LOS ANGELES - The ACLU of Southern California strongly objects to a City of Los Angeles proposal that would effectively end civilian oversight of six law enforcement departments and agencies. The Police Commission is expected to vote on the plan Tuesday.

The move would transfer security services of the Departments of Recreation and Parks, Library, Convention Center, Zoo and El Pueblo Historic Monument Departments, and the Community Redevelopment Agency under the direction of a newly-created Office of Public Safety in the General Services Department. Currently the agencies all fall under the watch of public commissions, but General Services does not.

In a letter sent to the Police Commission today, the ACLU of Southern California asked that the plan be reconsidered as civilian oversight is inherently important to public safety. If created, the new Office of Public Safety would include "Special Officers" who will be trained like LAPD officers and will be certified to carry firearms, make arrests and use force when needed, but the public would not have a method to monitor the actions of these officers as it does the LAPD.

"The creation of a secondary police force in the City that is not subject to similar review flies in the face of the letter and spirit of the City charter, which clearly establishes the value and need for civilian oversight of the LAPD," said ACLU/SC Criminal Justice Director Ricardo Garcia in the letter to the Commission.

The absence of public scrutiny if the new department is created is at the heart of the problem, not the idea of consolidating the security agencies, said ACLU/SC Executive Director Ramona Ripston.

"We should not diminish checks and balances in the police department, especially when the public's safety is in peril," said Ripston. "The Police Commission must not vote to move armed officers out of their supervision, where important oversights exist."

LOS ANGELES'The American Civil Liberties Union and United Airlines announced today that they have reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Assem Bayaa and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), charging that the airline discriminated against Bayaa by removing him from a flight. While United disputes Bayaa's and ADC's allegations, the parties agree that settlement of this claim is in the best interest of all.

United has previously worked, per a settlement agreement reached with the United States' Department of Transportation on a similar subject, to develop and administer comprehensive training to its employees on the topic of Equal Treatment of Customers. ADC and its affiliated organizations, ADC Research Institute and the ADC Law Enforcement Outreach Program, assisted United in developing the content for the training. The American Civil Liberties Union applauds United for the message it is sending its employees on this important topic through the Training and has recommended to its clients, Bayaa and the ADC, to resolve this case in recognition of United's industry leading efforts in this regard.

United is committed to providing service without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion or national origin.

LOS ANGELES - Exactly one year after hundreds of people were arrested near bus stations and supermarkets for alleged immigration violations, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has obtained more than a thousand pages of documents that may confirm community suspicions that the border patrol targeted people based on race.

The ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit last December seeking Border Patrol records after the agency repeatedly ignored a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act. Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, formerly the Border Patrol, released the last of 1,500 pages detailing raids last summer in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, and San Diego counties.

"Because these raids were so unusual and intrusive, they sparked tremendous fear in the community. People wanted an explanation, so we filed this case to find out the facts about why the raids happened," said Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California. "When people know what their government is up to, there is greater trust in the system as well as greater knowledge of how to improve the system."

The released CBP documents show:

'Agents suspected people of not being U.S. citizens simply because they spoke Spanish.

'Agents stopped and questioned at least 45 people who were citizens or legal residents.

'Although the CBP claimed the raids were based on intelligence from local police, at least one police department denied giving any information to the agency.

'Agents approached pedestrians and people waiting at bus stops and day laborer sites for questioning.

'Agents arrested 423 people altogether, some in cities as far as 250 miles away from the U.S. - Mexico border.

"Although the Border Patrol claimed that the raids were based on specific intelligence, there is nothing in the documents released to support their claims," said Ranjana Natarajan, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.

Documents show that Department of Homeland Security and border patrol officials in Washington, D.C. knew nothing of the raids because there was no prior approval from the headquarters. After the raids, Homeland Security told CBP to focus on law enforcement at the border and let a different agency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, handle enforcement inside the country. Nearly a year after the initial request for documents, the ACLU will negotiate with the CBP for the release of additional documents that the agency has continued to withhold.