Oakland police are arresting school-age African American youth at shockingly high rates, contributing to a burgeoning education crisis for students of color, according to a new report released today by the Black Organizing Project, ACLU of Northern California, and Public Counsel. The report, "From Report Card to Criminal Record: The Impact of Policing Oakland Youth," reveals disturbing trends about police interaction with Oakland's youth of color and especially with African-American boys.
By ACLU of Northern California
We all want to live in safe communities, where we have an equal opportunity to succeed. To effectively build safe and healthy communities, we need to solve more violent crimes—especially murders—and we need to prevent more violence by investing in our children. But we don’t have the resources needed for these vital programs because the death penalty is draining millions of dollars every year from our local and state budgets.
The rights of two African-American students were violated when they were expelled from Deer Valley High School following an off-campus incident in which police officers pepper-sprayed the students and forcefully arrested them, a judge ruled in May 2008. The judge overturned the expulsions.
By ACLU of Northern California
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