Crystal Huff (they/them)Good afternoon to everyone, but especially those who are also gonna zoom into the fuckin' #SomervilleMA Finance Committee meeting and watch our local electeds talk about how maybe they want to become even more enmeshed with Dept of Homeland Security, maybe now with SWAT trainings and AI surveillance software to go with the camera "upgrades" they accepted last week. Yes, I'm angry. This meeting starts up in 7 minutes.
(I do not promise to live-toot this meeting. I have two huge deadlines this week. But I am listening, and I think everyone else in the area should be, too.)
Item 26-0271 is "Requesting approval to accept and expend a $22,800.08 grant that requires a match, from the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition Community Safety Initiative to the Police Department for youth violence prevention."
This is a Shannon Grant. It is associated with legislation that we should discourage rap music because rap = gang violence. ISYN. Defund SPD did a whole thing about Shannon Grants a few years ago. They are copaganda and bullshit, far as I've seen.
Also, Shannon Grants require matching funds! It's actually NOT free money! We would have to commit to funds in our budget to contribute to this effort. :P
Item 26-0169 is "Requesting approval to accept and expend a $43,000 grant with no new match required, from the Boston Office of Emergency Management to the Police Department for software."
This is Dept of Homeland Security and UASI trying to get us to buy and use GreyKey, aka AI software for surveillance. So fun. So great. Sigh.
Item 25-0849 is "Requesting approval to accept and expend a $127,000 grant with no new match required, from the Boston Office of Emergency Management to the Police Department for Special Response Team equipment and training."
THIS IS FROM LAST YEAR. We refused to move on this last year, so now Mayor Jake is re-submitting it. Because ... we want to use UASI (aka DHS) funds to do SWAT training! Apparently!
Meeting is now starting. Councilor JT Scott is not yet in attendance. The 4 others are there, and the clerk's office.
They're taking items in order, starting with the upgrades to hazardous waste processing.
Money for hazardous waste processing grant is laid on the table for approval at the end of the meeting. Notably, access to the Franey Road building is inaccessible. The staff's solution is to find a phone outside the building (which I have never seen) to call the staff who work up the stairs, and have them come down and outside to ground level. Sooooo accessible and equality. Sigh.
See, the cool kids are watching this meeting. @somershade.bsky.social is also here: https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xkngkuljerb2mnflvfdolyro/post/3mgqeqzkis22r
Chris Dwan (he/him) (@somershade.bsky.social)
Good evening everybody, I'm logged into tonight's meeting of the Somerville City Council's Finance Committee from the comfort of my porch - which is an absolute delight. There's more cop money on this evening's agenda ... $127k for "Special Response Team equipment and training." I'm curious. 1/?
Note: Defund the Somerville Police Dept (DSPD) has a great zine explainer on grants related to the police. Covers the UASI grants, Shannon Grants, and a couple of other things of interest.
https://www.defundsomervillepd.org/zine-library/mapping-the-money
Sorry, they want to have the committee accept a grant "to help the youths," and it requires a matching fund, but they don't yet have a plan for how they'd be "engaging the youths" exactly? Maybe a trip to the aquarium. Well. I know I super want to buy into this copaganda, for sure.
Always on point, @somershade.bsky.social!
We could use this grant and matching funds to pay the cops overtime!!
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xkngkuljerb2mnflvfdolyro/post/3mgqfh5owlc2r
Chris Dwan (he/him) (@somershade.bsky.social)
The funds are for, to nobody's great surprise, police overtime. Why staff up when you can get paid OT, right? Historically the time has been used for hotspot patrols, youth / police outreach, and basketball games. Sounds like a sweet gig - shooting hoops at time and a half. 10/?
Jon Link helpfully asks the cops if we would be uploading data to ICE in order to be in compliance with this grant.
Oh, the chief says that everything that Jon Link is concerned about is already a public record.
I imagine that's not actually the info I would get if I made a public records request, though!
So glad Councilor Strezo supports the copaganda of the marginalized kids playing basketball with the cops at overtime (1.5x) prices.
She is arguing that this is a grant we've always accepted, but that's not true. It's a thing we've occasionally managed to refuse.
Alexandra ThornJon Link is asking a question the police chief can't answer...
(The question being whether we can be absolutely certain that the data uploaded to CopLink won't lead to a member of the community being taken by ICE.)
Go Jon Link!