The Advocate

On June 3, San Leandro for Accountability, Transparency, and Equity (SLATE) is having an informational session as well as volunteer orientation meeting for community police oversight in San Leandro. As you may be aware, our city manager and elected officials are looking at implementing oversight models to incorporate best practices for policing in our city. They have been speaking with community organizers as well as local leaders to solicit our input and expertise. They have also been consulting with the OIR Group, SEED Collaborative, and the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). While this initiative is not new, recent events locally, regionally, and nationally, have shown the need for meaningful police reform. Indeed, over 250 residents, activists, organizers, leaders, and representatives from community groups in San Leandro have signed an open petition supporting it. WHO: This informational session for anyone who is interested in community police ...

Recent reporting from The Mercury News shows SLPD as a participant in a disturbing trend of contracting with a glorified propaganda firm known as Critical Incident Videos, LLC. Run by former TV news reporters, this company is contracted with over 100 local law enforcement agencies to help them sway public opinion in order to justify excessive use of force, especially lethal instances of police brutality. The hallmark of their work is “a 3-D map of the scene, 911 dispatch tapes and text set up a narrative before viewers see selected bodycam footage … a police chief or sheriff opens the video explaining why the shooting was justified. Often, the chief is reading from a script written by an outside consultant. The edited camera footage may not even show the actual use of force – an effect far different from a raw cellphone or body cam video of a confrontation that leaves watchers wondering, “Why did they have to shoot?” But here’s the truly shocking and shameful part: “Less than three ho...

As many of you may know, juries are a major part of my current career. So, in honor of this year's Juror Appreciation Week mandated by the California Legislature to celebrate those who serve as jurors, I thought I would share some interesting information about juries here and abroad. The first jury trial in America was held in 1630 in Plymouth. The case was that of John Billington who was accused of murdering fellow Mayflower colonist John Newcomin. The jury found the defendant guilty of "willful murder by plain and notorious evidence," and he was executed by hanging. Governor John Bradford later wrote that the jury had taken "all possible pains in the trial." Eliza Stewart Boyd was the first woman in America ever selected to serve on a jury. In March 1870, her name was drawn from the voters’ roll to serve on the grand jury to be convened later that month. Soon after the grand jury was convened, five other Laramie women made history becoming the first women in t...