Politics

Update: MO Black Caucus and OBS Meet to Discuss Policing Initiative Proposal

Published

9 years ago

January 13, 2015

Police officers confront protesters Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. Missouri’s governor ordered hundreds more state militia into Ferguson on Tuesday, after a night of protests and rioting over a grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a case that has inflamed racial tensions in the U.S. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

by Bridjes O’Neil
Special to the NNPA from The St. Louis American

Members of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus met with those from the Organization for Black Struggle on Friday at Greater St. Marks Family Church in Ferguson. They discussed legislative strategy for the upcoming session and ways to incorporate OBS’ Quality Policing Initiative into legislation at the state, county, and local levels.

OBS members hand-delivered the policy proposal to legislators in Jefferson City on Wednesday, January 7, along with an invite to attend Friday’s meeting. They had also disrupted the opening ceremony in the Senate chamber by chanting and dropping banners. One banner read, “You’ve got mail.”

“With the start of the year and a new legislative session,” the letter read, “we, the people, are committed to holding our elected officials accountable to us as constituents.”

Signed by OBS Executive Director Montague Simmons, the letter went on to say that the “systematic lynching” of Black people at the hands of police has continued since the death of Michael Brown Jr. on Aug. 9 —and that the judicial system has failed to hold police to the same level of accountability. It warned that the community is dealing with a “structural problem” requiring a “structural solution.” That “structural solution” is the Quality Policing Initiative, a broad policy proposal that organizers demand lawmakers use as a blueprint to transform the state’s broken policing system.

Three months ago, back when protests were more frequent, state Rep. Michael Butler said he knew many of those same people would be in Jefferson City come January. From a list of 20 Caucus members invited to attend the meeting, Butler was among the handful that showed up. He was joined by state Reps. Courtney Curtis, Sharon Pace, Joe Adams, and Tommie Pierson. Pierson is also pastor of Greater St. Mark Family Church. It seemed to be a disappointing number for OBS organizer Kayla Reed.

“When I think of where I live, I’m looking at my Representative right now,” Reed said. “When I think about who my Senator is and the fact that she’s not here is very concerning.”

Despite their absence, Senators Jamilah Nasheed and Maria Chappelle-Nadal have been outspoken throughout the protest movement. On Wednesday, Chappelle-Nadal filed a formal “remonstrance” against Governor Jay Nixon calling for his resignation or impeachment, citing “failed and incompetent leadership.” In December, she also introduced legislation governing police conduct.

Reed spoke of a shift in the protest movement – from identifying problems to finding solutions.

“Protesting is not a solution,” she said. “It’s a tactic to force a solution.”

Most at the meeting agreed that there should be a greater focus on accountability, which comprises a large portion of the Quality Policing Initiative. The proposal tackles five phases of policing authority: recruitment, training, deployment, accountability and advancement.

Parts of the proposal outlines the creation of “use of force” and “search and seizure” reports along with a media accountability system – in which body and dash camera data is controlled by a citizen’s review board.

With a pen in hand, Butler listened intently with an occasional head nod as he jotted down notes on the back of a piece of paper.

Legislators gave brief updates on sponsored bills, particularly those dealing with community policing.

“You already have changes to the racial profiling act, municipal reform, and some policing tweaks that we have tried in the past year. That I’m sure these guys will re-file this year,” Butler said.

Simmons said there’s no greater time than now to effect real change. Although he seemed a bit concerned with attempting to pass any legislation with a Republican super-majority in both the House and the Senate. All is not lost, according to Curtis.

“There are some good Republicans we can work with,” he said.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

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April 26, 2024

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.