{"id":1893,"date":"2011-09-29T15:48:52","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T22:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=1893"},"modified":"2011-10-24T13:30:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T20:30:44","slug":"doj-meets-with-av-community-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2011\/09\/29\/doj-meets-with-av-community-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ meets with AV community leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"doj\"<\/a>PALMDALE \u2013 Three attorneys and three investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice met with several community leaders Tuesday evening at the Greenhouse Caf\u00e9 in Palmdale.<\/p>\n

The meeting was part of the DOJ\u2019s ongoing investigation into alleged discriminatory policing by the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Lancaster and Palmdale stations as well as the separate, ongoing investigation into alleged harassment and mistreatment of Section 8 recipients in the Antelope Valley.<\/p>\n

\"Darren<\/a>
Darren Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe actually had two separate divisions of the Department of Justice fly out here, jointly, to meet with community leaders,\u201d said Merit Commission head, Darren Parker, who convened the meeting. \u201cIt was a very successful meeting with over 25 community leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker said leaders from the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), The Community Action League, the Merit Commission, and the Human Relations Commission were present at the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meeting with the Department of Justice was extremely productive,\u201d said NAACP President Juan Blanco. \u201cThey indicated that they were here to look into what could be considered improper procedures within the Sheriff\u2019s Department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker said the meeting opened with introductions from the Department of Justice as well as from community leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an opportunity to put the faces and the names of the attorneys for the Department of Justice together with the faces and the names of the community leaders that had been sharing input over the last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The DOJ then took questions from each organization, regarding how both investigations would proceed, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department was very clear that they are in the initial phases of the investigation, it being only a month and a half old,\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt was noted by the Justice Department that this case got their attention because of the good work of the community, so that in itself is an achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker said the DOJ will now focus on getting direct input from individuals in the community who feel like they have been victimized by local law enforcement, as opposed to before when leaders forwarded complaints to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/a>
Juan Blanco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey want to hear from community members other than just the leadership,\u201d said Blanco. \u201cSo they are requesting that individuals be put directly in contact with the DOJ so they can get first-hand information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lancaster and Palmdale residents who feel like they have been mistreated by local law enforcement can contact the Department of Justice, directly, at 202-305-3192<\/strong> to report these incidents. Residents seeking to report incidents of harassment and abuse in Section 8 are asked to contact the DOJ, directly, at 202-305-3826<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Parker said the Merit Commission will host a town hall meeting within the month of October to gather testimony from residents, which will be forwarded to the Justice Department. The DOJ will directly follow up with these residents.<\/p>\n

He says additional attorneys and investigators from the Department of Justice will visit the Antelope Valley, again, towards the end of October to continue their investigations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are committed, not only for the short term, but for the long term,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThey are going to do an intensive and fair investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Parker said the Merit Commission remains committed to working with local law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has always been the purpose of the Merit Commission to collectively work together with law enforcement and others to make sure that we have the best quality of life for all residents in the Antelope Valley,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice was in the Antelope Valley on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week conducting its ongoing investigation. Tuesday\u2019s meeting was one of several meetings that took place during the DOJ\u2019s visit, Parker said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE \u2013 Three attorneys and three investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice met with several community leaders Tuesday evening at the Greenhouse Caf\u00e9 in Palmdale. The meeting was part of the DOJ\u2019s ongoing investigation into alleged discriminatory policing by the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Lancaster and Palmdale stations as well as the separate, ongoing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}