top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Protesters Demand Faster Response from SCPD Regarding Records Requests

by Alex Darocy (alex [at] alexdarocy.com)
Following a year of complaints about SCPD public safety Officer Barnett, who is assigned to patrol downtown Santa Cruz, the organization Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom (HUFF) has begun an inquiry with the Santa Cruz Police Department to study the citations Barnett has issued. According to HUFF, Barnett has been, "accused by numerous community members of anti-homeless and racist harassment."
santa-cruz-police-department-protest-september-17-2014-1.jpg
Through a series of California Public Record Act requests, HUFF has obtained a cache of incident reports distilled from citations officer Barnett has written downtown. The group reports, however, that SCPD has required them to inspect the original physical copies of the citations at the station in person if they wish to gather any information concerning the race or ethnicity of the individuals targeted for enforcement, and that those citations are not ready to be viewed yet.

To raise more awareness about this issue, and to pressure the Santa Cruz Police Department to release the information about Barnett's law enforcement practices more promptly, HUFF held a demonstration outside of the police station on September 17.

The station, located on Center Street, is a hub of activity with officers constantly arriving and departing in patrol vehicles. Demonstrators with HUFF shouted out to communicate to the SCPD officers, and they physically oriented their protests signs so that officers could read them.

HUFF offered those passing by the demonstration free coffee and chocolate brownies on a table, which also displayed protest signs that read, "No Ferguson in Santa Cruz" and "Decriminalize Poverty."

Many cars driving by honked in support of the demonstrators and gave them thumbs up sign. Others jeered, and some flipped the group the "birdie."

Robert Norse, the founder of HUFF, initiated a "Too many cops in Santa Cruz" chant, and a man in a car yelled out in response, "Yes, I know!"

Another demonstrator chanted repeatedly, "Go after the real criminals. not after the homeless. The police must protect and serve."


Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com/
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
§
by Alex Darocy
homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-santa-cruz-september-17-2014-3.jpg
§Robert Norse
by Alex Darocy
robert-norse-homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-september-17-2014-4.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-santa-cruz-september-17-2014-5.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
santa-cruz-police-department-protest-september-17-2014-6.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-santa-cruz-september-17-2014-7.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-santa-cruz-september-17-2014-8.jpg
§Free Coffee - even if you have a backpack
by Alex Darocy
homeless-united-for-friendship-and-freedom-santa-cruz-september-17-2014-10.jpg
This sign refers to complaints HUFF has received concerning certain local coffee shops that have refused to serve customers carrying homeless survival gear and/or large backpacks.
§Entrance to the SCPD lobby
by Alex Darocy
santa-cruz-police-department-station-center-street-11.jpg
homeless-property-santa-cruz-police-department-12.jpg
Instructions for Homeless people on how to retrieve seized property are located on the front door of the police department's lobby.
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Pat Colby
Thanks for the great coverage!
by John Colby (john.roncohen.colby [at] gmail.com)
I am putting out an ALERT for all homeless people in the City of Santa Cruz. Today I accompanied HUFF members to tally racial data for Santa Cruz Police Department's CSO Barnett in order to determine if he is guilty of racial profiling.

While the jury is still out on the racial profiling question, it's obvious CSO Barnett has almost completely focused on citing homeless people. It appears over 90% of CSO Barnett's citations were to homeless people.

Question: does CSO Barnett just hate homeless people or is he following the orders of his superiors?

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/08/29/18760891.php

Another question: my sister Pat Colby documented CSO Barnett stalking Kate Wenzell last February when "copwatching" for her — he's clearly a misogynist — does CSO Barnett target women too?

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/02/21/18751387.php
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network