Chauncey DeVega on 'The Big Picture' Discussing America's Police and Their Debt Peonage Racket

[sheshe2]

Semi-Open Weekend Thread: Chauncey DeVega on 'The Big Picture' Discussing America's Police and Their Debt Peonage Racket

I had three things that I wanted to communicate in 6 minutes last evening: Ferguson is not an isolated problem; there are deep connections between the shakedown schemes used by America's police against non-whites, and the poor more generally and Jim and Jane Crow; and that "hands up, don't shoot" is the truth.

Because time is a variable in a TV segment, I was not able to get to my last point, but I did pivot to the context of Austerity and Neoliberalism as two of the primary driving forces behind the nationwide violations of civil rights by the prison industrial complex in the United States and elsewhere.

Plus, I got to mention "social control", "the carceral society", and "goons" all in one segment.

[Thom Hartmann's segment--which immediately follows mine--where he discusses Ferguson, "hands up, don't shoot", O'Reilly, and white privilege closely echoes much of what I have written about as of late. I take that as a complement.]

Read More: http://www.chaunceydevega.com/2015/03/semi-open-weekend-thread-chauncey.html

Great segment, listen if you can.

[msongs]

1. America's police are an extortion racket on behalf of elected democrats and republicans. Democrats

should be ashamed and police should be investigated for racketeering.

[sheshe2]

2. Not the police! Please not them.

Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department

http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

Justice Department Announces Findings of Two Civil Rights Investigations in Ferguson, Missouri

Justice Department Finds a Pattern of Civil Rights Violations by the Ferguson Police Department

The Justice Department announced the findings of its two civil rights investigations related to Ferguson, Missouri, today. The Justice Department found that the Ferguson Police Department (FPD) engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments of the Constitution. The Justice Department also announced that the evidence examined in its independent, federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown does not support federal civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-findings-two-civil-rights-investigations-ferguson-missouri

“As detailed in our report, this investigation found a community that was deeply polarized, and where deep distrust and hostility often characterized interactions between police and area residents,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Our investigation showed that Ferguson police officers routinely violate the Fourth Amendment in stopping people without reasonable suspicion, arresting them without probable cause, and using unreasonable force against them. Now that our investigation has reached its conclusion, it is time for Ferguson’s leaders to take immediate, wholesale and structural corrective action. The report we have issued and the steps we have taken are only the beginning of a necessarily resource-intensive and inclusive process to promote reconciliation, to reduce and eliminate bias, and to bridge gaps and build understanding.”

“While the findings in Ferguson are very serious and the list of needed changes is long, the record of the Civil Rights Division’s work with police departments across the country shows that if the Ferguson Police Department truly commits to community policing, it can restore the trust it has lost,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “We look forward to working with City Officials and the many communities that make up Ferguson to develop and institute reforms that will focus the Ferguson Police Department on public safety and constitutional policing instead of revenue. Real community policing is possible and ensures that all people are equal before the law, and that law enforcement is seen as a part of, rather than distant from, the communities they serve.”