SACRAMENTO, CA - Upset with what they're calling unfair treatment, residents in Sacramento's Del Paso Heights area have organized to fight the Twin Rivers Unified School District and its police force.
At a hastily called news conference, Greg Jefferson introduced members of the newly formed Del Paso Heights Community Association.
"We're tired of talking," Jefferson said. "We're tired of complaining. We're tired of yelling and screaming."
Jefferson was referring to meetings held after a Twin Rivers police officer was shot four times by Tyrone Smith, who later died in the custody of the Sacramento police.
Gerald Humphrey said the neighborhood has been under siege by the Twin Rivers police since the school district formed in 2008.
"We're being towed," Humphrey said. "We're being pulled over. My kids would come to my house and the police would pull them over in front of my house."
Earlier this week, Twin River Police Chief Christopher Breck was put on administrative leave. Department officials promised officers would reduce their number of traffic stops and vehicle tows. But neighbors fear those numbers will increase once the district is out of the spotlight.
"We would like to see a clear and defined scope of their parameters and their jurisdiction," Jefferson said. "We want to what they're allowed to do, who they're allowed to pull over."
The neighbors said they're also unhappy with the school district, which recently passed out information touting students' academic achievements.
Jefferson called the information bogus because he had attended a meeting where Superintendent Frank Porter said many African-American students are failing.
"Using the data Frank Porter gave us on African-American students -- he said it would take 20 years to close their achievement gap," Jefferson explained. "We've tried to have another meeting with (Porter) but he won't call us back."
The neighbors said they believe their power lies in the ballot box.
"After our first meeting, we went door to door to register people to vote," Jefferson explained. "If the Twin Rivers school board won't listen to us, we need to remove them from representing us."
"We want, who we want, on that school board," Humphrey agreed. "And we want to feel safe in our neighborhood and when we go to church."
The neighbors also pointed out they're tired of people saying they represent Del Paso Heights.
"All these people are trying to speak for us, the NAACP and Rick Jennings, they've never come to talk to us about anything before," Jefferson said. "They don't come into our neighborhood on a regular basis."
Jennings owns the Center for Fathers and Families, a non-profit that has a contract with the Twin Rivers district for after-school programs.
"I'm not trying to be a voice for the community," Jennings said. "The superintendent asked me to honest about what we see happening. I'm just trying to repair the damage so we can have a plan and bring the school district and the community back together."
NAACP president Betty Williams has repeatedly said she wants the FBI to investigate the Twin Rivers police department.
"We just want people to know we're tired of being pushed around and now we're going to speak up for ourselves," Jefferson said. "We have to do this. We're going to make our community better for our children. We're going to take back the Del Paso Heights neighborhood."
By Karen Massie, kmassie@news10.net
News10/KXTV
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