Last Night DIY Santa Cruz Parades for Eighth Year

Wow. Thanks Bradley! You showed how dangerous this DIY Parade is. Proves the SCPD's point that they must be infiltrated and surveilled ala NYPD tactics. Great work.

Thanks Bradley for helping illustrate the point that the "First Amendment is our Permit!"

Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD) Records Supervisor Jacqueline Drechsler provided me a budget (which had no category for intelligence or informant operations). See that above. Ms. Drechsler denied me a record with SCPD's informant policy which her supervisor had previously supplied to local activist-journalist Robert Norse. See the Indybay link below and look for Section 608:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/05/19/18713791.php?show_comments=1

"608.5 The potential payment of large sums of money to any confidential informant must be done in a manner respecting public opinion and scrutiny."

If this is SCPD's policy then why won't they make their informant policy public and why won't they allow the community to know how much money the SCPD is spending on informants?

From: Jacqueline Drechsler
Subject: RE: CPRA request for budgets and policies for SCPD use of informants
Date: January 2, 2013 3:21:10 PM PST
To: John Colby
Cc: 'Caio Arellano' (CArellano [at] abc-law.com) , Jacqueline Drechsler

Mr. Colby:
 
Attached are the SCPD’s budget documents from 2011 as you requested.
 
As for records of SCPD policy on the use of informants, I have identified one policy contained the Police Department’s Policy Manual that is responsive to your request; however, the policy is exempt from disclosure as a record of security procedures under Gov Code 6254(f). Accordingly, the SCPD will not be releasing that policy.
 
Thank you,
 
Jacqui Drechsler
SCPD Records Supervisor
Jdrechsler [at] cityofsantacruz.com