2nd Open letter to Scott Whitney, Police Chief of Oxnard

The Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction (OCGI) is Dead!

Let the Healing and Reparation Begin
By, Armando Vazquez, July 31, 2010
Executive Director of the Acuna Art Collective, The KEYS Leadership Academy,
Founding Member of CORE

Now that the people have defeated the unconstitutional Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction (OCGI)
what is the next move for the OPD? You, Scott, and all your current staff of Assistant Police
Chiefs were with you back in 2003, all as aspiring “by the book” future police chiefs, you guys
then were just following orders; when Greg Totten, the Ventura County District Attorney, your
boss at the time Police Chief Art Lopez and the Oxnard City Council secretly conspired to create
the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction (OCGI) that the people of Oxnard just slayed after 17 years
of community and court room fights.

Scott, this is now 2020, you are college educated, intelligent, respected, and a local “boy” made
good! Your current Assistant Chiefs are all college educated and have been together with you
for the greater part of two decades. You guys all know Oxnard and for the most part call Oxnard
your home. So what kind of 21st century community safety and wellness is going to emanate in
Oxnard from your police department now that the OCGI is dead and the entire nation is calling
and demanding fundamental police reform?

We at CORE want to be involved in the development and creation of unique culturally and
ethnically congruent community safety, wellness and empowerment safety models that seek to
minimize, mitigated and all together eliminate certain crimes, attributable to racism, poverty
and disenfranchisement, in our community that only well-funded, instituted and managed
restorative justice, medical, educational, and art/cultural resources and programs can produce.
Cops can be a part of this important work; but never, ever again, the one and only community
safety and wellness option.

You have told me countless times how much you and your police department appreciated the
work that community based organizations like our Acuna Art Collective/Café on A do with at-
risk youth and marginalized adult populations in greater Oxnard. I now ask you to be a fiscally
prudent, socially conscientious, and a 21st Century Community Safety and Wellness Leader by
working closer with community- based organizations like ours that embrace holistic, ethnically
and culturally congruent community involvement as a mandatory element of any significant
fundamental police reform paradigm.

Here is what CORE, The Acuna Art Collective, The KEYS Leadership Academy, Oxnard
Multicultural Mental Health Collective, and other community based organization and activist
supporters want to be initiated immediately in the city of Oxnard as the beginnings of a
reparation and healing period for the damage and harm caused by the many constitutional
violations that the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction inflicted on at least three generations of
our Mexican/Chicano residents.

1. The Oxnard Police Department must acknowledge publicly that the 16 year long Oxnard
Civil “Gang” injunction that was deployed by OPD was declared unconstitutional for violating
due process to those enjoined. Therefore, we can clearly see it was a horrifically crafted “cut
and paste” police policy that illegally profiled, harassed and swooped up hundreds of
Mexican/Chicano youth and adults into the OCGI (without providing any enjoined individuals
the benefit of their constitutionally protected due process rights their day in court to face
their accusers and have the opportunity to mount a legal defense).

2. An immediate and official Oxnard Police Department notification document mailed to each
previously enjoined youth that advises ALL the individuals that were illegally enjoined by the
Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction that they are now legally free from any and all previous
Injunction constraints.

3. Provide the people of Oxnard an immediate, full, and complete historical account of the
policing “tool” known as the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction in the form of a readily available
public document.

4. Reparation for the 16 years of Unconstutional conduct and provide relief for damages
committed by the Oxnard Police Department and the City of Oxnard. Reparation can be, but
not limited to, jobs, vocational training, medical treatment and counseling, housing and
transportation assistance.

5. Total and complete transparency by the Oxnard Police Departments of current discretionary
funding streams for PALS, DARE, CalGrip, Measure O, Public school policing funding and any and
all other OPD funds that are discretionary and/or grant funded, so that these funds may be
shared with community- based organizations that do direct work with the previously enjoined.

6. Begin immediately the development and creation of A Police Review Board that is solely
administered and managed by the residents of Oxnard.

7. Provide the Acuna Art Collective (formerly known as the Cafe on A) with an immediate
contract to occupy the abandoned Children’s Museum or the old and abandoned Social
Security Building. The Acuna Art Collective who will provide FREE social services, Recovery and
life skills classes, educational remediation/enhancements, job skills training and
art/cultural/programming to the enjoined and other residents of the community.

8. For Services rendered by the Acuna Art Collective to the residents the city of Oxnard will
“lease” the Children’s Museum or the old Social Security Building for the nominal fee of $1.00
per year. The city of Oxnard will pay for all utilities and city fees. The Oxnard Police Department
will share moneys from discretionary funds in the amount of $50,000.00 to the Acuna Art
Collective and other CBO’s for fiscal year 2021-2022.

9. The Oxnard Police Department will transfer the services of social work, recreation, and
education by immediately turning any and all contracts that the OPD currently provides to
residents of Oxnard to reputable and professionally trained community- based organizations.
The cops were trained and hired to enforce the local laws, be servants of the people and follow
the law, nothing more!

10. Issuance of an immediate and public formal statement and commitment by the Oxnard
City Council and the Oxnard Police Department that in the future the entire community will
be advised, consulted, surveyed and respected before enacting another costly and damaging
policing “tool” like the recently abolished, ill-conceived, and unconstitutional Oxnard Civil
“Gang” Injunction.

Finally, Scott I advised two years ago that we the Acuna Art Collective, the KEYS Leadership
Academy, the Oxnard Multicultural Mental Health Coalition (OHHM) and CORE have
professional educators, social workers, therapists, art/cultural and mental health experts and
volunteers that are anxious and willing to work with the OPD to develop a mental health
wellness first responder protocols/programs and community volunteer teams. These
community volunteers/staff would function effectively as trained and professional civilian first
responders to certain community wellness/safety incident/problems/occurrences. This process
of transfer of services on a national level has demonstrated a real possibility of eliminating the
cops, “shoot first, ask question later” approach to familial, youth violence, homelessness, and
immigrant issues. These new safety/wellness model approaches can save lives! Wellness and
safety mental health professionals can work with the myriad of other mental health and
wellness community safety issues and concerns that are prevalent in our multi-racial and multi-
ethnic communities where OPD cops have absolutely no training, patience or time to take on.
These community- based wellness/safety models that utilize non-police
professionals/volunteers as first responders on the scene can help minimize and de-escalate
potentially violent encounters where previously only the police responded.
Scott you are the right Chief for Oxnard; you can lead the city progressively, compassionately
and intelligently for community safety through these historic times that demand police reform
and accountability. We, the communities of color, in Oxnard and throughout the nation, will
never go back to those, hopeless, powerless and disenfranchised days where cops dictated,
ruled, controlled and directed the entire safety agenda at the total exclusion of the
communities of color. No institutional power, not your OPD, The Ventura County DA or the
Oxnard City Council can stop this national and local police reform movement that demands
equal justice, accountability and community input and sharing of the decision making process.
You Scott, and your leadership team can take on the progressive police reform that is needed in
Oxnard. Scott, I am always available to sit down and have a cup of coffee and speak with you
about our vision and commitment to police reform and community partnerships in Oxnard, the
city that we both love!