Alton Sterling’s Death, and the Oakland PD Sex Scandal

http://youtu.be/ckuUk9R5ES0

IN RESPONSE TO VIDEO OF ALTON STERLING SHOOTING: PROTESTS, CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, AND AN INVESTIGATION BY THE DOJ AND FBI

Two videos surfaced this week showing Baton Rouge police wrestling Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, to the ground before repeatedly shooting the restrained Sterling in the chest and back.

The fatal shooting occurred on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the bystanders’ videos had sparked public outrage and protests, and a swift and welcome announcement from East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore that the United States Attorney and the FBI would be taking over the investigation. “This is a very important decision taken to ensure that our community can have confidence that local law enforcement is committed to ensuring transparency in all officer-involved deaths,” said Moore.

Early Tuesday morning, at around 12:30a.m., Baton Rouge Police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake responded to a disturbance call from a man who said a black man selling CD’s outside of a convenience store had threatened him with a gun. The officers reportedly confronted Sterling, and a struggle ensued.

In the graphic video footage, one of the officers yells, “He’s got a gun! Gun.” The other officer, standing a few feet away, then draws and aims his pistol at Sterling. The first officer is heard saying, “You fucking move, I swear to God,” then the second officer starts firing at Sterling, who is on the ground. The owner of the store, Abdullah Muflahi, who recorded the first cell phone video of the incident, says Sterling wasn’t touching his pockets or holding a gun. (Louisiana, by the way, is an open carry state.) In the clearer of the two videos (above), one of the officers appears to remove a gun from Sterling’s pocket afterward.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law called the intervention of the FBI and DOJ an “encouraging development,” noting that the BRPD had previously been the subject of a federal civil rights investigation into a case of excessive force by an officer.

“We stand with Mr. Sterling’s family, the community and those exercising their first amendment right to protest in calling for justice in the tragic death of Alton Sterling,” said Kristen Clarke, head of the Lawyer’s Committee.

According to the BRPD, the two officers have been placed on administrative leave.

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WILL OAKLAND POLICE SEX SCANDAL IMPEDE EFFORTS TO REDUCE CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING?

Amid a major scandal involving Oakland police and other Bay Area officers allegedly passing around a minor for sex, advocates and local officials are worried that the revelations will make it more difficult for the OPD to have cooperative interactions with young sex trafficked people.

Contra Costa County Public Defender Robin Lipetzky agrees that the scandal cheapens efforts to combat the exploitation of minors. “When you have a young woman who’s being used for sexual favors by police officers, it really detracts from that message,” Lipetzky told the SF Chronicle’s Kimberly Veklerov.

Lipetzky and Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods are carefully reviewing cases—especially prostitution stings—handled by the law enforcement officers implicated in the scandal.

In case you missed it, last month, a young woman who calls herself Celeste Guap told a television station that she had sex with a number of Bay Area cops, including more than a dozen OPD officers, at least three of whom she reportedly had sex with while she was 17—in 2014.

The LA Times’ James Queally has more on the scandal and what its broader implications. Here’s a clip:

“They were participating in the human trafficking of this girl. Passing her around from area to area, giving her breaks … they became the pimp,” said John Burris, a civil rights attorney who negotiated a federal monitoring agreement that the Oakland Police Department has been under since 2003. “Does OPD have any credibility on this issue? That’s a legitimate question.”

Law enforcement agencies in Alameda County have made trafficking enforcement a top priority in recent years, creating a task force spearheaded by Dist. Atty. Nancy E. O’Malley. From January to May, Oakland police made 282 arrests connected to trafficking, department records show. About 70% of those arrested were women, rather than “johns.”

A police spokesman said the arrests enabled police to get sex-trade victims off the streets. Once the young people are in custody, police give them information about social services.

The trafficking problem in Oakland has been evident for decades, according to investigators who say the victims are usually minors or young women exploited by gangs or pimps.

City Councilman Noel Gallo, a former school board member who represents the Fruitvale neighborhood, said he could recall horror stories about the trafficking trade ensnaring young girls, even in areas that were supposedly safe.

“I remember the girls would leave school … to go prostitute on International during lunch hour,” he said. “The students knew it, the teachers knew it, the principal knew it, I knew it … and we allowed that to happen.”

Gallo said he feared that the police sex scandal might make it more difficult for officers to interact with trafficking victims or gain their trust, a task that was hard enough before the controversy becoming national news.

At least officers under investigation have been reassigned from posts involving interaction with kids and teens. One officer, Jerred Tong, was a school resource officer and an advisor for the department’s Explorers program for teens. Another officer had been working as a manager of the department’s Youth and Special Services Division. There are other officers reportedly involved in the sex scandal who may still be positions involving children and teens, who have not been reassigned to administrative duties. The Richmond Standard has the story.