Ella Baker Center Blog

As we recently reported here on the Ella Baker Center blog, The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) recently pulled an appalling bait and switch. Using a website and email campaign, they offered $200 and amnesty to any of 14,000 parolees who had broken contact with their parole officers. However, when 150 individuals showed up, many accompanied by their family members, they were arrested and taken to Alameda County Jail.

One of the families impacted by this disgraceful ruse was Linda, the parent of one of the targeted parolees (who is unable to use her full name due to concerns over the ongoing case with her son). This is her story:

On Saturday May 15^th, at approximately 1:30pm Dennis, my son, my sister, Nephew and I arrived at 1515 Clay street in Oakland. We were excited about the opportunity for Dennis to either get Parole discharged or be put on non revocable parole status.  When we arrived at check-in, they gave Dennis a name tag and asked how many people he had with him and told us we could all enter together.  We all walked through a metal detector and went through an extensive pocket and weapon search.

What brought us to Oakland that Saturday was the promise of Amnesty for Dennis losing contact with his parole officer. He had received a letter in the mail from the CDCR Amnesty program. He decided to do it because we believed what we read and the research we did.  We thought if the Governor signed this bill to help the people on parole with less severe crimes, we honestly thought it was the real thing. He thought by going down and taking care of this it was the right thing to do so he would not have to live looking over his shoulder and be able to move on with his life.

When we entered the auditorium, a man up front was talking about the program explaining how everything would work and answering questions. Many people where there with their families and young children. There were people with name tags that said United Way which led us to believe they were volunteers. At the time, we thought that was pretty cool since the United Way is an organization that helps people.  The man in charge explained that there were several steps of the process and at the end they had Labor Ready on hand to help cash your amnesty checks. Using that service meant that you would pay a $5 check cashing fee but that $3 of each fee would go to charities such as the Red Cross.  Explaining that the process would take a few hours, they screened the movie Top Gun.

They began calling out names and taking people out of the auditorium. This went on for about two hours.  At approximately 4:00 pm, two men ran to the front of the room and yelled, “It’s a sting! It’s a sting!”

They were followed by police whose guns were drawn yelling, “Everyone hit the floor.” It became pure chaos- people were yelling, police were yelling.  I sat in disbelief and started shaking.  My sister was sitting next to me and began crying, her face red, I have never seen my sister look like that before.  I looked to my right and there was a cop with his gun pointed in my direction. All of the guns seemed unnecessary; we were not armed and as far as I know everyone had gone through the same process entering into the building.

The police went around the room and began to zip tie all paroles. They separated me from my sister telling me to go sit two rows back even though we had done nothing.  After a short time I could see my sister and it was obvious she was scared and confused so I requested to go back and sit by her I was allowed.  After getting back to her I learned she had also asked if she could sit by me and was told no though there was no reason to separate us.

There was a lady standing up front holding her baby. I imagined she could only be more scared since she had her child in her arms.  Throughout the afternoon there were several families in and out and many small children. They confiscated one person’s video camera during the chaos. The police moved all of the parolees up front and the family members to the back. We were soon escorted out of the building scared and confused.

We thought this was supposed to be a program to help not to scare and arrest. My son went to this because he thought it was the right thing to do even though we now live out of state.  After his last release, he reported to his parole office but did not receive the needed support. Dennis was living on the streets in California so came north to live with us for the chance to have a better life. He has been working a job since January and turning his life around. In doing so, however, a warrant was issued for failure to report.

Now as it stands he is locked up in Santa Rita and neither he nor I know for how long. We are trying to keep his job for him, but are worried that he will lose it.  Dennis has told me that they want to give him a sentence of 6-9 months. When he is released he will be sent back to the streets in California with no help no support and nowhere to go.

I know my son is not the only one in this position. Why should a person be punished for leaving to live a better life away from the bad life they had? The system is broken and doesn’t help- Parolees are always looking over their shoulder, and sometimes have no real place to go except the streets which in turn will put them right back where they were, if not worse.

What happened Saturday was horrible and never should have happened in the way that it did.  It has left me mentally scared for life.  I close my eyes and all I see are the police standing around me guns pointed. I hear the yelling, It’s a sting it’s a sting! I see a lady holding her child, scared for the child, what if someone shoots?  All these thoughts are still running through my head over and over. I doubt that my life, Dennis’s life, or the lives of all the other parolees and family members will ever be the same.

Not only did this sting traumatize the individuals involved, but it seems like the wrong solution for our problems. If CA took all the money they spent on the set up, and used it to help some of the people on parole, perhaps some of these people would be better off.

No one else should experience what Linda did. CDCR must be held accountable to develop programs in the prisons, in the community, and in the parole system that can truly offer rehabilitation, accountability and support. Join the Ella Baker Center in sending this message to CDCR.

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PLEASE NOTE: The United Way of the Bay Area has alerted us that they were not involved in any way with this sting operation, despite the impression of the individuals present. You can learn more about their great work in the Bay Area here.