|
Dear Shoestring Fam,
After Northampton erupted in protest Monday and the majority of the ~1,000 demonstrators went home, a Gazette 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 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 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 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). As we have learned since we started doing The Shoestring in 2017 is that there is no such thing as “objective reporting” 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 if you are able.
Thank you,
<3 The Shoestring <3
|
