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Smart & Safe NAACP Criminal Justice Initiative-Strategy Training
March 2010
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Criminal Justice a Civil Rights Issue?
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Criminal Justice is a Civil Rights Issue
Voting EmploymentEducationPolice Abuse
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▫ 1 in 31 Americans have served time or is currently serving time. 1 in 11 African Americans.
▫ Majority of people incarcerated are people of color, people that were unemployed, have mental health issues and are in for non-violent offenses.
▫ Women and children are the largest growing prison population.
▫ 600-800 thousand inmates get released into community each year
▫ 1 in 3 African American males born in 2001 run the risk of serving time in prison or being dead before their 34th birthday.
As cited by the Justice Policy Institute, Pruning Prisons, 2009.
▫ .
Incarceration Trends: The Problem
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Impact on Education
▫ $70 billion a year on incarcerating people.
▫ 6 times the rate of state spending on higher education. ▫ K-12 and Higher Education funding declined as 33 states spent a
larger proportion of their discretionary dollars on prisons.
Public four-year college is $15,213.
Private four year is $35,636.
Annual cost of incarcerating a person in prison was approximately $25,000 a year.
As cited by the Justice Policy Institute, Pruning Prisons, 2009.
▫ .
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Police Misconduct
2005 Dept. of Justice Survey re: Contact with Police Of the 43.5 million people who had contact with
police, 1.6% had force or threat of force used against them in their most recent contact
Of these, 83% characterized the force as excessive
4.4% of African Americans, 2.3% of Hispanics, 1.2% of whites reported experiencing use of force by law enforcement
African Americans were 1 out of 10 contacts with police, but 1 out of 4 instances where force was used
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Exercise Breakout Session
What is an alternative policy or strategy to incarceration in your community?
Make a demand statement that clearly states what you are asking for in regards to Criminal Justice/Smart and Safe?
Who must you hold accountable to get what you want?
How do you build power to accomplish your goal?
How can we be helpful to what you want to do locally or at state level?
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Different Forms of Organizing
Dir
ect
Act
ion
Ad
voca
cy
Ed
uca
tion
Self H
elp
Dir
ect
S
erv
ice
Challenges Existing Power
Relations
Accepts Existing Power Relations
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Note: Dual Forms of Bias
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Altering Power Relations Our Focus: Institutional Bias
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Strategy Chart
Goals Organizational Considerations
Constituents, Allies & Opponents
Targets Tactics
Long Term
Intermediate
Short Term
Haves
Wants
Internal Problems
Constituents
Allies
Opponents
Primary Target
Secondary Target
Educational
Power
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Goals
Strategy Model
•Long Term GoalsWhat your are working towards
•Intermediate GoalsActual win you want
•Short Term GoalsWhat you need to get to the intermediate goal
Smart & Safe Example
• Long Term: Drastically reduce, if not eliminate incidents of police misconduct
•Intermediate: Pass law to collect data and require reporting on use of force/profiling
•Short Term: Lawmaker to introduce law with data collection/reporting requirement
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Organizational Constraints
Strategy Model
•Haves Resources ($, staff, facilities, member, other capacity)
•WantsQuantifiable list of what you want for campaign (2 copiers, more funds, 25 more members, etc.)
•Internal ProblemsHonest assessment of internal challenges (different views, people who are missing in action, etc.)
Smart & Safe Example
•Haves: office space, 50 members, people with legal knowledge within the unit, NAACP All Alert Reporting Tool
•Wants: a working computer, a fax machine, copier, a Legal Redress Chair, a Criminal Justice Committee Chair
•Internal Problems: no Legal Redress Chair, no Criminal Justice Committee Chair
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Constituents, Allies & Opponents
Strategy Model
•ConstituentsDirectly impacted by issue
•AlliesThose that support our cause (donors, other organizations, etc.)
•OpponentsPresent a threat, have something to lose ($) (maybe certain lawmakers, or some enforcement officials)
Smart & Safe Example
•Constituents: members, communities of color, youth, parents
•Allies: local ACLU, MALDEF, LULAC chapter, churches, ethnic media, campus-based organizations
•Opponents: fiscally conservative lawmaker Ron Mullen, police union representative Bob Smith, police chief Charlie Clark (random names for this example)
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Targets
Strategy Model
•PrimaryA person who has power to give you what you want. Think: what power do we have over them?
•SecondaryA person with power over primary target Don’t always have or need this person
(different tactic/strategy needed for every target)
Smart & Safe Example
•Primary: local elected representative to introduce bill
•Secondary: none for this scenario
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Tactics
Strategy Model
MUST be directed at a specific target
•PowerBig plays that will make sense to members and show power over the target
•EducationEducating community at large, including constituents about your issue
Smart & Safe Example
•Power: march outside of elected officials offices, well recognized speakers; put forth model legislation/list of needed components for data collection & reporting law; invite local media
•Education: tabling , town hall meeting on issue, expert speakers at local meetings, mailings, email blasts, writing Op-Ed's
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How Tactics Can Influence Your Target
WIN!!!
Civil Disobedience
Press Event
Lobby
Education Forum
Teach-in
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Strategy Exercise - Breakout Session
Every year for the last 5 years, a joint task force of local law enforcement, state police and federal officers execute a raid in the town of Cicero.
The raid consists of arresting and incarcerating 30-45 African American young men for drug-related offenses.
A young unarmed man was killed by law enforcement and after the investigation, the shooting officer was not assigned fault.
Each year, the raid takes place in September and officers use high tech equipment such as helicopters, night gargles, semi-automatic weapons and army gear during the raids.
You are a member of the Cicero NAACP and would like to stop next year’s raid.
BUILD YOUR STRATEGY!!!
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Smart & Safe Criminal Justice Initiative
Four Campaigns Advance Effective Law Enforcement
Elevate the Voices of Crime Survivors
Eliminate Employment Discrimination of the Formerly Incarcerated
Reform Punitive Sentencing and Support Voting Rights for the Formerly incarcerated
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Part of a multi-year initiative to improve trust and public safety. Goals include:
Improve law enforcement accountability
Strengthen bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve
Increase public safety in 1200 urban and rural communities directly represented by NAACP and the nation as a whole
National and local reforms: use of force standards, racial profiling, community oriented policing
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Effective Law Enforcement Campaign
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Recent Examples
Examples of incidents reported to the NAACP that highlight the problem:
Rockford, IL Oakland, CA Pittsburgh, PA
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Rockford, IL – August 2009Rockford, IL – August 2009
23 year-old Mark Anthony Barmore
Domestic complaint
Chased and shot dead in front of day care students at church
Unarmed; three shots in the back
Witnesses report intimidation
Increase in racial tensions in community
Lack of trust between community and police department
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Rockford, IL – Mark Barmore’s KidsRockford, IL – Mark Barmore’s Kids
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Oakland, CA – January 2009Oakland, CA – January 2009
22 year-old Oscar Grant Took BART at his mother’s behest Shot in the head by BART police Unarmed; handcuffed on the floor Incident captured by cell phone video –
“this generation’s Rodney King” Peaceful demonstrations turned violent Increased tension between community
and police
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Oakland, CA – Grant FamilyOakland, CA – Grant Family
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Pittsburgh, PA – January 2010Pittsburgh, PA – January 2010
18 year-old, honors music student, Jordan Miles
Approached by undercover officers, asked about “money and drugs”
Chased, beaten, hair pulled out, choked What officers believed was gun, was
Mountain Dew bottle Charged with resisting arrest, aggravated
assault Community outrage and outcry in support
of Miles
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Pittsburgh, PA – Jordan MilesPittsburgh, PA – Jordan Miles
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All Alert – Online Reporting of Incidents
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All Alert Data – Type of Incident(Feb. 2010)
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▫ Repealed almost all of the state’s mandatory minimum drug statutes
▫ Prisoner Reentry Initiative helped improve chances for parole
▫ Steps taken to reduce recidivism for technical violations of parole
Model State Policies
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Kick Off: Misplaced Priorities Report
• National Report Roll-out
• Regional Report Roll-outs
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• Indianapolis
• Jackson
• Billboards
• New Media Buzz
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National Billboards
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Regional Billboards Example
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All Alert for Organizers
Build Capacity for activism 1: Identify criminal justice committee chairs for
all units Conduct Trainings on All Alert reporting tool Report local trends identified by All Alert data
to NAACP State Conferences Advance toolkit for local and state action Quarterly workshops/webinars for state &
local leadership
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Misplaced Priorities
Build Capacity for activism 2:
Toolkit for local, university and state action
Quarterly workshops/webinars for state & local leadership
State lobby days to elevate misplaced priorities issues
Mobilize around Federal Legislation: Youth Promise Act
Organize and elevate issue on College Campuses
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2010-2012 Federal Smart & Safe Opportunities
Broad-Based Mobilization on: Webb’s Justice System Overhaul Bill
National Standards for Use for Force and Use for Force Training
Community Oriented Policing
Ending Zero-Tolerance Policies
Build Criminal Justice Capacity within the NAACP Criminal Justice Committees
• Track-record of success with building multi-racial alliances to reform law enforcement and prison system
• Organize local campaigns to hold Mayors and Police Chief accountable
• Mobilize for State and Federal Reforms
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Key Staff
Robert Rooks, MSW
Director of Criminal Justice Programs
(410) 336-3156
Niaz Kasravi, Ph. D
Sr. Manager, Law Enforcement Accountability
(410) 336-2642
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