Working together to address the increase in random acts of violence against homeless individuals in our community. We hope as a community we can put an end to this appalling and frightening trend.
With 25,000 hits in 7 months, this blog has clearly become a useful resource.
However, I have other interests of importance such as my blog on Racism on Spokane and my blog on U.S. attempts at destabilizing Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
I would like to invite readers of this blog to help me and those seeking information on the Spokane Police and other issues related to Spokane-area law enforcement.
1) If you conduct a search on a relevant topic, please send me the link or links. Even the series of words you used in a Google search or the link to that search is useful.
2) If you have an experience or know of someone who has been a victim of abuse, disrespect, or other mistreatment by the police, jails, courts or other “public safety” personnel in the area, please send my the information.
3) If you have written something you would like posted here, please send it to me.
It is helpful if I have a way to reach you but it is not necessary. With an email address at least I can write you back for clarification. I will not publish or use your e-mail, name or personal information unless you request it and give your permission.
Information on organizations such as InfraGard and other Soviet-style secret organizations used to recruit citizens to inform and report to the FBI and other law enforcement organizations.
Not a topic that will make you very popular among those you know in Spokane, especially if they are white.
Twice today it was suggested to me by whites I know that if people (a category which clearly was intended to include me) are unhappy with the situation of race in Spokane or the white dominance of Spokane or the exclusion of non-whites in Spokane, then I or anyone else with similar concerns can move to Seattle or anywhere else that we chose and where – it was implied – we will see more people of color on a routine basis.
Other interesting reactions to the topic of “racism in Spokane” can be seen in the anonymous postings on the blogs of the Spokesman-Review and even in the Spokesman’s publication/blog for area high school students.
Instead of leaving Spokane, I decided to begin this blog – Spokane Racism.
We will explore not only the perception and reality of racism in Spokane but also the reaction to the suggestion that Spokane is racist as well as the reaction to the evidence that Spokane is racist.
We will look at Spokane’s beginnings through the violent and unlawful taking of the lands of the native peoples and nations that lived, and fished, and roamed, and played, and celebrated, and raised families on this land and along this river.
In addition, we will look at the use and abuse of language and imagery of race, as well as the enshrinement of the areas racist past.
We will look at the history of explicitly racist organizations in the Spokane area from the Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations and Washington State Militia to Phinneas Brotherhood and White Order of Thule.
And we will look at the realities of community and organizational exclusion in Spokane from our media and our local governments to our police forces, our schools, and our cultural life.
A valorarte el acierto o desatino?
Sin ver al semi-dios que te condena?
Sin reprobar el peso de tu yugo?
Reabriendo el tribunal del santo oficio?
The injustices imposed at the individual, family and community level upon tens of millions of people in the United States through the politics, laws, policies, philosophies, religion, and police state of the ruling class, combined with the silent complicity and cowardice of the U.S. populace, are merely a reflection of the injustices which the United States government imposes in our names on the peoples of the world by the tens of hundreds of millions. Yet patience is running short and the peoples of the world are awakening, no longer willing to remain silent, even if those in the U.S. remain asleep. Cuba has survived the coercion of the U.S. for 50 years and this long international witch hunt — a modern day inquisition — and shown the world the meaning of the words “resistance” and “solidarity”. Long live the global struggle against oppression, injustice, and imperialism!
U.S. Imperialist Hands Off Cuba!
Let’s see just how anxious the Spokane Police Department is to have its citizens file a complaint against an officer.
Complaints are handled on several different levels. The complaint can be handled in three ways. You can speak with the Officer’s Sergeant, the Shift Commander, or Internal Affairs. The complaint can be taken verbally or in writing. Call 477-5980 and choose option one for Spokane Police, then choose the option for front desk if you would like to speak with the shift commander or Sergeant. Choose Internal Affairs option if you would like to speak to Internal Affairs.
The information provided is as unclear and deceptive as it has always been. Let’s start with the fact that a 7 year old could have written the paragraph. Complaints are handled “on several different levels” and “in three ways” and can be “taken verbally and in writing”. If that is not convoluted and vague enough, only a phone number is provide. No address is provided to file a written complaint. No information is provided on where to obtain a complaint form and, in this day and age of electronic media, no downloadable or printable complaint form is provided.
This is has long been the modus operandi of the Spokane Police Department in regards to citizen complaints. First, discourage complaints by making it virtually impossible to complain. Second, make it very difficult to obtain any information on making a complaint without having contact first with police personnel. Third, make the existence of a complaint form next to impossible to confirm and even harder to obtain.
Without independent civilian oversight of the Spokane Police Department, the people of Spokane will continue to be subjected to the guffaws of the Spokane Police Guild echoing through the Public Safety Building. It will continue to be the most vulnerable and the least represented who will be the most victimized. And that reality will continue to be the legacy of Spokane — a justice system which fails to hold the police to a standard of accountability and oversight which assures our safety and freedom.
The goal of this blog, Spokane Police Abuses: Past to Present, is to provide facts and insight, as well as commentary and links to related issues on a global scale. In fulfilling that goal, I believe this site has been successful in its 5 months of existence. Nearly 15,000 people have visited the site to date. The items that people are searching for (visible through WordPress statistics feature) are fascinating and indicate widespread interest in the issues of police abuse of powers particularly by Spokane area law enforcement, as well as the closely related issues of fascism at home and military intervention abroad.
Besides information on police abuses, police practices, community oversight of police, etc., I am also very interested in ideas on how to better organize the sight, how to more effectively use the categories, links, and other sidebar features.
Basically all feedback, especially critical feedback, is appreciated.
I do not promise to respond to all e-mails. E-mails from fascists, militarists, death squad members, human rights abusers, racists, and police apologists will not be read and will simply be deleted.
I will respond to some e-mails on a selective basis.
Dennis Kucinich is the only democrat running for President who has voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and against funding its continuation. He has proposed a bold, new policy to re-establish America’s place in the world. Diplomacy and a return to statesmanship as the path to strong international leadership. A new policy of investing in our communities and our infrastructure. A new policy of Strength through Peace.
Health care in the US is too expensive and leaves 46 million Americans without insurance and millions more underinsured. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President with a plan for a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system.
For most American families, the loss of a job or one serious illness spells catastrophe. Stagnant wages, expensive health care and rising education costs are vital issues being ignored by the Congress and White House. A champion of working families, Dennis Kucinich will lead America into expanding opportunities, universal health care, restore our schools and strengthen Social Security and protections for private pensions.
A corrupt campaign finance system, coupled with vulnerable electronic voting have eroded America’s confidence in our elections. The USA Patriot Act and secret strategy meetings to set policy tear into the very concept of We the People. As President, Dennis will protect individual liberty and privacy and restore balance and fairness in America’s electoral system.
As the world population soars towards eight billion, critical issues of survival face all of us. Living on a planet of finite resources means that human life can not be sustained indefinitely without careful thought and compassion coupled with political courage.
Half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day. In 2003, 10.6 million children died before they reached the age of five. Without hope and stricken by the AIDS pandemic, religious strife and no opportunity for an education; desperate poverty is a fact of everyday life for the majority of the world’s people. It manifests itself in war, terror and genocide over scarce resources, hopelessness and intolerance. Dennis Kucinich will make it a national priority to fight poverty worldwide. He understands that the path to a safe, strong America is through peace, tolerance and committing our nation to eradicating the root causes of global poverty.
As President, Dennis Kucinich will end America’s participation in NAFTA and the WTO. Huge, multi-national corporations ship American jobs overseas, turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and hide behind their lobbyists in Washington. Read more about Dennis’ plan to instill ethics, accountability and fairness in global trade and big business.
Urgent Call: Police Advisory Committee Meeting — 5:30 PM Thurs, Nov 15, 2007, West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt St.
The PAC has met largely unseen and unknown monthly for nearly 25 years. During that period the SPD has suffered many embarrassments, created many scandals, killed many citizens, and been involved in much corruption. Yet, the Committee, with what are termed “representatives” of various Spokane communities, as had virtually nothing to say publicly. When its members have had things to say–such as when long-time PAC president Rick Mendoza stated at the January 30, 2007 ACLU-sponsored forum at Gonzaga University Law School that the SPD is the “best police department” in the United States–they have often failed to reflect a real understanding of community concerns with regard to the Spokane Police Department.
No tengas miedo, chavalito. Son cobardes quienes se esconden detrás de escudos, bastones, ametralladoras, nubes, y velocidades súper-sonicas. Invaden, ocupan, destruyen, masacran y nunca se van. Son imperialistas, matadores, cabrones, y no se van. Torturan, violan, difaman, y no se van.
Párate firme y dále duro, igual como los muchachos palestinos con sus piedras contra los tanques israelíes. Diles que no les tiene miedo. Son matamujeres, mataniños, matapobres. Allá se llaman Pérez y Gutiérrez. Aquí se llaman Torok y Olsen. Anda, juega, y ponte trucha, mi hijo, porque “the man” tiene un plan y no es nada bueno.
The following note is found at the top of the agenda for the August 2007 Spokane Human Rights Commission Meeting. Despite the fact that the planned presentations by Mayor Hession and Chief Kirkpatrick to the Spokane Human Rights Commission have been postponed for the second time (and this time apparently indefinitely), it is important that concerned Spokane citizens continue to attend these meetings. The Spokane Human Rights Commission has fallen into disuse and disorganization over the last few years. As a result it is essentially a non-player in the debate and discussion on the issues affecting Spokane’s minority communities and vulnerable populations. This benefits no one in community other than those who do or would violate human rights.
Please Note: Due to public input recieved at the July 2007 HRC Meeting regarding the events of July 4th in Riverfront Park and the Spokane Police Department and the desire for public discussion on that issue in the near future, the conversation with Mayor Hession and Chief Kirkpatrick regarding the HRC Ordinance and role of the HRC in the City of Spoakne has been postponed. Once the public discussion on the July 4th events has taken place (a public forum is being organized for September) we will reschedule the Mayor and Chief Kirkpatrick to attend a meeting for this discussion.
The Peace and Justice Action League has announced a protest at the office of Spokane psychologists Mitchell and Jessen, whose reverse-engineering of SERE-JPRA practices on behalf of CIA and U.S. military torture teams has been disclosed by Salon Magazine; Vanity Fair; the Spokesman Review; and the KYRS Programmers Collective Wiki site.
The protest will occur at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 23, 2007 at the corner of Washington and Riverside (map). The psychologists’ office is on the second floor of the American Legion Building in downtown Spokane.
Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress.
While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per cent – such as the one containing his latest warnings – are initiated by the comptroller general himself.
Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then I’ll begin.
Right now, I imagine there are hundreds of soldiers rushing here to kill me because someone does not want us to talk.
They are afraid that I am going to say the things that are not supposed to be said. They are afraid that I am going to say the truth. The truth is that there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? If you look about, you witness cruelty, injustice and despotism. But what do you do about it? What can you do?
You are but a single individual. How can you possibly make any difference? Individuals have no power in this modern world.
That is what you’ve been taught because that is what they need you to believe. But it is not true. This is why they are afraid and the reason that I am here; to remind you that it is individuals who always hold the power. The real power. Individuals like me. And individuals like you.
I have come to offer you a deal. If you accept, I will give you a different world. A world without curfews, without soldiers and surveillance systems. A world that is not run by other men, but that is run by you. I am offering you a second chance.
Four hundred years ago, a great citizen made a most significant contribution to our common culture. It was a contribution forged in secrecy and stealth although it is best remembered in noise and bright light.
To commemorate that glorious night at precisely the stroke of midnight, the edifice of their world will erupt with enough sound and fury to shake the earth. All I ask is that you join me at the gates to watch as the past is erased, the pathway cleared so that together we can start toward a new day.
But, you ask, who am I to make such promises? A fair question but hardly necessary, as you know me already. To know me any more, you need only look to a mirror.
The “story” above graces the top half of the frontpage on the hardcopy edition of the Idaho Observer for March 14, 2007 and is wrapped around the “V” mask. The concept, inspired by Meria Heller, was taken from the extraordinary film ‘V for Vendetta‘ by the Wachowski brothers. It strikes to the heart of who we are and why we are allowing ourselves to be poisoned and controlled by the petty minions of the horrible men and women who perpetuate global war and human misery for profit. This unjust era will come to an end. The only question is if it will happen on our schedule or “theirs.” Take the time to see the film. Put yourself in it. If so inspired, obtain the accoutrements and become a V.