Who's Streets? Our Streets! An Interview with Hamilton Copwatch

August 14, 2011 - Linchpin
http://linchpin.ca/content/Community-organizing/Who039s-Stre...

Copwatch is a network of activist organizations dedicated to the observation and recording of police interactions with the public. Formed in the 90's in Berkeley [California] it now has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Scott, a lead organizer of the new Hamilton [Ontario] branch has offered to answer some questions for us before departing to Israel-Palestine on academic research.

What was the impetus behind forming this group?

The motivation behind the formation of Hamilton CopWatch is, at base level, the same drive which has given rise to CopWatch groups across this continent and beyond for over the past 20 years: a deeply felt need to construct cooperative sources of protection against police abuse. In the face of a local police force whose daily operations threaten the safety, well-being and dignity of our communities, we have been compelled out of necessity to seek out our power in numbers, as an organization dedicated to placing a greater degree of accountability upon cops in our neighbourhoods. We do this by asserting and enacting our right to observe and monitor police activities in public spaces (our first street patrols are set to move forward this year); educating ourselves and the wider community on our rights when dealing with police; and mobilizing the masses in demonstrations surrounding issues of police abuse and accountability.

How have you tried to get your message out so far?

Since our primary message is one of empowerment and solidarity in reaction to the disempowering and isolating effects of policing in this city, we have been working on building a presence in our community through developing connections with our neighbours so that we are better able to reflect our collectively held interests in our continued activities as organization. One way that we have begun to engage in this dialogue has been through the hosting of CopWatch documentary screenings at various venues in the downtown area. Throughout the month of June we ran three screenings of the documentary film CopWatch: These Streets Are Watching
(see video below) followed by discussion around the goals, means and difficulties inherent to the CopWatch model of police accountability activism.

In the near future, we plan to continue our educational work through facilitating Know Your Rights workshops throughout the city. This will be a chance to open up a space for sharing vital information and insights regarding our rights when dealing with the cops so that we may all be better equipped to handle ourselves when faced with the reality of police violence and misconduct. Our street patrols will also be a chance to engage with community members in aims of spreading a wider culture of solidarity which works to challenge police impunity.

Canadians can tend towards being pretty deferential to authority. Have you found it difficult overcoming this tendency in your organizing?

I think that the issue of passivity toward authority can be best placed within the contexts of privilege and/or disempowerment. Concerning privilege, it is true that many Hamiltonians either don’t see or shield their eyes from police violence simply because it is largely inflicted upon more marginalized sections of the populations from specific socio-economic backgrounds. This is a huge barrier to creating a culture of police accountability, especially since those in more privileged positions, such as members of the merchant owning class, actually stand to benefit from the heavy-handed policing of Hamilton’s marginalized populations (i.e. unemployed, working poor, youth, sex trade workers, etc.) and so have no immediate interest in challenging the coercive conduct of cops in the downtown core which secure a more pleasing environment for commerce. It is our hope that this barrier will become eroded over time, to the extent that the parameters of class will allow. We will pursue this through continuing to unmask police abuse for what it is, bringing it under the light for all to see its ugly face. Of course, we are only one organization, so the more sweeping revolutionary changes which may have to occur in order to fully erode this barrier of socio-economic privilege aren’t within our immediate grasp. At best, we can work to produce one piece of the puzzle for radical change alongside other groups working to build a better world.

Concerning the barrier of disempowerment which is often coupled with an indifference to the workings of authority, it is our role as CopWatch to provide an example of the tangible victories which can be won through collective action. We must remember that there is nothing innately passive about the ordinary Canadian. It was ordinary Canadians who in June 2000 fought back courageously against police aggressors at the steps of the Ontario legislature with the demand that the concerns articulated by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty be heard out on that day by government decision-makers. More recently, it was regular Canadians who in June 2010 took to the streets in the tens of thousands to confront the summit of the G20 leaders gathering to facilitate the global capitalist system. Many of those who filled the streets continue to struggle today against the on-going repressive police terror infecting activist communities aimed at criminalizing the wave of dissent that swept across the city of Toronto that weekend.

Our role as CopWatch is to organize the community in a manner that empowers all of us to recognize our own collective strength against the seemingly impenetrable forces of the police as a state institution. When folks in our neighbourhoods bear witness to a growing section of the population now equipped with the knowledge of our rights and the tools to put them to use in a way that offers a counter balance to police impunity, it is very likely that their prior passivity toward authority may become transformed into a confidence to expose and oppose the cops who are stirring up trouble outside of their front doors.

What future campaigns/events/actions are you working on at the moment?

An on-going campaign of Hamilton CopWatch is the specific attention we pay to the operations of the ACTION Team unit of the Hamilton Police Service. Founded by Chief De Caire, the ACTION Team functions as an obnoxious body guard for business interests in the downtown core and beyond at the expense of the security and well-being of those folks who have already been pushed to the bottom rungs of the social ladder.

Supposedly working to “Address Crime Trends In Our Neighbourhoods,” the unit’s day-to-day activities reveal a systemic policy of harassment, intimidation and criminalization toward the so-called “undesirables” (i.e. marginalized peoples such as youth, unemployed, homeless, pan-handlers, sex trade workers, poor/working poor, etc.) who have built up their own social networks in the downtown core. Relying on statistics gathered through surveys conducted within the merchant class in the downtown area, HPS’s ACTION Team unit points to a marked increase in perceptions of security and safety in their target areas as justification for their policies. We say it’s clear who stands [to] benefit from their bullying tactics and instances of physical abuse and we strive toward tipping the balance of power the other way, taking our cues from the (would-be) victims of police violence. As we begin to hit the streets in our own organized patrol groups, our ACTION Team campaign will be thoroughly underway.

As far as events go, we are currently gearing up for a Community Jam/Fundraiser in Beasley Park on August 28th. Running from noon until about 4PM, we’re setting up some different activities and entertainment to draw in families and people of all different ages and walks of life. From face-painting to local musicians to balloon animals, baked goods and info tables, we want to open up a space for building a relationship with the community. So, come on out! We’d love to see you there!

Is your organizing strictly at the local level or are you in contact with other groups doing similar work in different cities?

Presently, our energies have been directed in most part to building things up here in Hamilton, but we will definitely be looking to create ties with other CopWatch groups (or organizations with similar mandates) in different cities and even different countries. This will be important on two levels: building solidarity which will strengthen all of our voices in our linked struggles and sharing our experiences and insights so that we may be able to learn from one another’s mistakes and victories.

Although our main focus remains local at the moment, we are in contact with the Centre for Police Accountability in Toronto (http://www.c4pa.ca/) to the extent that members of this organization have lent their services to us in the form of sympathetic legal counsel. This support has been crucial for us, as we do not currently benefit from a membership base with expert legal training, so the advice and services offered through the Centre For Police Accountability will help us to continue our activism in confidence.

How does CopWatch manage the risk of police reprisals for participants?

This is a big one. First off, all members who enter into CopWatch are made aware of the risks involved in our type of organizing and are encouraged to explore exactly how they may want to become involved. Not all members of CopWatch might be comfortable, for instance, going out on patrol to monitor police activities and having their faces become known by the cop who stands down their street every other day. There is lots of crucial work to be done in various different settings for our organization to reach its goals. That being said, there is still a risk of police reprisals of differing degrees facing those who choose to enter into activities related to CopWatching in general. This could be something as “little” as a cop giving someone a J-walking ticket where they may have not before, simply because they saw that individual working a CopWatch event the week before and they don’t take too kindly to knowing that their public servant duties are being observed by the public.

Our approach to the potential of police reprisals against CopWatch members is twofold. First, we believe in power through numbers and strength in unity. One of the first points in our working protocol for street patrols is that all patrols must contain at minimum a group of four, two in the front and two near behind, each set of two being equipped with a video camera and a clip board for taking notes. This way, police might become deterred from violating the rights of our membership, knowing that all of their actions are being recorded. However, in cases that they continue to operate with impunity, our records will serve as a basis for pursuing available avenues for justice with the help of legal counsel. This is the same approach we take concerning the well-being of (would-be) victims out on the streets when we are on patrol. The principle of power in numbers will also be relevant when dealing with particular instances of police abuse directed toward our membership. Depending on the wishes of the subject of such abuse, we may choose to hold creative public demonstrations as a way in which we can apply pressure on the police under the public eye.

Our second approach has been touched on already and that is our recourse to legal counsel through the Centre For Police Accountability. On top of providing legal advice, our legal expert partner is also willing and able to take on civil cases against police which may arise out of police reprisals against our members.

This past week saw Ryan Tocher (the main subject officer in the case of the botched drug raid that left Po La Hay in hospital) have charges of excessive force dropped. When police can break into someone's house and beat them to the point where they need medical attention, then have the story splashed across the front page of the city paper and not be charged, how can even something like CopWatch have an impact?

The case of Po La Hay provides an example of the necessity for grassroots direct action groups like CopWatch to mobilize on the ground in this city. The gross brutality inflicted by Torcher in his beating of Po La Hay on May 4, 2010 alone calls attention to the need of effective community-based police oversight. On top of this, the pathetically slow response on behalf of the Special Investigations Unit to follow their supposed mandate to seriously investigate instances of blatant abuses of police power, alongside a despairingly flawed legal system which saw Torcher escape with no charges on the basis of a judge’s claim that insufficient evidence of excessive force was used (despite medical records of a broken nose, broken ribs and a fractured vertebrae), these facts point toward a need for the pursuit of direct action in order to win justice for the people.

The direct action methods perused by CopWatch consist of our direct surveillance of police activities as a deterrent to abuse, spreading knowledge on our rights which are time and time again violated by the cops, and, where these methods reach their limits, the mobilization of mass rallies will become an important aspect of our struggle to place pressure on cops in our city. On the front of building a protest movement for police accountability, Hamilton CopWatch is excited that 905 Against Police Brutality -- an organization whose efforts were at the front lines of the mass demonstration held in April to confront the Hamilton Police Service for the police murder of 19 year old Andreas Chinnery – have recently merged with CopWatch with a vigor to continue mobilizing our communities to take to the streets.

While it may be overambitious to assume that our efforts might completely reverse the balance of power, placing the institution of the police fully underneath the community forces of CopWatch or to render it null and void all together, it is our goal to contribute toward the emergence of a general culture of CopWatching, where all our neighbours are attuned to the realities of police brutality and abuse and feel empowered to raise their voices, individually and collectively, when and where it occurs. Hamilton CopWatch itself will play an integral role in sustaining such a culture of solidarity and police accountability where it arises, conducting regular patrols and information sessions, but the police must feel watched at all times, knowing that any incidences such as the Po Lay Hay beating, the Andreas Chinnery murder or the routine harassment of marginalized and other sections of the population will not go unnoticed or unchallenged.

Finally, what kind of support do you need from the community and how can people get in touch with you?

There are always many ways for folks to help us out, especially now as we embark on the first stages of development as an organization. Any form of help that people may be able to offer will be greatly productive and appreciated at any time.

One immediate concern would be funding and equipment, as we begin to prepare for our first patrols. In terms of funds, any amounts will be put into our patrol project fund and any surplus will go into our continuous operational costs and future projects. In terms of equipment, we need video cameras, SD cards, small sound recorders and tapes, an external hard drive, paper and copy supplies, and walkie-talkies.

If people would like to get involved as organizers, in any capacity, they can come out to some of our meetings and stay up to date on our mailing list. Just send us an e-mail. If any like-minded organizations are interested in working together, we’d love to hear from you, too!

E-mail contact: hamiltoncopwatch@riseup.net