Guest commentary: OPD’s current ‘Opt-Out’ Conditions and the Recommendations Made by CORE

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By Armando Vazquez / Guest contributor

CORE, community members and the OPD met as scheduled again on Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at the old Social Security building, that we the Acuna Arts Collective have been utilizing as our temporary home courtesy of the city of Oxnard. Chief Scott Whitney and his Assistant Chiefs Jason Benita’s and Eric Sonstegard wanted additional community input in the review, discussion and potential community assistance in improving the 11 “Opt-out” conditions currently used by the OPD to determine if a “Opt-out” candidate is determined OPD ready to be removed from the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction list.

What CORE, The Acuna Arts Collective, The KEYS Leadership Academy, OMMH and various community partners want to do is to help the OPD to develop and incorporate complementary effective Restorative/Rehabilitative Community driven “opt-out” addendums to the OPD’s existing 11 original “opt-out conditions. CORE wants in some fashion, as we negotiated with the OPD, to address the fundamental due process elements that seem to be absent in every key facet of the Oxnard’s Civil “Gang” Injunctions.

The major problem facing the OPD with their current “Opt-out” model is that, by the OPD’s own admission, that many of the adults and youth that have been enjoined, since 2008, by the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction, have never been advised of their right to petition the OPD or the DA and seek relief from continued law enforcement supervision. To be more magnanimous to the OPD, perhaps the enjoined never took the interest or the time and effort to find out about the “Opt-out” conditions and the required protocol to be “freed”.

So during our last meeting, the OPD revealed to the community for the first time that about 70 adults and youth, from a list of over 368 enjoined, had been “opted-out” from the Civil “Gang” Injunction data base in the past 10 years. When we do the simple math; 70 divided by 10 = 7 enjoined youth or adults are “opted-out” per year. This current OPD “Opt-out” process is a dismal failure, and that is why the OPD top brass is currently scrambling for community help.

The OPD must face the legal reality that with the current 11 “Opt-out” conditions/protocols they are stuck with inaccessible, ill-conceived and horrifically executed “Opt-out” element of their two constitutionally flawed Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunctions.

CORE proposed three progressive Restorative/Rehabilitative Community driven “Opt-out” program concepts during our last meeting which included:

1. Collective “Triage” program: The Acuna Arts Collective, CORE and other partners have been floating in many departments of Oxnard government a Restorative and Rehabilitative Community driven “Opt-out” program to the city. This program provides professional “triage” assessment, a vocational/career plan; long term, extensive and practical support/assistance (by a community partnership that included employers, unions, professional, students, volunteers, parents and youth) to youth or adults as they navigate away from the ranks of the enjoined to free contributing members of their local community. A copy of our proposal has been on the desk of key players within Oxnard leadership for over a year.
2. The Freedom Project: Volunteer community members working with the OPD would review files, and under the supervision of the OPD, glean “opt-out” relevant information from the 368 existing enjoined youth and adult files. Once a determination is made by the community board and approved by the OPD, a Freedom Project volunteer(s) would visit the enjoined youth or adult review the current 11 existing “opt-out” conditions and requirements that the individual would have to complete to be eligible for permanent opt-out freedom. In addition career/vocational assistance would be provide to the enjoined that wanted to take on the freedom offer.
3. The “Opt-out” Community Pilot Project: A review of pertinent data and information such as age, years enjoined, schooling, vocational history and other factors that arm de in the preliminary assessment. A pilot group of very young (under 21) or older individuals (26-26) is “enrolled” in the KEYS pilot project of 10-20 enjoined who are committed to working on the “freedom” opt-out conditions. This can be a combination of the current 11 OPD conditions and/or selected from the CORE‘s conceptual Restorative/Rehabilitative Community driven “Opt-out” program.

Chief Whitney, at the conclusion of the last meeting indicated that he would have to “reflect” on CORE and other community voices, suggestion and ideas that were proposed. CORE will await on these OPD deliberations.

Meanwhile, CORE will continue our campaign to educate and inform the Oxnard community on the glaring constitutional flaws of Oxnard’s two Civil “Gang” Injunctions and how they may come to cost the local Oxnard taxpayer; if these 368 enjoined youth/adults were to decide to take their due process rights and grievances to court seeking relief and monetary damages.

— Armando Vazquez, M.Ed., founding member of CORE and the Acuna Art Gallery and Community Collective.

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