HomeMy WebLinkAboutA- 3 Request for Approval of four-Point Anti-hate crime program 0A .
For Councilmembers Reports:
Councilmember Stanford:
Request for approval of
four-point anti-hate crime program.
September 27, 2000
To: Mayor, Councilmembers, City Manager, Chief of Police
From: Councilmember Dick Stanford
Subj: Action on Hate Crimes
Dear Colleagues,
Around four decades or so ago,two members of our group–along with others of their ethnicity–suf-
fered the rankest sort of racial discrimination from that percentage of our population which was overtly
and actively racist. That discrimination existed long before then and continued at reducing levels after-
wards.
I wish that the folks sitting in our chairs then had had the courage and vision to do the things they should
have done.
Now, we have a situation that is not dissimilar. Since last early December, there have been four crimes in
our city against Blacks. We must do those things now that should have been done then when the
primary targets of racism here were Latinos.
These four hate crimes–and no matter the state's detailed definition,they are hate crimes–remain
unsolved despite the best efforts of our police department. And, our city is being looked at as not caring.
We–us,the City Council–find ourselves facing needing to take the proactive course that is called for by
this situation.
Over 99.9% of Azusans are great citizens. They are loving,family people.They comprise the Azusa that
Bev and I have come to know and love.
The less than .01% of the population remaining–whether from our city or not–is controlling our city
through their cowardly acts of racism. We cannot let those few punks be in charge. And make no
mistake about it,they are taking charge. When they firebomb a home just doors away from one of the
most prominent citizens in our city, which they did,they show they have no respect for our city or our
citizens.
But,by not being aggressive enough, we may very well be letting them take over by default.
Remember, bad things happen when good people fail to act. We must act.
It is time that we take a clearcut, proactive stance in this matter. Therefore, I respectfully recommend that
we adopt the following four point program:
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(1) No matter what the "official"definitions may be, let's establish a norm that
we're not going to quibble over the definition of these crimes. If they smell,
walk, and look like skunks...they must be skunks. These acts smell, walk, and
look like hate crimes. Let's don't waste time debating whether they are.
(2) We must give the Azusa Police Department immediate, reasonable carte
blanche for overtime, use of outside resources, and whatever else is needed
to solve these crimes. I have absolute confidence in our police department. I
take a backseat to no one in supporting our police and their efforts for our
citizens'public safety. Concurrently,their/our resources must cover a large
spectrum of needs. If we take this action, we provide our police all the tools
to solve these crimes and we tell them to use them.
(3) We need to place an emphasize upon a reward to break these crimes. Mr.Ed
Jackson's $1,000 is sitting unadvertised and unused. There is a grant applica-
tion to the state for this purpose. But, who knows when it will become a
reality. We should appropriate a minimum of$15,000 for this purpose and
encourage Azusa businesses also to participate. We are spending considerably
more money to make our city a better and better place. Let's not lose that
investment by not addressing the impact that racist acts cause.
(4) We should adopt a position which is presently unstated, but which must be
made clear: Regarding racism,Azusa is a city that has zero tolerance.
I would appreciate our joining together to approve these four points as a program. Please call me if there
are any questions I may answer.
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