Los Angeles Police Department: Difference between revisions

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= Free Breakfast For Children  =


In Los Angeles Flores Forbes spoke to community members about how the [[Free Breakfast For Children]] program would help children “grow and intellectually develop because children can’t learn on empty stomachs.” The breakfast program fed around 1,200 children a week in Los Angeles. <Ref>https://www.aaihs.org/the-black-panther-party/</Ref>
On December, 8th, 1969 the first SWAT raid to be conducted in the so called United States was undertaken at the Los Angeles Branch Head Quarters of the Black Panther Party. More than 350 police officers were involved in the raid to allegedly execute arrest warrants; There were 13 Black Panther members in the building including three women and five teenagers. The LAPD would detonate explosives on the roof of the headquarters and call in a tank for reinforcements during the raid. Bernard Arafat, a Black Panther Party member,  <blockquote> awoke to explosions rocking the library of the Black Panthers’ 41st and Central Avenue headquarters in Los Angeles. Above him, footsteps stomped across the roof. Then gunfire erupted.
Arafat wasn’t a seasoned Panther. He was a 17-year-old runaway from juvenile hall whose parents had both died when he was 13. After years of committing small-time crimes, Arafat was taken in by the Panthers and gained a sense of purpose. He helped with the organization’s breakfast program, feeding hungry kids on their way to school.<Ref>https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles</Ref></blockquote>
According to the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] the Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT,) was originally created so the police force could respond to sniper and hostage situations, like situations that allegedly occurred during the [[Watts Rebellion]], but the occurrence of these events were rare (less than 5% of SWAT raids are for the original mission of the unit across the country today,<Ref>https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1805161115</Ref>) so the SWAT unit had never been deployed prior to the raid on the Black Panther Party's headquarters. <blockquote>In its Panther deployment, SWAT was transformed from a tool of surgical precision into a blunt-force battering ram, and that’s ultimately how it would find its calling in police departments across the country — especially in African American communities.<Ref>https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles</Ref></blockquote>
The raid resulted in <blockquote>13 arrests and a total of 72 criminal counts being filed. But at trial, the Panthers’ attorneys, including a young Johnnie Cochran, argued that the group had acted in self-defense. SWAT had entered the building unannounced with guns blazing.
A mixed-race jury agreed, finding the Panther defendants not guilty on almost all charges, including the most serious ones of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to murder policemen. Arafat, who had skipped bail and fled underground to Puerto Rico, returned to Los Angeles.<Ref>https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles</Ref></Blockquote>
= Climate Policing =
In 2021, the LAPD by purchasing 5,260 Taser 7 energy weapons from Axon, making it the US police force with the largest energy weapon deployment.<ref>https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/los-angeles-police-department-renews-contract-with-axon-becomes-largest-taser-7-deployment-301209139.html</ref> With over $600 million invested in the company, [[BlackRock]] - one of the world's largest fossil fuel investors - is also the largest shareholder in Axon and has an executive on the company's board of directors. <ref>https://www.corporateaccountability.org/blog/blackrock-for-2022-corporate-hall-of-shame/</ref>
In 2022, the LAPD deployed 100 officers to arrest four climate scientists protesting [[JP Morgan Chase]] for its massive fossil fuel investments.<ref>https://www.wonkette.com/lapd-saves-city-from-giant-mutant-climate-scientists</ref><ref>https://www.xrlosangeles.org/actions/xrla-legal-support</ref>
= Sources =

Latest revision as of 20:52, 3 February 2023

Free Breakfast For Children

In Los Angeles Flores Forbes spoke to community members about how the Free Breakfast For Children program would help children “grow and intellectually develop because children can’t learn on empty stomachs.” The breakfast program fed around 1,200 children a week in Los Angeles. [1]

On December, 8th, 1969 the first SWAT raid to be conducted in the so called United States was undertaken at the Los Angeles Branch Head Quarters of the Black Panther Party. More than 350 police officers were involved in the raid to allegedly execute arrest warrants; There were 13 Black Panther members in the building including three women and five teenagers. The LAPD would detonate explosives on the roof of the headquarters and call in a tank for reinforcements during the raid. Bernard Arafat, a Black Panther Party member,

awoke to explosions rocking the library of the Black Panthers’ 41st and Central Avenue headquarters in Los Angeles. Above him, footsteps stomped across the roof. Then gunfire erupted. Arafat wasn’t a seasoned Panther. He was a 17-year-old runaway from juvenile hall whose parents had both died when he was 13. After years of committing small-time crimes, Arafat was taken in by the Panthers and gained a sense of purpose. He helped with the organization’s breakfast program, feeding hungry kids on their way to school.[2]

According to the Los Angeles Police Department the Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT,) was originally created so the police force could respond to sniper and hostage situations, like situations that allegedly occurred during the Watts Rebellion, but the occurrence of these events were rare (less than 5% of SWAT raids are for the original mission of the unit across the country today,[3]) so the SWAT unit had never been deployed prior to the raid on the Black Panther Party's headquarters.

In its Panther deployment, SWAT was transformed from a tool of surgical precision into a blunt-force battering ram, and that’s ultimately how it would find its calling in police departments across the country — especially in African American communities.[4]

The raid resulted in

13 arrests and a total of 72 criminal counts being filed. But at trial, the Panthers’ attorneys, including a young Johnnie Cochran, argued that the group had acted in self-defense. SWAT had entered the building unannounced with guns blazing. A mixed-race jury agreed, finding the Panther defendants not guilty on almost all charges, including the most serious ones of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to murder policemen. Arafat, who had skipped bail and fled underground to Puerto Rico, returned to Los Angeles.[5]

Climate Policing

In 2021, the LAPD by purchasing 5,260 Taser 7 energy weapons from Axon, making it the US police force with the largest energy weapon deployment.[6] With over $600 million invested in the company, BlackRock - one of the world's largest fossil fuel investors - is also the largest shareholder in Axon and has an executive on the company's board of directors. [7]

In 2022, the LAPD deployed 100 officers to arrest four climate scientists protesting JP Morgan Chase for its massive fossil fuel investments.[8][9]

Sources

  1. ↑ https://www.aaihs.org/the-black-panther-party/
  2. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles
  3. ↑ https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1805161115
  4. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles
  5. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-08/50-years-swat-black-panthers-militarized-policinglos-angeles
  6. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/los-angeles-police-department-renews-contract-with-axon-becomes-largest-taser-7-deployment-301209139.html
  7. ↑ https://www.corporateaccountability.org/blog/blackrock-for-2022-corporate-hall-of-shame/
  8. ↑ https://www.wonkette.com/lapd-saves-city-from-giant-mutant-climate-scientists
  9. ↑ https://www.xrlosangeles.org/actions/xrla-legal-support
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