On October 22, Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom (HUFF) participated in the 19th annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and Criminalization with a demonstration in front of the Santa Cruz Police Department. This week, HUFF announced that after analyzing the citation records of SCPD Community Service Officer B. Barnett, they have found that he has disproportionately targeted homeless people and African-Americans.

According to HUFF, nearly three of every four of Barnett's citations made downtown were issued to homeless people for essentially victimless crimes, such as sitting, smoking, and skateboarding. Additionally, nearly 10% of the citations Barnett issued were to African-Americans, in a county where 1.4% of the population is black according to a recent census.

At the protest, HUFF also denounced the recent decision by the Santa Cruz City Council to expand penalties under the parks stay-away ordinance that was first adopted in May of 2013. Park Rangers now have the ability to force individuals to stay away from city parks when they have been issued citations for low-level infractions. A person can be banned from a park for a full year after receiving multiple citations. A violation of a stay-away order can result in a misdemeanor conviction, which can carry up to a year in jail and/or a $1000 fine.

Read More with Photos | October 22nd "Say No to Police Abuse" Day Protest Against Racial and Homeless Profiling | Nasty Anti-Homeless Stay-Away Laws to Get Exponentially Worse | Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom

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