PERF, DHS, and FBI Help Plan Raids
December 1, 2011 in Headline, Occupy, Politics
The past few weeks have seen widespread and often times, strikingly similar brutal crackdowns on peaceful occupations across the country and the world. The question of possible behind the scenes coordination of these raids was quickly answered. The mayors of Oakland and Seattle admitted to participating in a conference call with 18 other mayors that was advised by liaisons from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. According to a justice official, some of the advice that was given by DHS and the FBI to local mayors included the use of a massive show of police force, including police in riot gear, as well as advice to conduct raids when press is least able to document police abuses. On 11/17, on DemocracyNow! the executive director of PERF (Police Executive Research Forum) Chuck Wexler, spoke in detail about the coordination that this organization did with police chiefs across the country prior to the crackdown. PERF is a private member lobbying organization restricted to the executive head of a municipal, county, or state funded agency that provides general police services. It’s board includes police chiefs in charge of crackdowns in Miami in 2003, DC throughout the lead-up to the Iraq War, and St. Paul during the 2008 RNC.