To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

×
      LATEST NEWSOPINIONCLIMATEECONOMY POLITICS RIGHTS & JUSTICEWAR & PEACE
      LATEST NEWS
      OPINION

      racial justice

      What Business Do Former CIA Agents Have in Domestic Law Enforcement?

      What Business Do Former CIA Agents Have in Domestic Law Enforcement?

      Behind all the law enforcement mumbo-jumbo is a commitment to racist broken-windows policing.

      Colin Kalmbacher
      Iman Boukadoum
      Daanish Faruqi
      Mar 24, 2023

      This exercise of fitting a square into a circular peg is precisely what now guides New Jersey’s contemporary policing regime. The Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC), the only Department of Homeland Security-affiliated fusion center within the Garden State is led by a former CIA agent trained in international espionage, not state and municipal law enforcement tactics that must adhere to constitutional rights. As New Jersey's experience makes clear, the way fusion centers operate render them rife for abuse, and offer outdated models of policing.

      The Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights’ (CSRR) recent report Shining a Light on New Jersey’s Secret Intelligence System shows how the ROIC wastes limited state resources doubling down on “broken windows policing” – a method consistently rebuked by legal and criminal justice scholars as a tool of mass incarceration. Broken windows models emphasize aggressive enforcement of misdemeanor and non-violent “quality of life” offenses. ROIC intelligence gathering focuses on these methods, as the example of the City of Camden attests. There, ROIC intelligence has given rise to open season on privacy and petty offenses, with police issuing fines for offenses like riding a bicycle without a bell. Invariably, such tactics overwhelmingly target minority communities. Rather than fight terrorism, ROIC intelligence furthers the overreach of the carceral state with little benefit.

      Keep ReadingShow Less
      Opinion
      fusion center
      High school teacher educating students

      Hey Teachers, Please Remain Alert to Racial Prejudice and Discrimination

      That's all being "woke" really means. I'm not sure what's so controversial about that.

      Steven Singer
      Mar 13, 2023
      “I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there – best stay woke, keep their eyes open.”
      –Lead Belly“Scottsboro Boys”

      How can you understand a problem if you are not allowed to name it?

      How can you fight injustice if you are forbidden from learning its history and connection to the present moment?

      Keep ReadingShow Less
      Opinion
      teachers
      Students at the Howard University College of Medicine participated in the #WhiteCoatsforBlackLives protests

      #WhiteCoatsforBlackLives: Medical Students Stage Nationwide Die-Ins

      Coordinated protests at more than 70 medical schools are only latest sign of staying-power of growing movement for racial justice

      Jon Queally
      Dec 11, 2014

      Medical students at universities across the United States held dramatic die-in protests on Wednesday to show their solidarity with a growing protest movement against police brutality and other forms of systematic inequality taking place in low-income areas and communities of color nationwide.

      Dubbed #whitecoatsforblacklives, the coordinated demonstrations allowed students to add their unique perspective to the broader movement for racial and social justice that has accelerated in recent weeks following the lack of accountability in the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York City; and Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio.

      Keep ReadingShow Less
      News
      Black Lives Matter
      SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
      Quality journalism. Progressive values. Direct to your inbox.
      Follow Us
      Most Popular

      'Shocking and Immoral': Report Details Private Equity's Stranglehold on US Healthcare

      Reckless Capitalist Banks Rescued by Government Socialism – Again!

      Progressives Slam House Passage of GOP Book Banning Bill That Turns Children Into 'Pawns'

      'Never Seen Anything Like This': US Librarians Report Book Bans Hit Record High in 2022

      Beware This Libertarian Oligarch's Ecological Utopia in Texas

      East Palestine Soil Contains Dioxin Levels Hundreds of Times Over Cancer Risk Threshold

      Seymour Hersh Accuses US  of 'Cover Up' Over Nord Stream Sabotage

      Fears of Monarch Butterfly Extinction as Numbers Plummet 22% in Annual Count

      Trump Rally in Waco Called Not a Dog Whistle, But a 'Blaring Air Horn' to Far-Right

      Senate Dems Blast Medicare Advantage Giants Over 'Exorbitant' CEO Pay

      SUPPORT OUR WORK.
      We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100%
      reader supported.