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DESCRIPTION:FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION\n  \nNEWS RELEASE \n\nDATE:    January 6, 2011    
     \n\nFROM        \nSean Dodd, Co-Coordinator, Napa Greens 
 (sean.michael.dodd@gmail.com / 707 812 8888)\n\nSUBJECT        \nNapa 
 Greens Call for A Police-Review Commission (Public Event: January 24, 
 2011)\n\nTO        \nMedia Outlets in Napa, the North Bay, and the SF Bay 
 Area\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nNAPA, 
 CALIFORNIA --- Following two fatal shootings by Napa law enforcement in 
 2010 --- the first having gone largely unreported, and the second now being 
 investigated by the Sheriff's Office --- the Napa County Green Party is 
 calling for the establishment of a permanent, citizen-run Police Review 
 Commission similar to those already in place in other Bay Area cities like 
 Berkeley and San José.   \n\nIn an effort to start an informed community 
 dialogue about the benefits of such a commission, the Napa Greens will be 
 hosting a Community Forum at Napa Main Library on Monday, January 24, at 
 6:30 PM.  The forum will feature a moderated discussion with a panel of 
 expert guest speakers, followed by an audience Q&A session.   \n\nNapa 
 Greens were immediately drawn to this issue for its resonance with five of 
 their 10 Key Values; social justice, diversity, grassroots democracy, 
 decentralization, and local/global responsibility.  As Napa Greens 
 Co-coordinator Sean Dodd explains: "The police protect and serve us, and 
 they deserve our trust and respect.  But when the guardians of public 
 safety turn lethal force upon the very citizens they are sworn to protect, 
 we are forced to confront an uncomfortable question: 'Who guards the 
 guardians?'  In a free and democratic society, the guardians cannot be left 
 to guard themselves."   \n\nDodd points out that a citizen-run 
 Police-Review Commission does more than put the values of a single party 
 into action.  "Grassroots democracy, decentralization, and local 
 responsibility are not just Green values; they are basic principles of 
 American self-government.  'Of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people' has little meaning if the townspeople cannot hold their local 
 police to account, or if the facts of an investigation are kept hidden from 
 public view." \n\nSuccessful police-review commissions are already in place 
 across the state and throughout the nation.  Berkeley's commission, 
 appointed by the city council, has been in operation since 1973, and San 
 José has gone an extra step in depoliticizing its police-review functions 
 through the creation, in 1996, of a new city department, the Independent 
 Police Auditor, headed up by a retired judge, with a staff of 22 employees. 
   \n\nAs well as investigating excessive and lethal uses of force, such 
 commissions also review civil rights complaints ranging from ethnic and 
 racial profiling to unwarranted stops and detentions, crowd-control abuses, 
 and improper searches and seizures.  Commissions also serve a key 
 community-relations function, creating open dialogue between city 
 government, the police, and underrepresented communities, while also 
 advising city and police decisionmakers on policy recommendations and 
 quality-improvement issues. \n\n"Maintaining respect for diversity is also 
 a major reason we are behind this issue" says Dodd, explaining that while a 
 disproportionate number of police incidents involve African-Americans, 
 Latinos, and Asian-Americans, the diversity dimension has nuances that go 
 well beyond race and ethnicity.  "In Napa, the latest shooting involved a 
 man allegedly experiencing a suicidal mental-health crisis.  Mental health 
 --- like race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation --- is an 
 identifying trait for millions of Americans.  As such, the police response 
 to persons with mental-health symptoms or diagnoses is undoubtedly a 
 diversity issue." \n\nDodd goes on to say that young people, too, are often 
 profiled and sometimes harassed by police, and he worries about the 
 preemptive use of force to infringe civil liberties.  "In the most recent 
 Napa shooting, there are concerns that the police may have been primed to 
 expect a gunfight, based on hearsay information from unnamed 911 callers 
 that Mr. Poccia kept guns in the house.  But the right to keep and bear 
 arms is a constitutional right that millions of law-abiding American choose 
 to exercise freely.  If exercising our civil rights puts people at risk of 
 police profiling and violence, that could have a chilling effect on our 
 liberties."  \n\nThe Napa Greens acknowledge that the January 24th 
 Community Forum marks just the beginning of a more comprehensive process of 
 public engagement and debate.  "We Greens have a long tradition of 
 consensus-building," says Dodd, "and we place an emphasis on opening up the 
 discussion to a wide diversity of opinions, always in the hope of learning, 
 growing, and reaching common ground."   \n\nFor more information about the 
 January 24 Community Forum, the public is invited to send email inquiries 
 to napagreens@aol.com.\n\n// END OF NEWS RELEASE 
 //\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n\nPUBLIC 
 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT:\n\nCOMMUNITY FORUM:  Does Napa Need A Police-Review 
 Commission?\n\nA moderated expert-panel discussion with audience Q&A. 
 \n\nFollowing recent police shootings, the public is invited to participate 
 in a moderated expert-panel discussion about the benefits of establishing a 
 citizens' Police Review Commission.  FREE.  Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 6:30 - 8:00 
 PM, Napa Main Library, Community Meeting Room, 580 Coombs Street, Napa. 
 FREE. Open to the public. Hosted by Napa County Green Party.  Info:  
 napagreens@aol.com     \n\n\nMEDIA INFORMATION: \n\nReporters are welcome.  
 Still photos of the presenters and panelists are acceptable, so long as the 
 photographing is polite and unobtrusive.  But no audience photographs, 
 please, and no video footage or camera crews. \n\nThe media spokesperson 
 for this event is Sean Dodd, and he can be contacted at 707 812 8888 or 
 sean.michael.dodd@gmail.com.  Sean's personal phone and email are for media 
 inquiries only; public inquiries should be directed to Napa Greens' email:  
 napagreens@aol.com.  Thank you.\n\n// END OF MEMORANDUM // \n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/01/06/18668442.php
SUMMARY:Napa Greens Call for A Police-Review Commission (Public Event: January 24, 2011)
LOCATION:Napa, Ca\n\nNapa Library\n580 Coombs Street
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/01/06/18668442.php
DTSTART:20110125T023000Z
DTEND:20110125T043000Z
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