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In Solidarity,
Christian Kennedy

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: The Shoestring <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Jun 3, 2020 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Northampton residents are calling to cut the police budget as
protests sweep the region and nation.
To: <[email protected]>


Dear Shoestring Fam,


After Northampton erupted in protest Monday and the majority of the ~1,000
demonstrators went home, a *Gazette*
<[link removed]>
mentions that three police officers took a knee and used pepper spray to
“hold off the crowd so they could re-enter the station.” What the story
does not mention is that police sprayed a 15 year old with the agent that
is banned in war per Article I.5 of the Chemical Weapons Convention. During
the 1992 convention, a carveout was created for domestic police forces,
allowing the substance to be used carte blanche against U.S. citizens. One
place it has been deployed extensively, according to *an investigation*
<[link removed]>
we released last year, is against those in the midst of mental health
crises at the Hampden County Jail in Ludlow, exposing the commonplace
brutality burning the eyes of people in our community.

The Gazette story also notes that one state trooper and two NPD officers *took
a knee*
<[link removed]>
following the protests. From Northampton was Police Chief Jody Kasper and
Lt. Alan Borowski (who wore a mask over his chin). What the article fails
to mention is that Borowski is an infamous Northampton cop who has been
accused and *acquitted* of fixing overtime hours and stealing drugs from
the department’s lock box. Perhaps Borowski is most known for being on the
scene for the *viral arrest*
<[link removed]>
and macing of Jonas Correia in 2013, which was caught on video, and cost
the city $52,000 in a settlement.

It is also worth noting that police were wearing the riot helmets and gear
that caused a flare up in early 2018, when Northampton residents stormed
the City Council chamber, demanding the city not fund additional purchases
of riot helmets and “less lethal” weapons like beanbag launchers and pepper
spray. In response to The Shoestring’s *reporting*
<[link removed]>,
Chief Kasper issued a memo denying the “insinuation” that the gear would be
used to purchase “riot suits”; instead, the *first sentence* of Chief’s
memo, we *noted*
<[link removed]>
at the time, stressed the need to purchase “riot helmets.” Councilor Alisa
Klein was the only legislator to vote against the capital request.

Still, the movement to constrain police funding seems to be growing louder
in the wake of George Floyd’s recent murder in Minneaoplis. As the
Shoestring’s City Council beat reporter Brian Zayatz elaborates on in
yesterday’s *Gazette*
<[link removed]>,
the police are getting a $194,000 budget increase while the pandemic cuts
nearly 20 positions across city departments. (The Mayor explained on
Facebook that the budget increase would be used to purchase hybrid vehicles
for the force to reduce its carbon footprint.) Furthermore, *hundreds of
people are planning to attend*
<[link removed]>
the annual budget hearings on Zoom tonight and tomorrow, asking the Council
to significantly reduce police funding.


Additionally, *Decarcerate Western Mass is holding a Car Rally*
<[link removed]>
Friday outside of the Chicopee Jail. On May 26th, Sheriff Nick Cocchi
released a publicity video designed, critics believe, to mask (no pun
intended) the spread of the virus in the Jail. What the organizers soon
learned was that the Sheriff had been secretly been tracking COVID cases as
they increased. Organizers claim that the Jail is denying adequate access
to PPE, testing, and medical care for those incarcerated at the jail.


Lastly, it is worth noting that our ability to report and mobilize people
is the result of several years of following and writing about Northampton
politics. Our understanding of the City Budget increases are because we pay
someone to sit through every City Council meeting (on Zoom) during a
pandemic and because we’ve built up institutional knowledge covering the
2017 surveillance camera fight and aforementioned riot gear meetings (which
you can read about *in depth here*
<[link removed]>).
As we have learned since we started doing The Shoestring in 2017 is that
there is no such thing as “*objective reporting*
<[link removed]>”
and that all journalists take sides, whether they realize it or not. We are
pleased to continue reporting on power in Western Mass and feel honored and
lucky to have your support. We aren’t asking for money in this newsletter,
but please consider donating to a *bail fund*
<[link removed]>
if you are able.


Thank you,


<3 The Shoestring <3




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