk Photos

  • Addresses for prisoners with upcoming birthdays:

    Gerardo Hernandez (July 4)
    #58739–004
    U.S.P. Victorville
    P.O. Box 5300
    Adelanto, CA 92301

    Gary Tyler (July 10)
    #84156 ASH–4
    Louisiana State Penitentiary
    Angola, Louisiana 70712

    Patreese Johnson (July 18th)
    #07-G–0635
    Beacon Correctional Facility
    50 Camp Beacon Rd
    P.O. Box 780
    Beacon, New York 12508–0780

  • Music for the Ex-Worker provided by Underground Reverie.