California Association of Human Relations Organizations

Report: Anti-Latino hate crimes surge

cchandler — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:49:41 +0000

The number of anti-Latino hate crimes surged statewide in 2010, according to a state attorney general’s office report…..

http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20110812-report-anti-latino-hate-crimes-surge.ece

From The Press-Enterprise, Aug. 11, 2011

New Hate Crime Report for LA County Released on 11/17/11

rtoma — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:38:58 +0000

To see the new report on hate crime in Los Angeles County, go to www.lahumanrelations.org.

Bullying Resources

admin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:49:10 +0000

Here are some websites on bullying resources:

US Dept. of Education: Bullying prevention and response.

Bully Police: A watch-dog organization advocating for bullied children & reporting on State anti-bullying laws.

Stop Bullying Now!: Learn all about bullying and what you can do to stop it.

Stomp Out Bullying: A National Anti-Bullying and Cyberbullying Program for Kids and Teens.

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Self described as “The World’s Foremost Bullying Prevention Program”

US Dept. of Justice: Bullying in schools – a problem oriented policing guide.

National Crime Prevention Council: Information and resources to help prevent the serious problem of bullying

PBS Kids: Games, videos, advice and other child-friendly resources to prevent bullying.

Bullying.org: Dedicated to increasing the awareness of bullying and to preventing, resolving and eliminating bullying in society.

National PTA: Information on identifying and stopping bullying in your community

Cyberbullying: identifying the causes and consequences of cyberbullying

A Thin Line: Drawing the line between digital use and abuse.

CyberBully Help: Preventing bullying in the digital age.

SAVE: The National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere. Students learn about alternatives to violence and practice what they learn.

Web Wise Kids: Unique and effective resources to equip young people to safely use and enjoy the latest technologies.

Safety Web: Helpful tool for parents who need assistance in monitoring instant messaging and social networking sites.

Netsmartz: From the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Information for young kids, youth and adults.

Wired Safety: World’s largest internet safety and help group.

Teaching Tolerance: Bullied is a documentary film that chronicles one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today.

Safe Schools Coalition: An international public-private partnership in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, working to help schools become safe places.

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network: GLSEN provides resources and support for schools to implement effective and age-appropriate anti-bullying programs to improve school climate for all students

The Trevor Project: The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

GSA Network: Gay-Straight Alliance Network connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources through peer support, leadership development, and training.

It Gets Better Project: Many LGBT youth can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. The videos provide a positive message about what the future can be.

Make it Better: LGBT youth should not have to suffer through bullying at school! We can Make It Better NOW!

MARC: The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center provides research, education, services and programs to Education, Law Enforcement, and Human Services.

Compiled by OC Human Relations

Ten Years After

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:33:03 +0000

By Booth Gunter with Brian Levin

On Sept. 8, 2009, Najibullah Zazi a car in Colorado and drove to New York City, where he had spent his childhood. His visit was no social occasion. For two months, he had been buying chemicals from beauty supply stores so that he could make triacetone triperoxide, a highly explosive compound favored by Islamic terrorists and dubbed by them the “Mother of Satan.” Zazi and two friends planned to strap explosives to their bodies, board trains at two of the city’s busiest subway stations — Grand Central Station and Times Square — and blow themselves up during rush hour.

15 Years Since, Lessons Remain From Oklahoma City Bombing

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:30:21 +0000

One of my most enduring memories of the Oklahoma City Bombing, which occurred fifteen years ago today, is not even about the bombing or the day itself, but the murderer. How incredibly average and unremarkable the bomber looked, I thought to myself as I sat yards away from Timothy McVeigh in a Federal District Court trial in Denver in the Spring of 1997. The April 19, 1995 ammonium nitrate truck bomb detonated by McVeigh killed 168 and at the time was the worst act of domestic terrorism on American soil in the nation’s history, and remains the worst committed by an American.

A Decade after 9/11… Commission Listens to Sikhs and Muslims Tell Their Stories

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:26:14 +0000

On the tenth anniversary of the worst domestic terrorist attack in the United States’ history the Orange County Human Relations Commission offers condolences to the families and friends of the victims who were wounded or died in those attacks, and to the first responders who gave their lives trying to save lives in the aftermath of the attack.

Click here to download the Listening Report

2010 Orange County Hate Crime Report

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:23:36 +0000

This annual report on hate crime is an important indicator of inter- group relations in Orange County. There are many factors that can influence the number of these bias related crimes including turmoil in the world, uncertainty about the economy, changing demographics, community standards and fear.

The OC Human Relations Commission focuses its energy on assisting the victims, building collaborations with police and victim communities, and preventative programs like mediation, improving school inter-group relations, and proactive diverse community building. While this report focuses on reported hate crime, we are aware that this is not a full accounting of hate crime. We are pleased to report that this indicator of inter-group relations shows a 4-year downward trend in hate crime in Orange County.

C. William Wood, Chair
OC Human Relations Commission

Click here to download the 2010 Hate Crime Report

Primary Types of Civilian Review of Law Enforcement

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:30:57 +0000

Investigative Civilian Review Commission
Conducts investigatin of specified types of complaints independently of the police internal affairs investigation. Often has authority to subpoena witnesses. Commissions do not have power to discipline officers themselves and generally only make a recommendation for discipline to the law enforcement executive and/or authority that has ultimate authority to approve discipline.

Monitoring Civilian Review Board or Authority
Has access to police internal affairs investigations of specified types of complaints. Generally can ask for clarification or additional investigation. May disagree with findings or recommendations and issue a dissenting report to the law enforcement executive, the city manager, or other body that has ultimate authority to approve discipline.

Auditing Civilian Review Board or Authority
Has access to police internal affairs investigations and examines them for indications of need to change policies or procedures. Makes recommendations for policy and procedural changes to the law enforcement executive or other authority.

Inspector General System
Can initiate own investigations and monitor internal affairs investigations on specified issues. Makes own findings and recommendations regarding discipline, policy and procedures to body that has ultimate authority to approve discipline or implement changes in policies and procedures.

Police-Community Intergroup Conflict Resolution

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:29:47 +0000

This is a difficult arena. It is very difficult for an organization to have credibility with both the community of people who believe they are mistreated by law enforcement and the police themselves unless a great deal of preparation occurs prior to an incident occurring. The attempt to build public agency systems for addressing complaints against law enforcement generally follow one of three models.

Investigate complaints against police independent of the police internal affairs process;
Audit the police internal affairs investigation, make additional inquiries as deemed necessary and arrive at independent conclusions;
Monitor the police internal affairs investigation and make recommendations aimed at amending policies and procedures to prevent recurrence of the causes for the complaints.

We do not list any of these models as a best practice in preventing and responding to complaints by a community of people, because they are too slow and generally so politicized that the reviewing entity will not be able to maintain credibility with both the law enforcement agency and the community.

CAHRO is a strong advocate for community policing as a vehicle for preventing conflicts between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are charged with serving. If police agencies have a strong positive relationship helping neighborhoods address causes of crimes by providing resources and support we believe they will establish avenues of communication that will prevent major conflicts from escalating.

There is one model in the developmental stage that may turn into a best practice but we feel it is too early to recommend it.

Oakland Conciliation Forums is part of a pilot project that includes Community Boards and the San Francisco Police Department, and Berkeley Dispute Resolution Services with the Berkeley Police Department. Conciliation Forums is a non-profit organization working with the Oakland Police Department as it is reorganizing to a neighborhood based community policing model. The organization provides training to Oakland police officers so that they are aware of the project and its availability as a resource to respond to multi-party disputes. It also conducts community trainings so that organizations become aware of the availability of dispute resolution services when a law enforcement presence is not necessary. Through numerous interactions in training and in responding to disputes as a resource, the organization has gained credibility with Oakland police officers. It is beginning to be called on to mediate disputes between personnel of the police department and other agencies. A logical next step would be for Conciliation Forums to be accepted as a vehicle for resolving complaints between members of the community and the police department. We will follow the development of the project and if it takes the next step successfully we will list it as a best practice.

Contact: Ilene Gusfield, Director, Conciliation Forums (510) 763-2117.

Differing between Conflict Resolution and Inter-group Conflict

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:54:50 +0000

Conflict resolution is a broad term covering any process by which a dispute between two or more parties is resolved. The term encompasses everything from cooperative decision-making to all-out war. CAHRO’s interest and expertise is focused on intergroup conflict prevention and resolution in the community and in the schools. CAHRO does not address conflicts between individuals and between and among families because there are multiple resources available to resolve them through conciliation, counseling and mediation. Rather CAHRO is using its resources to address conflicts where the personal identities of the groups involved feed into the conflict. The identities may be racial, ethnic, religious, occupational (i.e. police), or based on their age, gender, sexual orientation, local neighborhood, etc.

Formal conflict resolution techniques are usually divided into negotiation, mediation and arbitration, and while people intervening in and responding to intergroup conflicts need to be skilled in these techniques they also must understand group dynamics, community organizing and how to work with diverse groups of people. Some of CAHRO’s staff and many of its Board of Directors and members have long experience working to prevent and respond to intergroup conflicts and are a valuable resources for training, consultation and technical assistance.

Some Examples of Intergroup Conflicts

Boycotts of stores selling liquor in low-income communities;
Youth gang fights;
Demonstrations against law enforcement sparked by a publicized incident;
Outbreaks of campus violence between groups of students from different ethnic groups;
Patterns of violence against gays and lesbians in a particular neighborhood combined with verbal and/or written threats indicating a purposeful effort to drive them out.