[Mitai-announce] None

Fri Sep 17 02:41:47 EDT 2004

Subject: Ask Pres. Vest to Drop False Charges and Undertake Honest Inquiry 
_______________________________________________________________________
MIT hires private police agency to investigate its own 
police abuses.

MIT has hired Pinkerton Inc., a for-hire police agency, 
to investigate the second false arrest, by the same MIT 
police officer Joseph D'Amelio, of MIT alumna Aimee Smith 
(PhD '02). Aimee Smith was first falsely arrested by 
officer D'Amelio for handing out flyers on a public sidewalk 
before Commencement ceremonies on June 4, 2004. MIT 
subsequently dropped those charges. On August 25, the same 
officer again falsely arrested Aimee and attacked her after 
she discussed the First Amendment with three MIT police 
officers. The same day, Aimee filed a complaint with MIT 
against D'Amelio. 

MIT has claimed that they have brought in an "independent 
third-party investigator to examine the case." MIT has 
not stated how much they are paying the Pinkerton corporation, 
a private police agency with a history of violently suppressing 
union organizing and spying on political activists (see web 
links below) and now in the business of protecting the 
interests and investments of large companies. How can a 
private police agency, paid by MIT, be independent in its 
judgement of abuse by MIT police? Many Pinkerton employees 
are recruited from the ranks of the police and the FBI. 
The Pinkertons are known to cooperate closely with law 
enforcement agencies and sell intelligence on a range of 
groups, including political organizations. It is as if a 
private mercenary company were asked to investigate 
complaints about war crimes committed by a state army. 
The outcome of any report from Pinkerton is certain to be a 
whitewash. 

The MIT police, while paid by MIT, are deputized by the County 
of Middlesex and, therefore, have juristiction over the whole 
county. Nevertheless, any public (i.e. democratic) oversight 
of the MIT police is non-existent. Unlike the Cambridge 
police, there is no publicly accountable police over-sight 
board, made up of representatives from the citizenry, to 
investigate police misconduct. 

It is unacceptable that MIT has hired a private police 
agency to investigate abuses by its own police force. It 
is absurd that MIT claims that this investigation 
is being performed by an "independent third-party." Please 
write to President Vest and demand that a truly independent 
committee composed of people from the general public and not 
paid for by MIT, is assembled to investigate MIT police 
abuse. Furthermore, demand that MIT drop the charges of this 
second false arrest of Aimee Smith and that these charges 
be fully expunged from her record. 

Please cc peace-request at mit.edu on any correspondence with 
the MIT administration. For more information about the 
false arrests visit: http://web.mit.edu/justice

Also ask president Vest:

~ Is it MIT policy to arrest someone for discussing First 
  Amendment rights with MIT police officers?

~ Is it MIT policy to allow MIT police to arrest someone because 
  they don't like what they're saying or because they have a personal 
  dislike for them?

~ Why wasn't D'Amelio removed from the MIT police force the first 
  time he abused his authority. 

~ How long will the MIT administration continue to allow female 
  members of its community to be threatened, bullied, harassed, 
  and physically assaulted by a predominantly male campus police 
  force?

~ When will MIT ensure that the MIT police force is subject to the 
  Cambridge Police Review Board, as a first step to establishing a 
  fully effective complaint/review process of the police at MIT?

___________________________________________  
Contact info

President Charles Vest
e-mail:   cmvest at mit.edu
phone:    (617) 253-0148
address:  77 Mass Ave, Rm. 3-208
          Cambridge MA, 02139
FAX:      (617) 253-0036
[Goes to the Vice President's office across the hall. Label 
with "Please deliver immediately to president Charles Vest" 
and it should get to him.

President's House on Memorial Drive contact info:
FAX: (617) 253-3100

Provost Robert Brown
e-mail:   rab at mit.edu
phone:    (617) 253-4500
address:  77 Mass Ave, Rm. 3-208
          Cambridge MA, 02139
FAX:      (617) 253-8812

Chancellor Phillip Clay
e-mail:   plclay at mit.edu
phone:    (617) 253-6164
address:  77 Mass Ave, Rm 10-200
          Cambridge MA, 02139
FAX:      (617) 258-6261

Special assistant to the president
Kirk Kolenbrander
e-mail:   kdk at mit.edu
phone:    (617)-253-3365
address:  77 Mass Ave, Rm 10-205
          Cambridge MA, 02139
FAX:      (617) 258-6261

Director of Security and Campus Police
John DiFava
e-mail:   jdifava at mit.edu
phone:    (617) 252-1703
address:  77 Mass Ave, W31-114
          Cambridge MA, 02139
FAX:      (617) 253-8822

________________________________________________________________
References on Pinkertons

* Ward Churchill places the origins of the police state not with 
the founding of the FBI in 1913, but in 1852 with the creation 
of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The Pinkerton Detective 
Agency was a private investigative organization hired by both 
the federal government and the leaders of private industry to 
investigate labor dissent. It is here that Churchill finds the 
first connection between industry and government, and all the 
necessary ingredients that ultimately led to the establishment 
of the FBI.

* Pinkerton early strike breakers, planted evidence, etc.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mh_blue.html

* FBI to award Pinkerton for assistance this October
http://www.ci-pinkerton.com/news/prConnelly9.26.html

* Pinkerton boasts about intelligence gathering on political movements:

From:
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/9-11/0225paydirt.htm

Political activists will be interested to know that Pinkerton 
Global Intelligence Services (PGIS) sells intelligence on a 
range of groups, including political organisations. Its website 
(www.ci-pinkerton.com/global/groupProfiles.html) explains: 

        "The Group Profiles provide a detailed overview of 
        high-profile fringe organizations and terrorist groups. 
        The Group Profiles highlight both global and domestic 
        organizations. PGIS covers the following groups: 
        politically-based, environmentalists, anti-globalists, 
        anti-Western groups, extremist religious factions, 
        recognized terrorists, among many others." 

Similar claims at the bottom of the following website:
http://www.pinkerton-europe.com/business_intelligence_two.htm

       "Pinkerton is also able to provide specific information 
       about a range of terrorist and activist groups which 
       operate in the UK, Europe and worldwide."