Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Occupy San Diego Voices Complaints Against SDPD

Members of Occupy San Diego will be attending tonight’s Citizens Review Board of Police Practices to voice complaints regarding the way the San Diego Police Department has handled the ongoing protest which began in early October.

“We are going there to talk to them about what’s been going on and to make some specific requests for them to help us look into the crackdown police have been doing,” says Occupy San Diego media liaison Ray Lutz.

“Most significantly, I want to address the number of people arrested whose charges have not been filed. You should not just be able to arrest a whole bunch of people for nothing and not ever have anybody say that’s wrong. Other people have their own ideas about how we can progress this, but I will probably be asking them to looking to the list of people arrested and for what and whether or not charges have been filed. Some Occupy participants who have been following the figures say that 80% have not resulted in charges being filed.”

Lutz cites cases such as the recent arrest of occupier Stephanie Jennings and the arrest of four for felony conspiracy after “mic checking” Mayor Jerry Sanders during his State of the City address.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqf4CJVUHIw

No charges have yet been filed for the felonious four, nor have any against Lutz after he was arrested while registering voters at the Civic Center Plaza in November.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsHlNR-nVR0

“These people may be considered rude, but it’s a public meeting,” says Lutz. “You have a right to speak in there. So these cases need to be looked at. What I find interesting here is that the mayor doesn’t even have to listen to public comment. It’s very hard to even talk to the mayor anymore. It’s just one direction. Just tell us how the city is going. The way the mayor is behaving is a very one-percenter move. San Diego City Council meetings win my award for the worst public participation rules in the states. I mean, three minutes per subject? It makes no common sense at all. It’s like they’re trying to come up with rules that allow people to say the least. So if someone finally has the gall to say something to the mayor, they cite them for a felony.”

Besides the multiple alleged brutal arrests that have taken place at Occupy San Diego, Lutz wants to address the grounds for the majority of the protest’s arrests - Municipal Code 54.0110 (Encroachment):

"It is unlawful for any person to erect, place, allow to remain, construct, establish, plan or maintain any vegetation or object on any public street, alley, sidewalk, highway, or other property or public right-of-way, except as otherwise provided by this Code."

“Let’s say someone was in violation of the encroachment law and built a permanent dumpster in their alley. Would you arrest them? No, you’d give them a citation. You don’t put people in jail for this ever. Property owners don’t get put in jail for encroachment. What they want to do is to make it painful enough and costly enough that the occupy group will abandon ship. It’s one thing to continue to get arrested to make a point. Now you have to process it. It’s going to take some time. Occupy San Diego is going to keep doing this. They have the right to. I think it’s so great that people have the guts to stand up for themselves.”


Citizens Review Board of Police Practices

6:30 p.m. tonight at the Malcolm X Library And Performing Arts Center (5148 Market Street)

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again

Members of Occupy San Diego will be attending tonight’s Citizens Review Board of Police Practices to voice complaints regarding the way the San Diego Police Department has handled the ongoing protest which began in early October.

“We are going there to talk to them about what’s been going on and to make some specific requests for them to help us look into the crackdown police have been doing,” says Occupy San Diego media liaison Ray Lutz.

“Most significantly, I want to address the number of people arrested whose charges have not been filed. You should not just be able to arrest a whole bunch of people for nothing and not ever have anybody say that’s wrong. Other people have their own ideas about how we can progress this, but I will probably be asking them to looking to the list of people arrested and for what and whether or not charges have been filed. Some Occupy participants who have been following the figures say that 80% have not resulted in charges being filed.”

Lutz cites cases such as the recent arrest of occupier Stephanie Jennings and the arrest of four for felony conspiracy after “mic checking” Mayor Jerry Sanders during his State of the City address.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqf4CJVUHIw

No charges have yet been filed for the felonious four, nor have any against Lutz after he was arrested while registering voters at the Civic Center Plaza in November.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsHlNR-nVR0

“These people may be considered rude, but it’s a public meeting,” says Lutz. “You have a right to speak in there. So these cases need to be looked at. What I find interesting here is that the mayor doesn’t even have to listen to public comment. It’s very hard to even talk to the mayor anymore. It’s just one direction. Just tell us how the city is going. The way the mayor is behaving is a very one-percenter move. San Diego City Council meetings win my award for the worst public participation rules in the states. I mean, three minutes per subject? It makes no common sense at all. It’s like they’re trying to come up with rules that allow people to say the least. So if someone finally has the gall to say something to the mayor, they cite them for a felony.”

Besides the multiple alleged brutal arrests that have taken place at Occupy San Diego, Lutz wants to address the grounds for the majority of the protest’s arrests - Municipal Code 54.0110 (Encroachment):

"It is unlawful for any person to erect, place, allow to remain, construct, establish, plan or maintain any vegetation or object on any public street, alley, sidewalk, highway, or other property or public right-of-way, except as otherwise provided by this Code."

“Let’s say someone was in violation of the encroachment law and built a permanent dumpster in their alley. Would you arrest them? No, you’d give them a citation. You don’t put people in jail for this ever. Property owners don’t get put in jail for encroachment. What they want to do is to make it painful enough and costly enough that the occupy group will abandon ship. It’s one thing to continue to get arrested to make a point. Now you have to process it. It’s going to take some time. Occupy San Diego is going to keep doing this. They have the right to. I think it’s so great that people have the guts to stand up for themselves.”


Citizens Review Board of Police Practices

6:30 p.m. tonight at the Malcolm X Library And Performing Arts Center (5148 Market Street)

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Lawsuit filed over voter registration arrest

Next Article

Occupy San Diego Re-Occupies the Civic Center

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader