Good morning Freedom City Working Group, I am reaching out to formally invite everyone to OPO’s upcoming community event regarding the Analysis of APD Racial Profiling Data report that our office released in January alongside the Equity Office and Office of Innovation. This is event is an opportunity for community to learn about what the data says about racial disparities in policing in Austin, share feedback with City of Austin staff and APD, and provide input on what meaningful action and accountability on this issue looks like. The event will take place on Saturday, February 22 from 10am-12pm at the North Austin YMCA on Rundberg. Please note that the event is hosted and facilitated by the Office of Police Oversight, Equity Office, and Office of Innovation. APD decision makers will be present to participate and hear from community. There will be a brief panel discussion followed by facilitated small group discussion. This is the meeting I went to today. The room was packed with people of all colors. Some are residents, community members, volunteers like me for different organizations, police, nursing students, each with their own reason for wanting a better understanding of the vast amount of racial disparity in policing in Austin. I'll give her a quick rundown of the big picture of the meeting. First, there was a panel, in which several people from the Office of Police Oversight, Equity Office, and Office of Innovation raised their concern about the lack of improvement in the data as far as racial disparities in stops and arrests of minorities during police stops. The chief of APD Officer Manly was also present, expressing his desire for those numbers to change and for Austin policing to reflect the true "non-racist" character of our town. Their goal is to have 0 disparity among the races, proportionally speaking. Below is each page of the report, with dat from 2015-2019. When Officer Manly was asked about which recommendations he was not willing to implement, he literally took a few minutes to read the recommendations in the report. It seems unthinkable to me that he would not have looked at them before or considered and pondered over this matter, which did not sit well with many in the audience. He then proceeded to answer that none are an absolute no, but they would not pass control to another organization, but always willing to accept input. He expressed a concern over extra training, saying that there are 1959 officers in APD, and for every one hour of training, they lose work product of one officer for a year. Add 40 hrs of this training, but we just work product of officers of 40 officers. We have to look at the approach holistically instead. (this statistic point seemed oddly impossible). Officer Manly also made a request: he is looking for a program that captures data that lead to bias based on actions. A better program that has more data like geographical data and other points that can give more information about where things are going wrong, and if anyone can write one or knows one, to let him know. The goal of the APD is get to eliminate racial disparity by 2023! We have some work to do... One of the most shocking statistics from this report as far as I'm concerned is this map, which shows warnings and citations given out by police officers for traffic stops. If anyone knows the geography of Austin, you can see clearly the diagonal line intersect which is I-35. The number of citations versus arrests that were given on the West side of 35 (aka the "white" side) versus on the east side of 35 (the black and brown side of Austin) is astounding. Even the Mueller area on the east side, which is now pretty much white, is reflected here. This goes to show how much more likely the police are to not apprehend/punish white people versus black people. In Austin this kind of data is so easy to visualize because of it's unique geographical segregation. When we sat in groups for questions and discussion, I raised a question to the police officer in our group about this graph. He said: usually I tend to just go on defensive mode about these things, but you cannot escaped the clarity of data on this map. We are definitely being biased towards white people and that needs to be dealt with. I appreciated him for his honesty. Officer Troy suggested that community or experts need to analyze training material and video going back all the way to training cadets. Police just can't do it themselves because they are blind to their own biases. I also asked him about why he thinks there doesn't see to be an improvement in the data after Freedom Cities was implemented. First, he said he was on the board of the Freedom Cities group so he is well aware of the expectations. He said it boggled his mind that the data does not reflect what he saw in his own experience, because he claims he saw a big decrease in arrests and increase in citations, but the overall data does not reflect this, and we have to figure out what went wrong. I asked him about the fact that in the raw data, it looks like in all the cases where a minority was arrested for an recommended citation as put forward by Freedom Cities was OK'd by the supervisor, he said that perhaps we have to look at the data and see if it's the same person who is OK'ing these arrests and perhaps that person needs extra training. Most of the folks in our breakout group expressed their concern at the fact that Officer Manly seemed unprepared to answer questions about the data in the report or to have specific suggestions for improvement. They all share alternative views of policing and what that could look like according to a different paradigm. A suggestion to look at how other small towns have had more success in their efforts, like Nashville and Oakland was given. my raw notes from the meeting, which include things that don't make sense because I can't get the spellcheck from my ipad to turn off:
What does it mean that data reveals that 50% police stopping w 8% population in traffic stops - black people? Latin x 31- 33 stops and 43% of arrests Why is this? what can we do collectively to prevent disproportionality ? Disproportionality analysis is title 6 and title 7 judicial and fed investigation permitted to look if everyone is affected. Can pull voting age and drivers. What is the percentage/ . And what is the experience- methodology. Not waiting for some legal context - proactively do this analysis. Canon predicts a negative outcome by someone’s race. When you set as goal problem solve, work together to bring numbers back to where they’re supposed to be. Our mission as the society of Austin is to make the most liberal city in the nation. But in order to achieve that vision, being courageous need to Janos that race determines the quality of life. Every data set, who’s on top and on bottom. Healthcare, economic opportunity, criminal justice who gets stopped searched arrested. From equity perspective equity race no longer predicts life outcomes . How to eliminate racial disparities. Equity is an encore for strategies plan,. It’s embedded in everything not successful until figure out how to change that. Defined. Chief manly how does police dept deal w this for fair admin of justice This report took our data that they take plus proportionality another view of data. What we found is disparities like other cities across the country, want to try to move things forward. Using more citations vs arrest, freedom cities. Driving while license invalid reduced arrest. Our goal is to reduce and eliminate we do everything to eliminate disparities. Want to analyze deeper want 911 311 calls where crime concentrated more police officers in those areas. If communities, how many out of warrant vs discretion., Recommendations for APD, one of important training implicit bias training. Should be ongoing. Looking for potential biases that may not present themselves while cadets. Identify those that have biases in that level. How do we see one another, bias. Community how they are perceived. Room for training and consistently and involve community more in that. The goal to get to zero by 2023 we should eliminate racial disparity. What alarms most work is not enough or not right work. Gotten worse year after year. Acknowledgement and goal setting most important recommendation. So zero 80 percent of this is caustic 20 percent disparity. What will have the biggest impact in drawing the disparity down. Interventions for at risk officers. Collaboration is important to identify officers that disproportionality stop ppl of color and look at ways that interventions can be put in place. March of last year. Work w fto and community. Over time that will help us get to 0. That is an important recommendation, officers- interventions. Holistic approach to policing. Discipline may not be appropriate response. Cultural competence, relatability Police- we created a position civilian PhD from local university to make sure we’re providing appropriate training. At the initial stage of training. Harvard program employee, pretesting to see if have bias. City that was founded on segregation, so naturally has remnants. We are Descendants of that policy. We recruit on a national level they have to understand that. Committed to do everything we can to reduce - what are driving disparities. Identifying officers at risk. Early warning. Track records. If there is a type of program that captures data that lead to bias based actions they are interested. Aspect of community is non started, its impact ed, it starts w community. Should be involved in solutions. Innovation offices bring in community w only experts. People closest to the problem give best solutions. Would data and geography help? Looking at geography, we can drill down in data., problem solving tool. Will help create a solution., Kerry. Use of force in traffic stops. We’re actually in the process of submitting to the state. We produce our own report and it has a little extra data. Does not have population data. We need to decide as a city how we want to put out a report, all in the table? Or w opio equity and innovation,., what will this year's report be? What are the recommendations that APD is not willing to act on? None in absolute no, we would pass control to another —- but always willing to accept input We are for training. 1959 officers, for every one hour of training. Lose work product of officer for a year. Add 40 hrs of this training, but we just work product of officers of 40 officers. We have to look at the approach holistically. Maya, office of police oversight. Supplemental material based on questions that come up in a group. Kelly from the equity office. Groups rules: share the air. Don't dominate a conversation, allow other ppl to speak. Don't interrupt. One person one mic. Respect all voices. Prioritize voices of directly impacted ppl. Listen to understand. Be a community. Group agreement. Breakout group Ginger jasmine equity office Undoing white supremacy Austin group Troy (police) looks at things through a blue lens and wants to broaden his lens. People’s institute for survival and beyond Community of color united for racial justice Trying to do things but no change in data Disheartening Freedom cities arrest less people but didn’t change the outcome Freedom gave more questions than answers Hire someone from outside to look at invisible curriculum Look at all the videos that are shown to cadets and have community members look at that so that are not planting seeds. Police doesn’t have the lens for it Video that has been shown around the country deescal; training video female unclothed, it wasn’t until we went through community that women asked why we cant fuzz out her body bc she is exposed. Power of working together can world What does change look like? Racial. Profiling, under-policing white ppl Might help shift some of unintended consequence Parallel track or report to change the frame or structure If goal is to correct behavior beyond racial profiling are we asking police to do too much some things address for social infrastructure Have other cities' police dept have this goal and success? Oakland and Nashville Community policing. Is it police officers who don't live in those communities? Officers must live in that community. Majority of Austin police officers do not live inside the city limits, APD has the highest salary median to any police dept in the south. Union has said that affixed isn’t affordable, twice the median income, and when prompted to institute a model, police union block to live in city. City staff not being paid enough. Eliminates outliers on each side of average. Training hours to remove bad or good? Concern for the culture. All in service training? Is that calculated the same way?
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Today I went to visit Rosa at Hutto. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks. She has now been in detention for about a year. Her asylum hearing is in about a month. She has no lawyer. I sat down next to Rosa on a couch. She was wearing her usual clothes. A pair of grey sweat pants and a pale blue sweatshirt. You look well, I told her. She smiled, not agreeing.
After catching up on the news, she told me that she finished the book she was reading, about dream interpretations. "Are you asking the ladies to tell you their dreams so you can interpret them?" I asked. "No," she smiled and looked down shyly, as she always does. "I had a dream last night, would you like to interpret it?" I asked, trying to add some lightness to our often difficult conversations. She nodded. "So there was this island, not a very big island, maybe the size of a soccer field. I asked a friend why she was going there and she said there were the most amazing birds there. So I went there too. I started walking around a path that went all around the island. In the middle of the island there was a grassy field, no trees, just tall grass. As I walked around it, I didn't see any birds. But as I approached the end of the loop, I saw a bustle in the grass. I approached it and saw a bunch of toucans, sort of jumping around in a little frenzy, near the grass. Beautifully colored as they are. Then I looked up ahead and I saw another commotion in the grass, and there were a bunch of little parrots, just shuffling around in the grassy area. I was mesmerized with the sightings, so unexpected and beautiful and rare... So Rosa, what do you think that means?" "Well," she said, "you know birds are symbols of freedom..." "Oh yes," I answered, suddenly becoming aware of her clearmindedness. "You know, dreams are symbolic, not literal. The birds in your dreams did not fly. They were not free. I think you have a lot on your mind visiting the detention centers and the immigrants' situations, and your mind is weighing heavily with these thoughts, of people, from Central America, like your birds, who are not free to fly. The island, their cage." Here I am, with all my degrees and experience, never giving my dream the any such importance. And in front of me, a true Joseph, in jail, her light shining so brightly. She is such a smart young woman. She really is so eloquent and strong. So much potential for success and career and education. And yet, she was dealt a sad, losing deck of cards from the get go. Stuck in a lawless country, with no means for an advanced education, beaten by the men around her, traumatized and worried enough for her life to walk thousands of miles to reach the possibility of saving her 4 young children from the same dark future. I told her she would be ok one day. God I hope that is true. Today I went with a group of people to visit Rep. Doggett's office in Austin, TX. He offices out of a federal building in downtown Austin, which also houses ICE offices, so there is a great deal of security to enter the building. Doggett represents Texas' 35th district, which is a very gerrymandered district, as seen by the map above. It took some work to find someone from Congregation Beth Israel who lives in his district since the Austin areas are not close to the temple, but I did some research on our congregants who had signed up to do social justice work and who their reps were, and found a few, and one of them volunteered to go. Once again, Bethany from Grassroots organized this meeting and prepped the visitors with a phone call and a pdf before the meeting. Our goal was similar to the visit with McCaul, the difference being that Rep. Doggett is a democrat who shares our views about immigration, and has written a letter to ICE earlier in the year. However, ICE has only answered back saying they will write a response some time in the future, a clear delay technique. The matter for this visit becomes more urgent as the deadline for signing the 10 year contract is now within a week's time. So the ASK for Rep. Doggett is to demand an answer from ICE and and a few other items which I'd rather not write about here for privacy sake. We were greeted by his staffer who, unlike the one at McCaul's office, seemed genuinely happy to see us there. There were 5 people in our group, each spoke about the goal to shut down the detention centers in Texas and why. Sulma, from Grassroots, really pulled at our heartstrings by sharing her personal story of having been moved around through 4 or 5 of Texas's detention centers in her own journey to asylum. The staffer asked pertinent questions, wrote EVERYTHING down that we relayed, and really promised to take the issues up with Rep. Doggett immediately. She was very grateful for our work and thanked each one of us on our way out. This visit felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the first. His staffer also really encouraged members of the congregation to CALL their reps en masse, that it really makes a difference. First time I felt hopeful about taking action in a long time. Click below for COMMUNITIES NOT CAGES FLYER
On Monday February 10, I went with a group of 5 people to make a visit to Rep. McCaul's office. Many congregants from CBI and the other synagogues in Austin live in his district. This visit was organized by Bethany Carson from Grassroots Leadership. The objective was to let McCaul know that our community is against the renewal of the 10 year contracts for Texas Detention Centers. With the deadline for Hutto coming up in about a week's time, each person present spoke to McCauls assistant to try to relay the urgency of taking up a position against the private Detention Center corporate spread, which is inhumane, bypasses congresses budgets, and is against the will of the constituents in their communities. The ideas that were spoken about are relayed below. There was another Jewish man present in this meeting besides myself. We both made reference to how the Reform Jewish community in Austin feels strongly against acts that defy humans rights to asylum in this country, and to be more compassionate to those seeking refuge in America when their lives are at risk. The assistant, being merely a messenger to a very conservative republican rep, listened to our arguments, but barely made any notes in his notebook. One of the times I saw him jot down a note was when I mentioned that there is a structure outside of detention centers meant to house those few asylum seekers that already don't have a family network to house them while they await for their trial, and that network lies within the non-profits. Ironically, those shelters all have empty beds, since everyone is detained. The assistant remained quiet stoic as to not reveal a political position, but it was our feeling when we left that it is quite likely that the messages would not be properly conveyed to his boss. This particular district (R-TX 10th) is one of those gerrymandered ones that includes many democrats but votes republican. It was my first experience visiting representatives' offices, and was an important step in understanding the different approaches to putting pressure on government officials at a grassroots level. Values Communities not cages Detention is inhumane Congress must protect the public from ICE Texas is not a laboratory for ICE’s experiments Directly impacted people front and center Key Messages
Wednesday the 29th of January marks the one year anniversary of the "Remain in Mexico" program. Since then, there are thousands upon thousands of asylum seekers who are not allowed to enter the US to await for their court proceedings, and have to fend for themselves in the streets of one of the most dangerous places on the planet. As a defiance to this momentous date, many people from around Texas showed up at the courts in San Antonio to perform what is called "court monitoring". Visitors are free to watch the immigration court proceedings, which are run in various rooms at 800 Dolorosa #300, San Antonio, TX 78207. One just has to go through a security check and bring no weapons, and have cel phones turned off. We were invited to arrive at either 8am for morning cases or 1pm for afternoon cases. I was bracing for the worst when I sat down at Judge Santander's court. The video monitor on the side of the room displayed a quiet, a lifeless room with rows of empty chairs, and a handful of people sitting on one side. When called by the judge (via interpreter), each person or family approached the table in the front of their room to speak directly to the judge. A family of four in which one of their personal case files was accidentally deleted by the government attorney, and therefore nothing could move forward until their case was filed again. A single young woman lucky to have an attorney (called by the judge on the phone) who is minding her case. A husband, wife holding a newborn from Venezuela also lucky to have an attorney, the baby probably born mid fleeing. A young boy with no parents and no attorney, requesting more time to find legal help. A couple of young lads from Cuba, stating they had all their paperwork and did not need an attorney, just hopeful to set their trial date. A mother with four children, telling the judge if she is deported she CANNOT go back to Honduras, ever. It all appears quite normal and mundane from our side. Judge Santander is known for being caring and compassionate (not all judges are). He takes his time with each case, asking the human on the other side if they are doing ok. Making sure they understand and listening carefully to their questions so that nothing is misunderstood. He gives each person an understanding that the law will be upheld for each case, and that asylum rules are very specific. Yet you can tell he cares and has a heart. What we don't see is that, after each human leaves the room, with their papers and their stories, they are taken back to Nuevo Laredo, and most likely tuck themselves away under a makeshift tent on the sidewalk. With each legal bump, missing file, improperly filled out paper, non-notarized translation, 3 more months are added until the next opportunity for a fix. Three more months trying to survive on the streets. The dangers of this situation are illustrated on one of the cases we observed. A boy appeared alone. The judge seemed concerned about him, he was not with his mother, who is listed in his asylum case file. When he talks, he says: "My mother has been missing for about ten days now. I don't know where she is." The judge asks, concerned, "Have you contacted the police?" "No," says the boy. Something tells me that may be a laughable question for the foreign homeless refugees in Nuevo Laredo. "Do you have a place to stay?" asks the judge. "Yes, I am staying with a family that is helping me." His court date is set for April 13. "I have a question Judge, shall I still come on the 13th if my mother is not found?" The judge knows it's a good question. He thinks. He says yes. The boy says ok. In Nuevo Laredo, if a defenseless woman is missing, there is a good chance they have been kidnapped, raped or murdered. So, why watch these trials? Why is this work important? First of all, this immigration crisis is happening right under our eyes. The trials, the remain in Mexico crisis, the detentions, the family separations. But we just usually hear about it in the news or see a blurb on Facebook. It is only by witnessing the real humans and their stories, that the invisible become visible. That our heart really opens. That we really understand. Another reason is that, when Americans watch the proceedings, the judges know they are being observed, and can potentially act more human, which is never a bad thing for the people on the other side. Also, when properly trained, court monitors gather data on the trials, which can be used to see if any irregularities are being committed, and to gather data on the system. This data can be used against abuses and for the country to understand what is going on. Being a testimony to the process is a big step becoming an advocate for immigrant rights. I urge people who live near immigration courts to take a few hours off their day to make up their own minds about how the system is working, and hopefully to start working to help make things better. Yesterday I drove to San Antonio for a rally. It was organized by UT law students with backing up from several non-profits including RAC-tx. Many leaders, attorneys, and a physician spoke on the inhumane conditions that asylum seekers who are awaiting in the border towns for their hearings are suffering, including many statements directly from individuals whose voices wanted to be heard. We marched to the court houses, then the Jews present went for a lunch and de-briefing at temple Beth El. Though the march itself felt a little like an echo chamber for people who are already involved, our meeting afterwards proved very effective for networking and spinning viable ideas of how individual Jews and congregations can get work together to make a difference. In the end, it feels like many groups and orgs. are working on separate things, but if we can somehow join forces or coordinate efforts, we will be stronger. So getting to know all the pieces of the puzzle so that we can put together the jigsaw faster is key. Present at the meeting were the following people: Rabbis David Segal (hou), Mara Nathan (SA), Marina Yergin (SA), Virginia Raymond (deportation attorney AUS), Olga (need more info SA), Lori Stockstiel (NCJW-SA), Bryan Daves (hou), Sharon Greenwald (SA), Julia Paley (RAC-USA, DC), Claudia Sanchez (CBI- Aus). I think the most important points that we made was the need to have a coordinated effort based on work that Baker Ripley group is already doing w court monitoring, and the availability of grant money. Here are my notes:
Peter krause foundation grant million dollar rack immigrant asylum 4 yr initiative Cohort of synagogues in us and Canada Mini grants 5k immigrant justice project, if other org. use synagogue as partner In addition seeking ways reform movement can act as a whole What r ways to use that power talk to julia paley from Rac usa washington One court monitoring Can this be done in shifts in tx or around country? Data Supplied to aclu - legal tactics used Informs how lawyers are doing Large day of action scheduled April 19-21 san antonio- commission of social action Possibly travel to border and mini events to echo around country Last night I was contacted by Rabbi Levy, who was contacted by Brett Sherwin, who was contacted by the people at Grassroots Leadership, Austin. They needed someone who spoke Spanish and was willing to "sponsor" an asylum seeker detained at Hutto. Her pro-bono lawyer is about to give birth and will no longer be able to help this woman, we needed to hurry and find her a sponsor so we can make a case to the judge pronto. As a sponsor, I will provide her a place to stay for a little while if she is lucky enough to have a payable bond. So, of course, I said yes.
So, this morning, change of plans from my usual mundane routine, I found myself driving through a part of Texas I've never been to, somewhere about 45 minutes northeast of Austin. It was a chilly, rainy, gloomy day, and I felt scared about what I would potentially see, and how it would make me feel. Remembering that I am on the good side of fence, and thousands of mothers and children are on the bad side, reminded me my thoughts were first world problems. As I turned right onto a desolate road that Google maps claimed the "Hutto Residence" to be at, I saw something I didn't expect. The tall chain linked fences of the prison on one side, and slow moving trains coming to a stop on the other. I literally felt a cold chill up my spine. My Jewish genetic memory took me right to "that" place, and the full circle moment of why I decided to join this fight became oh so clear. Inside, with only my driver's license, car keys and credit card, I was taken to room to meet with my "friend", whom I did not yet know. She sat alone in a couch in a visitation room. I walked up to her with a smile. She looked scared and hopeful and confused and happy to be taken out of laundry duty. We talked for a good hour. I became familiar with her story, which like so many others, is one of a choice of equally horrible outcomes. She is a sweet, caring woman, just trying to survive. She was so happy that I gave her a Fanta from the vending machine. "I haven't had soda since I got in here, 6 months ago." Oreos, Doritos, a smile for small joys. I will visit her again. She was very happy about that. When I got home, I quickly wrote the judge a letter describing my desire to sponsor and care for her, and make sure she is not an escape risk. Scanned a few documents, emailed to her lawyer. Now I await the court date for her bond hearing. The hope is the judge will lower her bond from the tens of thousands to something that can be paid by help from charities. She would then await her asylum in freedom. |
AuthorDaniela Weil is a kids' writer/illustrator who lives in Austin, and a member of Congregation Beth Israel. Daniela works as a volunteer there and for RAC-Tx. Archives
February 2020
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