Countywide : Forum to Examine Police Harassment

The Alliance Working for Asian Rights and Empowerment, or AWARE, will hold a forum today on the rights of citizens who are detained or questioned by police.

People who say they are victims of police harassment, attorneys and representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union will be featured speakers at the “Copwatch Forum” at the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, 15361 Brookhurst St. in Westminster.

“We want to educate and inform our youth and parents of our community about police harassment--what it is, and what to do about it,” said JoAnn Kanshige, co-founder of AWARE.

The speakers will present a discussion titled: “Guilty by Appearance: Gang Hysteria, Mug Files and Youth Rights.”

In addition, Kanshige will share her family’s experiences with alleged police abuse and her attempts to stop the Fountain Valley Police Department from photographing youths for gang mug files.

Parent Kim Ha is scheduled to describe the book she is writing, which details her family’s encounters with what she says is police harassment.

Quyen Pham, a 16-year-old Tustin High School honors student, will describe how she and two friends were photographed by police while they waited for a ride home in front of a Garden Grove mini-mall restaurant last year. The photos, taken in July, are still stored in police files.

As a result, the ACLU recently filed a class-action federal lawsuit against the Garden Grove Police Department, challenging its strategy of photographing youths who fit a certain gang profile.

“We believe that good policing does not require creating mug files of innocent people,” said Daniel C. Tsang, co-founder of AWARE.

“Culturally, the Asian community does not speak out against such things as police harassment,” Kanshige said. “By nature, our people do not complain or report abuse, so by having some speak out, we hope to encourage others to do the same.”

The forum will be held between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.