In the wake of the recent murder of Jamil Wheatfall by Oakland police, INS-Police collusion, and the targeting of Oakland youth by the police, a broad spectrum of community organizations, unions, religious and youth organizations are coming together today to hold a Speak Out against police misconduct and racial profiling in Oakland.  The Speak Out is being held at Josie D. de la Cruz Park at 1637 Fruitvale Ave near 16^th Street in Oakland from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, 2001.

The organizations include the Racial Justice Coalition, People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO), National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Black Radical Congress (BRC), ACLU-Paul Robeson Chapter, NAACP, LULAC, La Raza Centro Legal, United Farm Workers, American Friends Service Committee and Bay Area Cop Watch.

            “The recent killing of Jamil Wheatfall by Oakland police is only one more example of why we need police accountability and civilian review,” said Maggie Aragon of People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO).  “For too long, youth of color have been the victims of racial profiling and police brutality in Oakland. That is why we have invited the community to come and speak out against police misconduct and racial profiling in their communities.”

Today’s Speak Out will also focus on the need for data collection on racial profiling, INS-Police collusion, and “consent searches” by the police.  The California Highway Patrol recently issued a six-month moratorium on consent searches, following the release of data showing that Latinos were three times as likely to be searched as whites by drug interdiction officers in the Central and Coastal Divisions. 

“Racial Profiling is not simply an issue of who gets stopped. The Oakland Police Department recently released data that showed that African Americans were three times as likely to be searched as whites,” said Louise Rothman Riemer of the ACLU-Paul Robeson Chapter in Oakland. “Our communities cannot sit idly by while police chiefs and our elected officials allow these discriminatory police practices to continue.”

Phillip Gardiner, community activist for the Black Radical Congress added that the "People of Oakland, along with people throughout the country, are beginning to stand up and notice the outrageous practices of the Oakland Police Department.  Whether it is collusion with the INS to detain and intimidate Asians and Latinos, racial profiling of youth of color, or the outright brutalization and murder of Jamil Wheatfall an African American man, the OPD needs to be held accountable and forced to change their act."

            Elected officials and police representatives from Alameda County were also invited to hear from community members.