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| Don't Renew Police Chief Ramsey's Contract, Say D.C. Statehood Greens. |
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THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY Contact: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com DON'T RENEW POLICE CHIEF RAMSEY'S CONTRACT, SAY D.C. STATEHOOD GREENS The D.C. Statehood Green Party cites a long list of Ramsey's suppression of rights, illegal arrests, and brutal treatment of detainees, and calls for the next chief to be hired from among the ranks of D.C. officers. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The D.C. Statehood Green Party issued a statement today calling for D.C. Council not to renew Police Chief Charles Ramsey's contract. The party also urges those outraged by Chief Ramsey's performance to call Ward 3 D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson, chair of the Judiciary Committee and ask that Chief Ramsey's contract not be renewed, and that the next police chief be hired from among the ranks of D.C. Metropolitan Police officers. (The resolution follows below.) Statehood Greens cited a long list of Chief Ramsey's violations of constitutional rights, especially freedom of speech and assembly, protections against unwarranted search and seizure and against brutal treatment of arrestees, and due process, as well as basic police procedures and policies. The most notorious example is the mass arrest and detention of 400 demonstrators and bystanders in Pershing Park on Sept. 27, 2002 without issuing a warning to disperse, with semi-hogtied detainees held for more than 24 hours. "Ramsey has fostered a chilling effect on free speech in the nation's capital and wasted tax dollars on police time that could be better spent on working to reduce crimes that affects residents," said Adam Eidinger, a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party's steering committee and frequent organizer of public events and demonstrations against corporate globalization and the war on Iraq. Chief Ramsey sent undercover agents to meetings in Eidinger's home, without warrant, to infiltrate and disrupt the Mobilization for Global Justice, in violation of Eidinger's Fourth Amendment rights. Chief Ramsey has been widely criticized for the absence of police walking the beat (which ensures familiarity with neighborhoods and reduces street crime), the Metropolitan Police's high failure rate in solving homicides (up 20% over the past year) and other serious crimes, problems in the handling of 911 calls, and low morale among the force's rank and file officers. "We've seen people detained for days at a time, then released with no charges filed against them or with spurious charges that don't stand up in court," said Maya O'Connor, D.C. Statehood Green Party delegate to the national committee of the Green Party of the United States. "When police refuse to follow the law or their own rules, the result is anarchy. Police anarchy is infinitely more dangerous than a half dozen anarchists misbehaving at a demonstration." In April 2000 Ramsey, speaking to reporters from CNN and other world media, claimed that antiglobalization activists were making homemade pepper spray and Molotov cocktails. The Molotov cocktail materials turned out to be as a plastic water bottle with paint thinner used to clean paint brushes in a puppet workshop; and the homemade pepper spray was a spicy gaspacho cooked up by Food Not Bombs. Ramsey has never issued a retraction or apology. "Chief Ramsey's disregard for rights and
procedures is especially frightening given the drastic curtailment
of constitutional protections and liberties over the past few
years, even before 9-11," said Statehood Green Party member T.E.
Smith, native Washingtonian and a Vietnam vet. "In the mid
1990s, President Clinton ordered training in military tactics for
civilian police forces in cities and towns. We're seeing the
results of that in Ramsey's handling of peaceful rallies." Whereas Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey is personally responsible for sending undercover police to disrupt and harass D.C. Statehood Green Party members and other activists in their homes, during demonstrations; and Whereas Ramsey has ordered police have been taken out of neighborhoods and off traditional beat patrols to instead restrict protesters First Amendment rights; Whereas Chief Ramsey has made numerous misleading and untrue comments to the mass media about social justice activists; Whereas under Ramsey's watch citizen input has been ignored and considered irrelevant in terms of policing priorities; Whereas under Ramsey's watch police have violated their own code of conduct; Whereas under Ramsey's watch crime in the nation's capital has increased; Whereas under Ramsey's watch political message materials were confiscated and destroyed unlawfully by police following his orders; Whereas under Ramsey's watch thousands of peaceful demonstrations protesting war in Iraq and the harmful effects of corporate led globalization have been unlawfully arrested, strip searched, beaten and hog tied; Whereas under Ramsey's watch bike riders have been rounded up violently by police and had their bikes confiscated and damaged; Whereas under Ramsey's watch permits for marching and other constitutionally protected activities have been ignored or denied, sometimes just days before major protests that have taken months to organize; Whereas Ramsey has wasted millions of tax dollars on a massive police presence during protests and unnecessary equipment such as flame retardant uniforms and riot shields; Whereas police assigned to protect students in our public schools are reassigned to escort V.I.P.s around Washington, D.C.; THEREFORE, it is resolved that D.C. Statehood Green Party calls on the D.C. Council and the Mayor to not renew Chief Charles Ramsey's contract this year and to immediately began seeking a new police chief among the ranks Metropolitan Police officers. The D.C. Statehood Green Party believes police officers who have lived in the Washington, D.C. their whole lives will ultimately be more responsive to community input and priorities. MORE INFORMATION
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