The Southeast San Diego Accountability Unit meets up on a Thursday at what used to be called βthe four corners of deathβ β a notorious site of gang violence in San Diegoβs Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Against a sunset backdrop, almost a dozen men and women gather. Some are wearing head to toe blue, others black berets. They say theyβre breaking generational curses.
The unit is made up of people from rivaling neighborhoods and differing loyalties β people connected to the Bloods, Crips and Black Panthers, Muslims and Christians.
They say shared enemies overshadow these differences: The police and the system.
For decades, there have been cop watch groups all over the country.
βWeβre all getting oppressed the same,β said cop watcher Michael Whyte. βWeβre tired of getting shot and killed and locked up for nothing. So we put them differences to the side.β
A KPBS analysis of San Diego Police Department data show police are much more likely to stop, and use force on, Black and Latino San Diegans than white San Diegans.
San Diego Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit promised two years ago to reduce these disparities. But while stops decreased, racial disparities increased. Reporting by KPBS also found that many records of officer misconduct are missing any information on disciplinary action.
So the members of the accountability unit volunteer their free time and gas money to monitor the police, whose salaries they pay with their taxes.
Malcolme Muttaqee helped form the group about five years ago. Muttaqee is the name he chose when he converted to Islam in prison.
βI donβt think Islam has anything against law and order or even law enforcement,β he said, βbut it has something against oppression.β
He said he just returned from a trip to the West Bank, and was surprised how much the occupation reminded him of his community. Instead of assault rifles, he said, the officers in Encanto carry Glocks. Instead of physical checkpoints, there are police stops.
With the accountability unit, he tries to protect his neighborhood from the effects of this.
The unit gives civil rights trainings and helps people connect to bail funds and file complaints against the police β hundreds since the group began, they said. And, like on Thursday night, they observe police stops.
The group piles into cars and communicates using walkie-talkies. They listen to the police scanner as they drive around looking for red and blue lights. Community members call in with tips about police stops.
They divide up roles, notetakers, recorders and talkers. They park near stops and approach the scene, maintaining some distance.
Their shirts read, βWe are not afraidβ on the front and, βDonβt shoot, just filmingβ on the back.
At the first stop, police appear to be detaining a man walking in the street.
Cop watcher Muslah Abdul-Hafeez recognizes the man from time spent feeding the homeless in his community. He isnβt drunk, he tells officers, but deaf and intellectually disabled. He offers to help the man cross the street, and the police let him go.
βCome on,β Abdul-Hafeez tells the man, guiding him with his arm across his back. The man is vocalizing in what sounds like distress. βLetβs sit down because theyβre going to take you to jail if you go back in the street.β
At another stop, police question a man whose license they say isnβt currently valid. Others with the man β a woman and a nine-year-old girl holding a small white dog β stand nearby and watch. They look surprised to be joined by the cop watchers.
The carβs windshield has bullet holes in it, and thereβs an open alcohol container inside. But rather than impound the car, the police allow Muttaqee to drive the man home in it.
βYou see the energy shift, right?β unit member Koran Fields asks afterward. βNow they got some customer service. Now they, you know, they out there shaking hands, βSorry we had to bother you, but in the state of California.β β
The passengers laugh. The mood is light like this all night, filled with jokes and laughter. They say they laugh because they have to.
βWeβre traumatized,β Whyte says from the driverβs seat. βYou know, our lives is, itβs like sick and twisted if you really think about it.
βWeβll be at the corner in front of a store, get shot at, lose one of our friends and be in front of that same store the next day. Putting flowers and candles, hanging out like nothing ever happened.β
The passengers murmur assent.
They admit observing police is risky β especially for those on parole β but say itβs worth it.
Theyβre more nervous about what would happen if they didnβt.
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The Southeast San Diego Accountability Unit is a group of volunteers who have banded together to watch the police. In other news, how the city of San Diego will enforce the license requirement for short term vacation rentals. -
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