Victory for Reclaim the Streets at Police Review Commission

After a gruelling, epic multi-hearing saga at the Berkeley Police Review Commission, 16 months after the original incident at the February 9 Reclaim the Streets emergency demonstration for indigenous rights against the IMF/WB in Ecuador, two activists are vindicated by an overwhelming ruling in their favor. Lawsuit is ongoing.

A fairly complete description of what happened that night can be found at the Reclaim the Streets website,

http://xinet.com/rts/

Under "Past Actions" -> "Ecuador Emergency Action".

More specifically to this update, the Berkeley PRC (a "third-party"City-Council-appointed citizen body with City-funded staff of investigators and administrators) ruled late last night as follows:

Case # 1872 Ryan Salsbury, who spent four days in jail after being falsely arrested for "inciting a riot" and whose property was stolen by police, much of it never returned:

1) Excessive Force (Torrence #63) Sustained 3-0;

2) Excessive Force (R. Brown #113) Sustained 3-0;

3) Excessive Force (D. Lindenau #3) Unfounded (although he is known to have stolen the indigenous freedom banner which was destroyed, and admits to having struck demonstrators with batons);

4) Excessive Force (Unknown Officers) Not sustained (waiting for findings to know why);

5) Improper Arrest, Search, Seizure, Stop or Detention (Sgt. Nielsen, S-12) Sustained, 3-0;

6) Improper Arrest, Search, Seizure, Stop or Detention (Torrence #63) Not sustained, 3-0;

7) Improper Arrest, Search, Seizure, Stop or Detention (R. Brown #113) Not sustained, 3-0;

8) Improper Arrest, Search, Seizure, Stop or Detention (D. Lindenau #3) Unfounded, 3-0 (complainants by their own accord said he had been mistakenly named by police/staff);

9) Improper Arrest, Search, Seizure, Stop or Detention (Unkown officers) Not sustained, 3-0;

10) Improper Police Procedure: Improper Confiscation of Property (Sgt. D. Williams, S-7) Sustained, 3-0;

11) Improper Police Procedure: Improper Confiscation of Property (Unknown officers) Not sustained, 3-0;

12) Improper Police Procedure: Failure to Return Property (Unknown officers (should include Captain William Pittman, who was caught lying to cover up part of the Department's role)) Sustained, 3-0;

13) Other: Abuse of Discretion (Sgt. Nielson, S-12) Unfounded 3-0;

14) Other: Abuse of Discretion (Hemre #671) Sustained 3-0;

15) Abuse of Discretion (Sgt. D. Williams), Unfounded 3-0;

16) Other -- Abuse of Discretion (Unknown Officers? Sgt. Reece) Sustained 3-0;

SECOND COMPLAINT

Case #1873 -- Jason Meggs (me). My property was confiscated, much of it destroyed, much of what remained was not returned. This included keys, passport, money, tools, a bicycle, and a very special couch. Most importantly, when I protested I was struck repeatedly with batons, and sustained a serious and ongoing injury.

1) Excessive Force (Officer Jones #5) Sustained, 3-0;
2) Excessive Force (Officer K. Reece #6): Sustained 3-0;
3) Improper Police Procedure -- Improper Confiscation of Property (Sgt. D. Williams S-7) Sustained, 3-0;
4) Improper Police Procedure -- Failure to return property (Unknown officers) Sustained, 3-0;
5) Other -- Abuse of Discretion (Unknown Officers) Not sustained 3-0.

This was truly amazing, to have come through this gruelling process after being harmed so much by the Berkeley Police Department, and actually have a part of the City recognize that we were harmed.

For anyone who has ever dealt with the PRC, you know how hard it is to get ANYTHING sustained, even by a 2-1 vote. If you ever have an issue to bring before the PRC, particularly a serious one where injury or other hamrs have occurred, GET A COMPETENT REPRESENTATIVE, PREFERABLY AN ATTORNEY WHO IS PLANNING TO SUE ON YOUR BEHALF. The process is just too stacked against the citizen, particularly those who are unfamiliar with the process -- which is most people when they come before the PRC.

And the Berkeley PRC is considered a model of police accountability!

In case you were wondering about the results, here is how the PRC defines the rulings:

Unfounded: The alleged act did not occur.
Not sustained: The evidence fails to support the allegation, however it has not been proven false.
Exonerated: The alleged act did occur, but was lawful, justified and proper.
Sustained: The allegation did occur and the action is not justified.

The PRC records are open to the public, and you can obtain the guidebook as to their procedures, and what the allegations are. If you have a competent investigator and the Police aren't too censorial, you will also receive police reports, General Orders, even select portions of CAD (radio) transcripts. These all aid you in making your case.

Most common mistake I've seen by complainants including myself: not making sure that their witnesses are interviewed or told to be at the hearing. Second most common: not making sure that their allegations were really brought in full, usually they get simplified and then the officers argue that the allegation was never made. Third most common: not abiding by the procedures for evidence (or stopping the police when they violate them). Fourth: (whoops I forgot and it's late). Fifth: getting your hopes up that you will find justice at the PRC. You will probably "lose" but the value of the process goes beyond whether your allegations are sustained. The process goes before the City Council and City Manager, the Police Chief, and is enough of a pain in the ass that the cops have to actually think for once about the ramifications of their actions.

That's a rough order. Actually, not getting adequate representation, and not following through, probably top the list, along with failing to document injuries and other damage (which also goes for car crashes, by the way -- it is said to always get medical documentation right away, and that you shouldn't have to worry about the cost if you were wronged under law and the other party has money or insurance).

Further thoughts:

We live in an era where accountability in government is threatening to roll back all gains into the dark ages of COINTELPRO and worse. The recent victory in the Judi Bari trial shows that motivated people who care can still have some clout if they sacrifice a great deal and work extremely hard. Without those efforts much more ground would be lost, and many more would suffer than already do.

The former FBI director Louis Freeh was quoted at a fairly recent Senate Appropriations committee hearing (read, place where you put the pitch to get more money) saying that Reclaim the Streets is an example of a terrorist group. This was before the War on Terrorism had been turned into the new thrust of the military industrial complex (replacing the War on Drugs, which replaced the Cold War). I've read that even Food Not Bombs was classified as a terrorist group.

Clearly the propaganda machine continues in its predictable way, and the violence and abuse dished out deliberately by the BPD on February 9, 2001 against the nonviolent Reclaim the Streets demonstration is one arm of this. Don?t sit down, don't stop looking, don't stop thinking.