What is CODEFOR? -
1. Summary of official police explanation (as objective as possible):
Computer Optimized Deployment Focused on Results. Use computer generated
statistics to figure out where crime is occurring; designate those areas as
"codefor" neighborhoods. Send more cops to those neighborhoods and have
them keep closer watch, and be much more vigoruous in "enforcement of all
legal violations" in those neighborhoods. That means stopping, searching,
issuing citations and arresting people for any violation of the the law in
CODEFOR neighborhoods. Whereas the police might not pay attention to a
jaywalker or a person driving with a cracked tail light normally, they will
do so in CODEFOR neighborhoods. The rationale is that the person who spits
on the sidewalk or jaywalks, or drives a cracked windshield who is in a high
crime neighborhood is more likely to be either committing a crime or know
something other people committing crime. Examples: after police stop a
person driving with a cracked windshield through a high crime neighborhood,
he might act suspicious enough so that the police have an excuse to search
him and his car and find drugs; after the police stop and talk to the person
who jaywalks, he/she might end up telling them who is committing burglaries.
The police department then continues to develop and analyze computer
statistics to determine whether crime is decreasing.
2. Summary of civil liberties/human rights explanation of CODEFOR:
The supension of the Bill of Rights and imposition of police-state
conditions in low-income communities of color. It is invariably low income
communities of color that are singled out as CODEFOR neighborhoods. (The
only exceptions that I know about was the area around were a brief period of
time when the area of the continuous protests against the Highway 55 reroute
was designated as CODEFOR [therefore singling out political dissidents - the
police department's new target], and part of the downtown area around
Hennepin which is not a residential area but has a lot of people of color
frequenting the business establishments).
In the CODEFOR neigbhorhoods, people are subject to constant police
intrusions that they would not and should not normally have to endure, not
because they did anything wrong, but merely because they live, work or have
some need or desire to travel through a CODEFOR neighborhood. Although the
police department insists that they follow the constitution in deciding
whether to stop, search or arrest people, (i.e. don't stop people without
reasonable suspicision that they are breaking the law and don't search or
arrest people without probable cause), the realities are that 1) people are
undeniably suffering more police intrusions in CODEFOR neighborhoods,
whether there is "probable cause" or not; 2) the extra police intrusions
disporportoinately impact people of color and low income people because
those are the neighborhoods that are chosen; 3) the police are inevitably
going to violate people's constitutional rights in CODEFOR neighborhoods
because the policy inherently encourages them "to push the envelope" by
expecting them to assume that people in the neighborhoods are criminals and
to stop, search and arrest them at any excuse.
Additional comment - Police Chief Robert Olson is constantly emphasizing in
his commentaries on racial profiling (in newspaper articles, legislative
hearing testimony, etch) that "CODEFOR has nothing to do with racial
profiling." This is total B.S. It is a false and desparate attempt to
blame any racial profiling on individual officers and avoid any
responsibility by the police and city government. CODEFOR demonstrates how
Minneapolis police department policy in fact is the main reason for the
prevelance of racial profiling.
Jordan Kushner
Powderhorn, Ward 8
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Froemming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 8:16 AM
Subject: [Mpls] code 4
> I need some help here. Can some one please help me to understand what code
4
> is thanks allot.
>
>
>
>
> Steven Froemming
> 63A 11-6
> Windom.
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
> Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
> http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
