CTCAV Newsletter
August 30, 2023 Newsletter
Welcome to the Cancel the Contract Newsletter August 30th edition! CTC was very active in commUNITY throughout August. There is a lot going on, and with the restarting of our monthly Coalition meetings on August 28th, and CTC September Committee meetings now scheduled, you want to be sure and read all the way through this newsletter.
CTC Events
Highlights from August Events:
Cancel the Contract Receives Bold Vision Power Building Grant from Liberty Hill Foundation
Bold Vision is a multi-sector, multi-year initiative that aims to transform systems within L.A. County to ensure that L.A.’s Black, Native American & Indigenous, Latinx, Asian,
and Pacific Islander youth thrive and meet their fullest potential. Liberty Hill is proud to be a partner within Bold Vision, supporting community groups and organizers to end barriers for youth of color in L.A. County. CTC is grateful and honored to have been chosen as a recipient of this community changing grant.
CTC Coalition Meeting
On Monday August 28 Cancel the Contract hosted its first in person meeting since COVID. Community members enjoyed an evening of conversation, fellowship, and broke bread together. Cancel the Contract Program Director Waunette Cullors MCed and was joined by CTC Co-Chairs Raycine Ector and Raquel Derfler, who shared updates about the work CTC has been engaged in over the summer. CTC legal partners, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles and Disability Rights California, gave a presentation to inform and educate about the
During the dinner break people gathered into small groups for more intimate discussions about policing in community and in AV schools. Guests were able to learn about resources offered by the evening’s vendors, Valley Oasis and CHIRLA. The meeting was attended by folks from Compton, the mayor of Burbank, and a representative of the County of Los Angeles Probation Oversight Commission. CTC closed out the evening with a Sound Bowl ceremony that encouraged meditation, relaxation, and self-discovery.
4th Annual Reading in the Park
On Saturday August 26th, CTC was a Scholar Sponsor for the “4th Annual Reading in the Park,” hosted by The WOW Flower Project. This is how CTC reimagines education in commUNITY. Over 250 participants attended and over 3500 books were given to children of all ages. CTC staff members gave away school supplies, had an ‘ART in The Park HUB’ and made bookmarks. We distributed Discipline Discrimination lawsuit flyers against AVUHSD and signed people up to join our Coalition.
Upcoming meetings for September
DEMANDING REPARATIONS FOR LASD DEPUTY GANG VIOLENCE
On September 8-10, 2023, CTC is proud to be co-hosting, along with Check the Sheriff, and Loyola Law School’s Anti-Racism Center, a convening to discuss and strategize around reparations for communities who have suffered harm from LASD deputy gangs. Reparations experts, advocates, and activists from around the country will be in conversation with local activists and community members to explore how the reparations framework can address this crisis, provide a truth-telling process, and redistribute resources back into the communities that have experienced decades of violence at the hands of LASD and the systems that enable deputy gangs to exist. CTC will be speaking on the Sunday 9/10 panel discussing how they are holding LASD accountable for the trauma it inflicts on our Black and brown communities.
WHEN: September 8-10th at Loyola Law School
WHERE: 919 Albany St. Los Angeles, CA 90015
HOW: Registration Link
Transportation: https://bit.ly/repcontranspo
9/7/23 – Professor Alex Vitale Coming Back to the AV
Join us Thursday September 7th 6pm at the CTC Office for a community meeting with international policing expert, Professor Alex Vitale of New York, author of “The End of Policing,” as we discuss alternatives to school police in AV schools.
9/18/23 – CTC September Coalition Meeting, September 18 at 6pm, CTC Office
9/19/23 – CTC Latinx Night
Join us Tuesday September 19th at 6pm for another amazing evening sharing and learning form AV’s diverse Laintx community.
9/25/23 – CTC Criminal Justice Accountability Committee, 1pm Online
9/27/23 – CTC Education Justice Committee, 6pm, CTC Office, Register
Education Justice
August 17 Antelope Valley Union High School District Board of Trustee Meeting
Educational Justice Committee Chair Raquel Derfler attended the August AVUHSD Board of Trustees meeting with CTC’s coalition partners Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles
and Disability Rights California. Raquel gave public comments on the racial bias and profiling of students with disabilities by District teachers, campus security, LASD School Resource Officers and LA County Probation officers.
Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations
The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations spent the week of August 7th in Cancel the Contract’s Lancaster office meeting and speaking with community members, who shared their experiences with School Resource Deputies in Antelope Valley schools and what recommendations or suggestions they had concerning school safety. CTC was able to provide a safe and welcoming space for community members to speak freely about having police in schools and how this current model of school safety is not meeting the needs of our students. The Commission members were deeply appreciative and affected by the stories that emerged during the week. In particular, one parent’s narrative about her son’s journey in the school-to-prison pipeline moved a Commissioner to tears. These narratives will provide the substance to motivate perspective changes, inform the development of alternatives to the current school safety model and develop a clear path forward for the sake of all school stakeholders that is truly needed in the Antelope Valley.
The Lawyers Guild Radio Show
On August 16th, CTC Co-Chair Raquel Derfler appeared on KPFK 90.7 FM Lawyers Guild Show to discuss Cancel the Contract’s lawsuit against the Antelope Valley Union High School District for its discipline discrimination against its Black students and students with disabilities. Take a listen here.
Criminal Justice Accountability
Antelope Valley 2015 Settlement Agreement
- As we shared in our last newsletter, in June the DOJ Monitoring Team released its 16th Biannual Monitoring Report. The Opening Letter to the Judge stated, “…For this report, we felt it was important to immediately acknowledge the deeply disturbing nature of the actions reflected in the videos and the impact they have on the community, particularly communities of color, in the Antelope Valley. While we are troubled and saddened by these events, regrettably, we must acknowledge we are not surprised…” The report relays that LASD and LA County are OUT OF COMPLIANCE on all major areas of the Settlement Agreement. Download the CTC Summary and Highlights presentation by CTC Co-Chair Raycine Ector.
- On August 25th, CTC and the ACLU sent a Joint letter to the LA Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission (COC) asking them to “Agendize LASD’s Continued Failure to Comply with the Antelope Valley Settlement Agreement for September 21 Civilian Oversight Commission Meeting.”
- Attend the next Lancaster CAC Meeting to have your voice heard, September 19, 2023 6:30pm at the Stanley Kleiner Activity Center.
LASD Office of Constitutional Policing Day of Dialogue
On August 19th, the LASD’s new Office of Constitutional Policing held a Day of Dialogue in the AV, in partnership with the U.S. DOJ. Participants were split into 3 groups with deputies from both stations, and discussed the question, “Do you believe there are deputy gangs/cliques in the ACV stations?” While every deputy said, “No,” community advocates had a different perspective. We discussed the two deputy gangs that have been known to operate out the AV stations, the Rattlesnakes and the Cowboys. We shared that we have heard many stories from community members who have been harrassed, intimidated, and threatened by these deputy gangs in retaliation for speaking up. We will keep you posted about the next LASD Community Dialogue, and we hope more victims will come forward and share their experiences.
Update on WinCo Foods LASD Use of Force, #BoycottWinco
On August 22, 2023 Cancel the Contract showed support to the WinCo couple where the woman was thrown to the ground, maced and threatened to be punched in the face. We are happy to report that they decided not to file charges against either of the victims. Upon exiting the AV Court House a short press conference was held by the victims and their lawyer Caree Harper, where she announced that a lawsuit has been filed against the LASD, the deputies involved, and the attorney representing the deputy, as well as WinCo employees. WinCo Foods weaponized the system by calling 911 and giving false information to the dispatcher to have the deputies respond rapidly. WinCo has used this tactic many times against people of color in our community, and that is why we are calling for AV residents to stop shopping at WinCo. #BoycottWinco
Update on Palmdale Mom Punched by Deputy and Baby Snatched
Earlier this month, CTC joined the press conference held at the Legal Office of Douglas and Hicks who are representing the young mother and her child in the Palmdale incident where body cam footage was released by Sheriff Luna to national outcry. Luna said the video was disturbing and that the incident had occurred a year before it came to light. As the young mother had one hand being held behind her back and her other hand holding onto her 3 week old child, a male Palmdale deputy punched her repeatedly in her face as no other deputies intervened. Each of those officers stood by and didn’t speak up, or report him.
Neighborhood Defender Service, Inc.
Cancel the Contract has been recognized for its work as advocates for the Antelope Valley Community! Cristina Ocampo, the Access to Justice Fellow and PACE Program Coordinator for Neighborhood Defender Service, spent the day with CTC on Tuesday August 22nd. Cristina traveled from Texas to discuss NDS’s partnership with CTC to address police brutality in the Antelope Valley. NDS is a non-profit, holistic public defense organization that provides free legal aid and social work services to underserved communities. Their work began when they pioneered the holistic defense model in Harlem in the 1990s; they now have offices in New York, Michigan, and Texas, where they help indigent clients with matters involving criminal defense, immigration, eviction, reentry, access to resources, and more. Over the past few years, they have been developing a program to address police violence in Black and brown communities called PACE (Police Accountability and Community Empowerment). The goal is to work with organizations and individuals in the community to develop a sustainable, community-based public safety model and share tools and resources to help victims of police violence become leaders in their community. NDS has selected the Antelope Valley for the PACE pilot program—primarily due to its significant population of people of color, history of racialized policing, and a demonstrated need for criminal legal reform and other supports.PACE is particularly concerned with racially-biased policing and disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline and sees a natural fit between the organizations and a strong potential for collaboration in making racial equity and community-based public safety a reality for folks in southern California and beyond. This is what Cristina Ocampo had to say about Cancel the Contract.
“In searching for local partners, I came across the Cancel the Contract coalition and was blown away by the work you have done and the impressive level of community organizing you’ve achieved in the Antelope Valley region. The diversity and passion demonstrated among your team members is truly inspiring, and very much aligned with our organizational values.”
Cancel the Contract is looking forward to collaborating with Neighborhood Defense Services to develop an alternative model of public safety in the Antelope Valley.
Reports and Information
On August 16, 2023, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a “Report on Reform and Oversight Efforts of the Los Angeles Sheriff Department – April to June 2023”
Public Webinar: Lobbying and Advocacy 101 – Wednesday, September 27, 2023 @ 11:00 AM
This $60 workshop will give you a clear understanding of how to maximize your advocacy, the kinds of advocacy activities 501(c)(3)s can engage in, and when a communication is considered lobbying.
COC Virtual Conference on Police Officer Decertification
Too often when law enforcement officers who engage in misconduct are discovered, they move to another agency and continue their misconduct. Senate Bill 2, which was signed into law in 2021, creates a decertification process to prohibit officers who engage in misconduct from regaining eligibility for peace officer employment anywhere in California. On Thursday, September 7th, join the COC Virtual Conference to learn about the process and circumstances when the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) can revoke certifications for peace officers.
Local Civic Engagement
Closing Section
If you found it useful, please share this newsletter with your networks and follow us on socials. We hope to see you at an upcoming event, and please reach out with any concerns.
Yours in CommUNITY,
The CTCAV Team
