COPs Resources

Direct link to this page: https://copswiki.org/Common/COPsResources

Latest News

• Witness.org - Organization founded by Peter Gabriel to encourage people to use modern video cameras to document human rights atrocities. It was thought that they would be an appropriate partner for Citizens Oversight.
• Maplight.org provides a fantastic resource for linking campaign contributions with votes on bills.

Background

This topic is to accumulate and organize information and resources that will be helpful to COPs participants. It is also an appropriate place to list tips and hints, as well as success stories of COPs activities. Concerns about corporate control of news media and citizen intimidation are also appropriate.

Resources

• Media Box -- Media system for use at events.
• Contact Kiosk -- Four way contact entry system using electronic tablets.
• Contact Your Representative - a list of contact telephones and emails to allow you to contact your state or federal representative.
• http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/- Open Government Guide -- Lets the user compare any state laws regarding public records requests
  • Pages on California - http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php?op=browse&state=CA
• http://www.nfoic.org - The National Freedom of Information Coalition -- has summaries of laws in all states with regard to access of documents.
• The organization Californians Aware (http://www.calaware.org) is focused on making sure governmental agencies comply with the Brown Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the California Public Records Act (CPRA). They will be excellent partners as we move forward in our citizens' oversight.
  • Calaware recently performed audits of law enforcement agencies and found that they performed very poorly in terms of releasing information that is available to the public by law. See Calaware Law Enforcement Audit Report
• California First Amendment Coalition: http://www.cfac.org
• California Government Code: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=gov

• Laws regulating meetings and information disclosure
  • The Brown Act- regulates how meetings are run, public notice, no outside meetings, etc.
    • Closed Session Details - When are closed sessions allowed, and how are they to be conducted.
  • California Public Records Act- requires the disclosure of information from public agencies and bodies.
    • CPRAon Law Enforcement Records - If you need to request law enforcement records, what is allowed.
  • First Amendment
    • Top10_FirstAmendment.pdf: Top ten points on First Amendment rights
  • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
    • FOIA as amended in 1996: http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_XVII_4/page2.htm
    • How to make a FOIA Request: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060313/news_1m13howto1.html

• Public Citizenis an excellent resource for tracking federal congressional members.
  • Congressional scorecard
• CALPIRG is an excellent resource for tracking California legislative members. It also scores Federal Senate and House records.
• http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ - Official legislative action page.
• http://www.agacgfm.org - Association of Governmental Accountants promotes an initiative for citizen-centric reporting.
• The Nation provides issues tracking: http://capwiz.com/thenation/issues/

• Legal terminology: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/glossary.htm

• District Attorney of the County of San Diego, Bonnie Dumanis
  • Special Operations Division, Public Integrity Unit: 619-531-4051 (NOTE: This no longer exists)
    • Leon Schorr - Talked on the Phone.
    • Mr. O'Toole

• Are speakers from the public required to provide their name and address in order to speak?
  • I asked this question to the State Attorney General's office, and I received a call from Ted Prim. He said that his office informally advises the public that members of the public do NOT need to identify themselves or provide their address. He said that to get an official written opinion on this issue would require a request by a member of the assembly or senate and then it would take six months to complete.

• Dunn & Bradstreet run a website called the Selectory ( http://www.selectory.com ) the has a powerful search tool for parent companies and their subs in North America (including Mexico & Canada). An alternative site is http://www.referenceusa.com . both require paid memberships, but could prove an invaluable tool for researching board members and their spiderweb of affiliations.

• PROP 59: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_59_%282004%29#Text Many of you may be well aware of the Constitutional Amendment known as Prop 59 that was passed overwhelmingly by voters (83%) in 2004. Prior to going on the ballot, it was unanimously passed by the Assembly and the Senate. It requires public entities to interpret the right of the public to view and receive copies of public documents broadly if it furthers a person’s right to access. It further requires any limits on public access to be interpreted as narrowly as possible. IT IS NOW A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF EVERY CITIZEN TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ITS GOVERNMENT (SUNSHINE LAW). It adds Article Section 3(b) to the California Constitution. This adds to the California Public Records Act (http://www.harp.org/org/cpra.htm) and The Ralph M. Brown Act (http://www.foley.com/files/tbl_s31Publications/File Upload137/1948/brown.act.pdf) which provide considerable public records access rights and limit the times when a public entity can hold meetings in secret, respectively.

• Citizen's Handbook -- Vancouver -- http://www.citizenshandbook.org

• Messaging Best Practices -- Some tips on developing powerful messages and avoiding adopting "opponents" framing.

COPs Administration Notes

• COPs Video Squads - notes for logistics of creating video of governmental meetings.
• Reporting via texting -- Interesting video on Ted.com describing how cell phone texting can be used as a means to gather information. New problem is we have too much and need a way to parse through it and decide what is important.

Images

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Recent Articles and Media: ( Add | All Media)

This is the most recently published 20 articles, most recent first.

• (M1100) 2004 Conflicts of Interest -- Bill Lockyear, Attorny General, State of California, Referenced in Stieringers Employment Scam; COPs Resources
• (M753) 2003-08-01 Rosenberg's Rules of Order -- , League Of California Cities, COPs Resources
• (M940) 1967 Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act -- , State Of California, Applicable to State (not local) bodies. COPs Resources
• (ConflictOfInterestLaw) Conflict of Interest Law -- Govt Code Section 87100-87105 -- , State Of California, COPs Resources

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