From: WWW Consultation Date: Sat, 18 Nov 95 12:51:12 -0800 Subject: Police Abuse List . Including homophobia. ----------------------- /* Written 8:43 PM Nov 4, 1995 by bwitanek in igc:njspeakout /* ---------- "POL-ABUSE Has Been Implemented!" ---------- */ Posted: Bob Witanek 11/4/95 POL-ABUSE@IGC.APC.ORG HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. POL-ABUSE@IGC.APC.ORG has implemented. Everybody who has about had enough of police abuse, you are invited to subscribe. The following is some information about the service: List Name: POL-ABUSE@IGC.APC.ORG Owner / Moderator: Bob Witanek To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.orgTo unsubscribe, send this message: unsubscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo@igc.apc.org Associated IGC Conference: justice.polabuse ============================== PURPOSE: 1. To document abuse by prosecutors, judges (as in Albert Sabo), police, federal police agencies and jail and prison guards throughout the United States and its colonies and territories. Types of police abuse to be documented include: A. Police brutality and killings B. Prosecutorial misconduct including perjury, fabrication of evidence, planting of evidence, suppression of evidence, intimidation of witnesses or other illegal means of denying a fair trial to defendants C. Police corruption including illegal acts, involvement in illegal gun and drug operations, abuse of power for personal gain and other illegal acts D. Organized and random racism, sexism and homophobia within police departments including but not limited to the existence of white supremacist organizations within police organizations, patterns of racist abuse of communities and racist attacks against Black and Latino fellow officers E. Active campaigning against progressive organizing for death row prisoners and political prisoners, use of the political arena and media to repress and suppress information, or to distort public opinion toward their own racist oppressive interests F. Engaging in repressive illegal measures targeting community and political organizations including illegal wire taps and other forms of surveillance, intimidation of activists, or any other means of repressing legitimate political and community organizing G. Other means of abuse of power by police 2. To provide a means for dialogue among those interested in taking action to campaign against or halt police abuse, to demand justice for the victims of police abuse, and to discuss alternatives to what is often seen as an occupying force in our communities, including possibilities of civilian review board, other civilian oversight, police watchdog groups and even community self policing and self defense projects; 3. To formulate, announce and publicize actions by those interested in opposing police abuse; 4. To promote unity among victims of police abuse, their supporters and others interested in justice and halting such abuses; - and - 5. To analyze what is the role of police departments in our communities, whose interests are being served by their operations, and at what cost to tax payers and to citizens who often end up at the wrong end of the billy, so to speak. ============================== STATEMENT: >From the antics of Mark Fuhrman, to the massive prosecutorial misconduct by Philadelphia Police, to the Mollen Commission in New York, everyday in the papers we learn of more and more examples of police abuse of power. Media commentators tend to write off such patterns of massive police abuse as random acts committed by "rogue police officers." But more and more, a pattern is emerging indicating that police abuse is rampant and systemic throughout much of the policing system of this nation. Meanwhile, victims of police abuse and their families are often isolated in their efforts to seek justice. They end up running up massive legal expenses, face harassment, are ridiculed by reporters and often shunned by their fellow citizens. Unity among victims of police abuse and their supporters, while it occurs, is rare. The internet provides us with a tool to document the pervasiveness of police abuse throughout this nation. It has the potential to link victims of such abuse with others who have also suffered similar abuses. It can give organizations interested in working to fight police abuse a means to analyze the situation and synthesize effective strategies and tactics. Through this list, we hope to begin to realize this potential. This list makes no claim to be the only internet initiative on this issue. In fact, a web site with similar goals to this list has been set up. We aim to work with the providers of that site to coordinate our efforts. As other such resources become known, information about them will be published here. When dealing with an issue like police abuse, we can easily be overwhelmed by the immense power of the police and be consumed by powerlessness. This is especially true if we become targets for police harassment. However, through unity, power of police forces, and the justice system which is all too often a rubber stamp for their unchecked power, can be balanced by the power of the people organized and united. The first step toward unity is to create a dialogue that can identify the problem and begin to offer solutions to it. That is what we hope to accomplish with pol-abuse@igc.apc.org . ============================== DISCLAIMER: If you make a submission to this list, you bear 100% legal responsibility for the content of your submission. The following disclaimer must appear in your messages which make factual claims: I, , bear full responsibility for the facts contained in this message. The following are some guidelines for submitting to pol- abuse@igc.apc.org : * Information should be fully documented, naming the source of the information. This requirement is not only for your legal protection, but so this service can be looked to as a reliable source of information for researchers, authors and organizers. Citation of press and other media reports, police statements, legal documents should be included as much as possible. Do not speculate and elaborate on the facts of a case. Do not confuse your opinions with the facts of situations. * If you are going to make claims of fact concerning specific incidents on this list service, you will need to provide supporting documentation in the form of news articles, police reports, legal documents, etc. They can be provided by faxing to (908) 281-7873 or sending them through snail mail to NJ-SPEAKOUT, PO Box 1214, Belle Mead, NJ 08502. The moderator reserves the right not to post information insufficiently documented. This requirement is for your messages which make factual claim about specific incidents and does not apply to your opinions, which can be posted without documentation. * Hearsay should not be submitted here. pol-abuse WILL NOT be used as a rumor mill. These guidelines might appear restrictive to you but they are devised for your protection and for the protection of this service as a vital resource. ============================== WE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING TO POL-ABUSE@IGC.APC.ORG AND LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR PARTICIPATION. Bob Witanek (Prepared with able input from Marpessa Kupendua) ****************************************************************************** To send a message to the entire list "queerplanet", email queerplanet@abacus.oxy.edu This list is run by the program MAJORDOMO@abacus.oxy.edu. *******************************************************************************