HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-03-2022_Open Session_ General Comment_Brown, Hardy_ADA Accommodation_any links sanitized 1
Hardy Brown Chair NAACP Legal Redress Committee 8/2/22 San Bernardino City Council Comments for 8/3/2022 Meeting Thank you mayor and council for your service to our community and congratulations to those the voters returned to the council. At last night’s school board meeting the first four or five speakers were parents speaking about their fear and safety for their children. The Black mother spoke about what she perceived to be a “target on her children’s back” by every one in our society. The White and Latino parents spoke about the fear they have of their children getting to and from school with gun violence in the neighborhoods. It is a serious and heavy burden for parents to carry and we must act as a community. My main reason for speaking tonight is in keeping with public safety after the recent shooting and killing of Rob Adams by two police officers. The NAACP has requested of me as Chair of the Legal Redress Committee to open an investigation of the shooting and draw our own conclusion as to what happened. It is in the spirit of justice and unity for our community that I will precede in gathering all of the facts that I can while evaluating the material through the current and historical lens of racial biases of the police department and community.
To guide me during my investigation will be Senate Bill 1421 where I find these words
written; “The public has a right to know all about serious police misconduct, as well as
about officer-involved shootings and other serious uses of force.
It is in keeping with the intent and spirit of SB 1421 and my responsibility as Chair of the
NAACP Branch 1062 Legal Redress Committee that I put into the city a Public Records Act Request, seeking the specific police record of the incident, other written reports, names of the officers, the body camera recordings, any documentation in their personnel records related to the use of force when engaged with the public by these two officers.
SB 1421 goes on to read; Concealing crucial public safety matters such as officer
violations of civilians’ rights, or inquiries into deadly use of force incidents, undercuts the
public’s faith in the legitimacy of law enforcement,
This was one of points a Hispanic male Veteran told the school board last night. He did
not trust or believe them to tell him the truth. We have to restore or better yet, we have to
establish trust with you as elected officials and our law enforcement agencies.
If we don’t it will make it harder for our officers and the tens of thousands of other
hardworking peace officers to do their jobs.
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I want to thank Mr. Rob Field, city manager for his recent hiring of Darren Goodman as Chief of Police for this has soften the blow of anger and outrage from the shooting and killing of Rob Adams. But that alone has not reduced the tension and fear of police in the community. The fact that the family has retained the legal service Attorney, Mr. Ben Crump, has also helped reduce some of the tension because of his reputation of fighting for JUSTICE. The NAACP is fighting for JUSTICE and UNITY on behalf of the Black community and all of its citizens who are disrespected and abused by SOME NOT ALL, police officers in the department. They took an oath to Protect and Serve all citizens, regardless of our race, gender, age, national origin, disability, income status and it is the NAACP Mission to try and hold them to that oath. Recently there was an article in the SUN, that read “Racial bias a problem for San Bernardino police”. The information in the article was taken from a report, done by the Attorney General for the state of California based your own police department’s records. I knew that racial bias existed from the brief investigation I did on a complaint filed by Quinn Bass a Black man, who was beaten by a police officer during a stop for speeding that Quinn was never cited for. Let me close by saying, I am willing to meet with Mr. Field and Chief Goodman to share my thoughts and ideas on public safety in the city. Thank you for your time and service. Hardy Brown, a 6th Ward Resident.