MXGM Self-Defence Manual

population in Oakland, changing over yrs with homicides, drug busts, brutality cases,
extrajudicial killings.)
OPD operates as an occupying army—equipped and following policies and supported by
Homeland Security to repress communities of color. Repression brings more violence not
peace.
Extrajudicial executions of Alan Bluford, Oscar Grant, Raheim Brown and others are the
most blatant examples of the need for community control the police. Currently OPD
serves the politicians and other representatives of corporate interests. We need to
institutionalize control of the police by grassroots community members.
Therefore:
1. All Homeland Security Grants to OPD must be redirected to financing the
Community Control Board (CCB) and to pay for implementing the policies and
programs that the CCB decides are most likely to reduce violence by police and
within communities of color.
2. A CCB must be established that includes representatives of the various
constituencies in Oakland’s Black and Latino communities and other oppressed
groups. (we need more discussion about how to define these constituencies but
must be sure that Black and Brown youth; and families who have lost loved ones
to police violence are each represented. We must decide on the total number of
the CCB—recommend not less than 11 or more than 15.) These representatives
shall be nominated and elected by their respective constituencies every two years.
No one shall serve more than a total of four years. They will be paid for their time
and a budget will be available for staff that the CCB decides are appropriate.
3. The CCB shall meet as often as necessary to carry out its responsibilities and
conduct monthly (quarterly) community meetings to receive community input
and report on progress.
4. The CCB has the power and authority to hire, fire, subpoena, monitor, approve
and disapprove budgets and policies.
5. The responsibilities of the CCB include, but are not limited to the following:
a. Overhaul all OPD racist policies, rules of engagement, training and
rewards.
b. Eliminate all the policies and procedures that sanction or encourage racial
profiling of Black, Latino and other discriminated and targeted groups.
c. Ensure that recruitment, training of new recruits, on-going retraining and
evaluations of all members of OPD that identify racist assumptions and
uproot them. The demonization of Black and Latino people and the
concept of “suspicious behavior” must be deconstructed under the
leadership of the CCB.
d. Rewrite “rules of engagement” so that any member of the OPD who uses
deadly force will automatically lose his/her job unless she/he can prove to
Referendum on Community Control of OPD (First Draft of Proposal for limited discussion only 9/12/12) 3 of 4