Police & Community – Page 22 – CAHRO – California Association of Human Relations Organizations

CAHRO is a strong advocate for community policing as a vehicle for preventing conflicts between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are charged with serving. If police agencies have a strong positive relationship helping neighborhoods address causes of crimes by providing resources and support we believe they will establish avenues of communication that will prevent major conflicts from escalating.

Ezell Ford’s shooting violated LAPD policy, police commission rules

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:21+00:00 June 10th, 2015|Police & Community|

Los Angeles Police Officer Sharlton Wampler said he was in a life-and-death struggle with Ezell Ford, wrestling over the officer’s gun on a summer evening last year. Fearing Ford would get control of the weapon, Wampler pulled out a backup gun from beneath his uniform and fired a fatal shot into his back.

The account prompted

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L.A.’s process for reviewing police shootings stinks

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:21+00:00 June 10th, 2015|Police & Community|

The questions dragged on and on.

Why did police stop 25-year-old Ezell Ford in South Los Angeles on Aug. 11, 2014, and why did they end up shooting the unarmed man to death?

Few answers were forthcoming. No full explanation from police or anyone else about the death of a young man diagnosed, according to his mother,

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When Bail Is Out of Defendant’s Reach, Other Costs Mount

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:21+00:00 June 10th, 2015|Police & Community|

BALTIMORE — Dominick Torrence, who has lived in this city all his life, has a long rap sheet for dealing drugs but no history of violence. So when he was charged with disorderly conduct and rioting on April 28, a night of unrest after Freddie Gray was fatally injured in

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Kalief Browder, Held at Rikers Island for 3 Years Without Trial, Commits Suicide

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:21+00:00 June 9th, 2015|Police & Community|

Kalief Browder was sent to Rikers Island when he was 16 years old, accused of stealing a backpack. Though he never stood trial or was found guilty of any crime, he spent three years at the New York City jail complex, nearly

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Supreme Court rejects Arizona appeal over law to ban bail for immigrants

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:22+00:00 June 2nd, 2015|Immigration, Police & Community|

The Supreme Court, over three dissents, rejected Arizona’s appeal Monday of a law that would have denied bail to immigrants here illegally who were arrested for a serious felony.

The measure had been adopted in 2006 by the state’s voters, and it said judges may not release on bail persons who have “entered or remained in

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Use of Tasers Is Scrutinized After Walter Scott Shooting

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:22+00:00 June 1st, 2015|Police & Community|

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — It was late on a Sunday in May 2014 when Officer Michael T. Slager of the North Charleston Police Department stood outside an apartment and faced off with a man whose fists, he said, were clenched as he assumed an “aggressive stance.” Mr. Slager, who said

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How Do You Define a Gang Member?

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:22+00:00 May 27th, 2015|Intergroup Relations, Police & Community|

On a rainy day last December, in a courtroom in downtown Modesto, Calif., a 24-year-old white man named Jesse Sebourn, along with five co-defendants, sat accused of second-degree murder. The victim, Erick Gomez, was only 20 when he was shot to death. He was a reputed Norteño gang member who had lived just a

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More LAPD cops to ditch cars and walk the beat in Eastside areas

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:23+00:00 May 22nd, 2015|Intergroup Relations, Police & Community|

There was a time when the two Los Angeles police officers would have cruised down Cesar Chavez Avenue in a black-and-white, scanning the sidewalks from their patrol car as they passed through Boyle Heights.

But on a recent morning, Officer Eric Perez and his partner spent their patrol time strolling past vendors selling brightly colored jeans

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As homelessness climbs in L.A., a search for solutions

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:23+00:00 May 12th, 2015|Police & Community|

The findings released Monday that Los Angeles County’s homeless population rose 12% since 2013 reflect a setback in the region’s recently heightened efforts to stem homelessness.

But city and county officials had no shortage of ideas about how to fix the problem.

L.A. City Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents Venice, said he thinks there needs to be more shared

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Inquiry to Examine Racial Bias in the San Francisco Police

By Carmen Chandler| 2016-12-02T17:43:23+00:00 May 8th, 2015|Police & Community|

First came disclosures of racist and homophobic text messages exchanged by officers of the San Francisco Police Department. That was followed by the discovery that sheriff’s deputies had been gambling on forced fighting matches between inmates at a city jail.

Then on Thursday, the San Francisco district

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