SF Police Union Fails to Defend Pretextual Traffic Stops; Racialized Police Use of Tasers in 911 Mental Health Calls; Plus State Terror Roundup

We start today’s show with our recurring segment, State Terror Roundup.

Then, we go to San Francisco to where police are now forced to minimize pretextual traffic stops despite the police union’s now-failed attempt to maintain them. This is after the San Francisco Police Commission in February committed the department to minimize police ability to pull people over for minor violations.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s police watchdog agency, the Department of Police Accountability, is apparently a hostile work environment according to Nine of the department’s 13 investigators. Joining us to discuss San Francisco’s policing issues is Jonah Owen Lamb, a senior reporter with the San Francisco Standard who covers criminal justice.

Check out Jonah Lamb’s latest reporting in the SF Standard: https://sfstandard.com/author/jonah-owen-lamb/

A new investigation into police use of tasers follows how they’ve been used specifically in response to 911 mental health calls. The research shows that they can cause death as well as long term harm, and also that they are deployed disproportionately against Black people. The investigation was done by MindSite News, a nonprofit journalism site dedicated to reporting on mental health in the U.S., exposing rampant policy failures and spotlighting efforts to solve them. MindSite did this research in collaboration with the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Joining me to discuss are researcher and journalist Sela Breen along with Josh McGhee, MindSite’s Chicago Bureau Chief who focuses on the intersections of criminal justice & mental health.

See their investigation here: https://mindsitenews.org/2024/06/27/tasers-can-kill-when-they-dont-they-can-still-do-lasting-damage/

This week’s Resistance in Residence artist is Bay Area Nicaraguan emcee, and the frontman of the hip hop Cumbia group Bang Data, Deuce Eclipse.

Follow Deuce Eclipse on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deuceeclipse/

Check out Deuce Eclipse’s website: https://www.deuceeclipse.com/
Check out Bang Data’s website: https://www.bangdata.com/

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This episode featured music by Kofy Brown.
Check out her website: https://www.kofybrown.com/

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