DECAL CLASS
COPWATCH: COMMUNITY BASED ACCOUNTABILITY DECAL CLASS
Every semester, the Copwatch DeCal Class, hosted by UC Berkeley DeCal Program and Berkeley Copwatch, invites activists, organizers, academics, lawyers, resisters, rebels, concerned civilians and family members from communities of struggle across the Bay Area to join us on Monday evenings for facilitated conversations on policing and safety—past conversations have included friends from the Oscar Grant Committee, Stop the Gang Injunctions, Coalition for a Safer San Francisco, Boalt Law School and many others.
Through a combination of class presentations by leading activists in the alternative justice movement and direct field monitoring of police on duty, students will experience first hand the complex issues faced by residents caught between high crime in their neighborhoods and the dangers that racial profiling, civil and human rights abuses bring to the community. Students will be trained in basic criminal procedure, analysis of power and techniques for observing police activity. In addition, students will examine the history and origins of police, resistance movements and community-based alternatives to the justice system as we know it.
THIS SEMESTER: SPRING 2024
If you are interested in police accountability and want to get involved in current community action, consider joining the Spring 2024 Copwatch Decal!
Meeting time: Tuesdays, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Location: Hildebrand B51 (HILDB51)
Student Registration via CalCentral - Class code: Legalst 198 Sec 002 #19245
Community Registration - Please email: mantra.rajkumar@berkeley.edu
This class will be facilitated using lectures and guided discussions by invited guest speakers and student facilitators. There are opportunities for direct field monitoring of police on duty. Students will learn about the issues faced by residents that racial profiling, civil, and human rights abuses bring to the community. Students will be trained in basic criminal procedure, power analysis, and techniques for observing police activity. In addition, students will examine the history and origins of police, resistance movements, and community based alternatives to the justice system as we know it. Finally, in this course, students will have the opportunity to have a role in the community beyond the DeCal, researching topics that are current and relevant to the larger community.
Berkeley Copwatch has been encouraging and educating community members to exercise their right-to-watch the police since 1990. Due to repeated instances of police violence being caught on film, the right-to-watch has been in the media spotlight. Even with video evidence, police continue to act with impunity. The DeCal is meant to provide community members with the knowledge and resources to participate in the fight against police brutality.
Everyone welcome.