Guest commentary: Cops in OSD schools

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By Armando Vazquez / Guest contributor

This week the Oxnard Police Department and the Oxnard School District contemplated the joint partnership of creating a police administered “community center” in La Colonia, using the old Cesar Chavez School building as the center of operations; after community input and deliberation the Oxnard School District Trustees elected to pass on the idea, we commend the Trustees for their decision.

This idea of cops and schools in Oxnard school is evil, insidious and 19th century colonialism masked as today’s community based policing.  This idea of cops in schools did not gestate in the gut and soul of the La Colonia community, the Chief admited this in the April 16, 2014 OSD meeting; it was a virus that was implanted by profiteers of fear. We know the culprits, those foolish and soulless folk that slither and sell their people out for a pittance; they have been around forever like rats eating way at the uniting and progress of our people.

The cops are not, never have been, general community building practitioners; far from it they are alpha robotic, they lead and never follow. That is a cop’s DNA stone cold A types; so how in the hell can they be part of a comprehensive team that provides triage service to a needy community? The OPD should stop this shameless charade and go back, once and for all, to the job they were hire to perform; to protect and serve the community, nothing more nothing less, and be held accountable at every step by a community review board!

A very senior commander in the OPD has on several occasions confided in us that the “OPD is doing a pretty good to excellent job with the adults of Oxnard, but we are failing our youth, we cannot reach them”. It is clear that the current OPD Chief has not heard these words, and if she has she is ignoring the testimonial. Chief you are in over your head. Our advise to you is that if you truly want to be a community servant like you espouse then get together will all of the community and not the yes puppets that you can easily prop up at your beck and call, to regurgitate the simplistic nonsense that you are currently peddling.

At the OSD meeting of Wednesday, April 16, 2014, I provide the name of 15 or so, names of folks that have stoked the flames of fear, been complicit in the execution of bone headed draconian, evil and oppressive laws, profiteered handsomely and then like soulless and heartless ghosts are gone forever; leaving in their wake horrific constitutionally challenged laws that will adversely affect our youth’s lives forever.

So yes OPD Chief and OSD Superintendent do you do diligence, do your home work, talk to every sector of the community; you are paid handsomely to do this and of course it is your duty! Cops do a horrible job as social workers, therapist, teachers, and mental health professionals. You are cops hired to do professional law and order services; in Oxnard it is desperately needed! Only in disenfranchised and marginalized community such as La Colonia would the OPD dare to initiate this bone headed, ill conceived and thoughtless experiment. Chief get the entire community involved, before you  go, like your processors about your professional way departing Oxnard and leaving us stuck with a broken legacy; make righteous well thought out and wise decisions and leave a healing testament to community building  and not another tired and useless militarizing model in our marginalized and disenfranchised communities.

Our kid deserve a loving learning environment;  full of unconditional and uncompromised love and not the current petty light weight political maneuvering of the OPD. It is under the light and benevolence of community support that love fully blossoms and provide the culture so each and every one of our kids can fulfill their full majestic potential. The role of the cops is to make sure that these kids have a safe, secure, and protected community. So to you OPD Chief I would say get to it and don’t sidestep your duty! Your job is to establish and maintain safety in our entire community; you don’t have the time or the expertise to freelance in social empowerment or community building. Do your job, be servants of law and order in our community! That job Chief to the proper well centered professional is 24/7 seven days a week. Please do not lose focus!

— Armando Vazquez, M.Ed., is the executive director of The KEYS Leadership Academy@ Café on A in Oxnard.

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