Smart & Safe NAACP Criminal Justice Initiative - Strategy Training

1. Smart & Safe NAACP Criminal Justice Initiative-Strategy Training March 2010

2. Criminal Justice a Civil Rights Issue?

3. Voting Employment Education Police Abuse Criminal Justice is a Civil Rights Issue

4. Incarceration Trends: The Problem • 1 in 31 Americans have served time or is currently serving time. 1 in 11 African Americans. • Majority of people incarcerated are people of color, people that were unemployed, have mental health issues and are in for non-violent offenses. • Women and children are the largest growing prison population. • 600-800 thousand inmates get released into community each year • 1 in 3 African American males born in 2001 run the risk of serving time in prison or being dead before their 34th birthday. As cited by the Justice Policy Institute, Pruning Prisons, 2009. • .

5. Impact on Education • $70 billion a year on incarcerating people. • 6 times the rate of state spending on higher education. • K-12 and Higher Education funding declined as 33 states spent a larger proportion of their discretionary dollars on prisons. • Public four-year college is $15,213. • Private four year is $35,636. • Annual cost of incarcerating a person in prison was approximately $25,000 a year. As cited by the Justice Policy Institute, Pruning Prisons, 2009. • .

6. Police Misconduct • 2005 Dept. of Justice Survey re: Contact with Police • Of the 43.5 million people who had contact with police, 1.6% had force or threat of force used against them in their most recent contact • Of these, 83% characterized the force as excessive • 4.4% of African Americans, 2.3% of Hispanics, 1.2% of whites reported experiencing use of force by law enforcement • African Americans were 1 out of 10 contacts with police, but 1 out of 4 instances where force was used

7. Exercise Breakout Session • What is an alternative policy or strategy to incarceration in your community? • Make a demand statement that clearly states what you are asking for in regards to Criminal Justice/Smart and Safe? • Who must you hold accountable to get what you want? • How do you build power to accomplish your goal? • How can we be helpful to what you want to do locally or at state level?

8. Direct Action Advocacy Education Self Help Direct Service Different Forms of Organizing Challenges Existing Power Relations Accepts Existing Power Relations

9. Note: Dual Forms of Bias

10. Altering Power Relations Our Focus: Institutional Bias

11. Strategy Chart

12. Goals

13. Organizational Constraints

14. Constituents, Allies & Opponents

15. Targets

16. Tactics

17. How Tactics Can Influence Your Target WIN!!! Civil Disobedience Press Event Lobby Education Forum Teach-in

18. Strategy Exercise - Breakout Session • Every year for the last 5 years, a joint task force of local law enforcement, state police and federal officers execute a raid in the town of Cicero. • The raid consists of arresting and incarcerating 30-45 African American young men for drug-related offenses. • A young unarmed man was killed by law enforcement and after the investigation, the shooting officer was not assigned fault. • Each year, the raid takes place in September and officers use high tech equipment such as helicopters, night gargles, semi-automatic weapons and army gear during the raids. • You are a member of the Cicero NAACP and would like to stop next year’s raid. • BUILD YOUR STRATEGY!!!

19. Four Campaigns Advance Effective Law Enforcement Elevate the Voices of Crime Survivors Eliminate Employment Discrimination of the Formerly Incarcerated Reform Punitive Sentencing and Support Voting Rights for the Formerly incarcerated Smart & Safe Criminal Justice Initiative

20. Part of a multi-year initiative to improve trust and public safety. Goals include: Improve law enforcement accountability Strengthen bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve Increase public safety in 1200 urban and rural communities directly represented by NAACP and the nation as a whole National and local reforms: use of force standards, racial profiling, community oriented policing Effective Law Enforcement Campaign

21. Recent Examples • Examples of incidents reported to the NAACP that highlight the problem: • Rockford, IL • Oakland, CA • Pittsburgh, PA

22. Rockford, IL – August 2009 • 23 year-old Mark Anthony Barmore • Domestic complaint • Chased and shot dead in front of day care students at church • Unarmed; three shots in the back • Witnesses report intimidation • Increase in racial tensions in community • Lack of trust between community and police department

23. Rockford, IL – Mark Barmore’s Kids

24. Oakland, CA – January 2009 • 22 year-old Oscar Grant • Took BART at his mother’s behest • Shot in the head by BART police • Unarmed; handcuffed on the floor • Incident captured by cell phone video – “this generation’s Rodney King” • Peaceful demonstrations turned violent • Increased tension between community and police

25. Oakland, CA – Grant Family

26. Pittsburgh, PA – January 2010 • 18 year-old, honors music student, Jordan Miles • Approached by undercover officers, asked about “money and drugs” • Chased, beaten, hair pulled out, choked • What officers believed was gun, was Mountain Dew bottle • Charged with resisting arrest, aggravated assault • Community outrage and outcry in support of Miles

27. Pittsburgh, PA – Jordan Miles

28. All Alert – Online Reporting of Incidents

29. All Alert Data – Type of Incident(Feb. 2010)

30. Model State Policies • Repealed almost all of the state’s mandatory minimum drug statutes • Prisoner Reentry Initiative helped improve chances for parole • Steps taken to reduce recidivism for technical violations of parole

31. Kick Off: Misplaced Priorities Report • National Report Roll-out • Regional Report Roll-outs • New York • Philadelphia • Houston • Los Angeles • Indianapolis • Jackson • Billboards • New Media Buzz

32. National Billboards

33. Regional Billboards Example

34. Build Capacity for activism 1: Identify criminal justice committee chairs for all units Conduct Trainings on All Alert reporting tool Report local trends identified by All Alert data to NAACP State Conferences Advance toolkit for local and state action Quarterly workshops/webinars for state & local leadership All Alert for Organizers

35. Build Capacity for activism 2: Toolkit for local, university and state action Quarterly workshops/webinars for state & local leadership State lobby days to elevate misplaced priorities issues Mobilize around Federal Legislation: Youth Promise Act Organize and elevate issue on College Campuses Misplaced Priorities

36. 2010-2012 Federal Smart & Safe Opportunities • Broad-Based Mobilization on: • Webb’s Justice System Overhaul Bill • National Standards for Use for Force and Use for Force Training • Community Oriented Policing • Ending Zero-Tolerance Policies • Build Criminal Justice Capacity within the NAACP • Criminal Justice Committees • Track-record of success with building multi-racial alliances to reform law enforcement and prison system • Organize local campaigns to hold Mayors and Police Chief accountable • Mobilize for State and Federal Reforms

37. Robert Rooks, MSW Director of Criminal Justice Programs rrooks@naacpnet.org (410) 336-3156 Niaz Kasravi, Ph. D Sr. Manager, Law Enforcement Accountability nkasravi@naacpnet.org (410) 336-2642 Key Staff