Police Union President Lashes Out at Villegas for Vote Against Police Pay Hikes
On February 5th,the Santa Ana City Council wrote a $25.6 million blank check to the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA) in the form of a new contract, despite having no money in their pockets to approve the largest police pay raise in decades with a vote of 4 to
SanTana Cop Pay Raise and Misconduct Record Decisions Threaten to Break Public Trust
On January 31st, the City Manager and Police Chief made a joint statement in response to the Santa Ana Police Department’s (SAPD) request to destroy police records. In their statement, SAPD Chief David Valentin stated that the destruction of police records is a “routine process,” and not a response to
Santa Ana Police Department Moves To Destroy Officer Misconduct Records
This year began with a new state law, SB 1421, going into effect and giving the public access to exclusive police records of misconduct and internal investigations. In Santa Ana, decades of officers’ use of force, in-custody injuries and the department’s handling of incidents, lay in boxes ready to be
Karla Cordero’s Poetry Is A Call To Home
Poet Karla Cordero’s backyard in carlsbad, california holds sugar snap peas, broccoli sprouts, and young to towering sunflowers that greet you as you sit down. Before talking about her book on a cool December morning, Karla gave photographer Arlene Mejorado and I a tour of all the plants she harvested
Will Todd Spitzer Be a Rubber Stamp DA on Police Brutality, Too?
In the “Blue Wave” that hit Orange County, the District Attorney continues to bleed red, with a bit of sweetness. Republican Todd Spitzer defeated twenty-year incumbent, Tony Rackauckas, who left two decades of political corruption behind him to clean up. The Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office, in Rackauckas’ final
A Conversation With West Anaheim’s Poet, Jesus Cortez
“…Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action.” –Audre Lorde The corner of Beach and
Check out “Deport This!” A Partnership Column with OC Weekly and OC Immigrant Youth United!
Last March, I joined Denise de la Cruz and tallest Mexican in Orange County, Gabriel San Roman, to talk immigration for OC Weekly’s OC Speakly podcast. We were a few months into Trump’s presidency. I remember feeling dazed. By this point Trump had rubber stamped Steve Bannon’s first Muslim Ban,
Police Union Monopoly on Electoral Spending Threatens Santa Ana’s Democracy
In 2016, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA) spent over $400,000 that allowed them to place two of their three favored candidates on the Santa Ana City Council, alongside the mayor. This year, they’re already set to outspend themselves; they ended June with $462,000 in the bank, and inched
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Chispa is a brave organizing political home for young Latinx identifying peoples. Chispa seeks to engage with excluded peoples to uproot systems of oppression and cultivate systems grounded in community accountability, solidarity, and self-determination for our communities to thrive.
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