##APABA Panel Questions
- Why does the panel have law enforcement input/representation but no community representation?
- Where can communities of color stand in relation to law enforcement when civilian oversight models throughout the country continue to fail?
- In Los Angeles, why does the police commission seem tone deaf or indifferent to community concerns raised at police commission meetings?
- What action steps does the panel believe are necessary to rein in police terrorism & who should folks who want to work on that connect to?
- As non-black folks, how does our solidarity become operational in a way that black folks can see and feel?
===
##Post-event reflections
It's amazing how much obescience is shown to law enforcement. As long as we keep deferring to the people killing marginalized folks with impunity, we will never be free.
The panel was predictable for a bar association comprised panel though it is noteworthy that the only lay person (non-lawyer) on the panel was someone representing law enforcement. More troubling was how none of the panelists made the connection of law enforcement to slave catching and contemporary counterinsurgency. The connections are important if we're going to dismantle police terrorism. Understanding whence law enforcment/policing originates, how it has changed over the years, and what its goal is are things that can be covered, at a surface level, in 5 minutes. Nobody took that time and, moreover, the panelists seemed to take as a given that police are a positive force in society.
I was disappointed in the panel but, then again, I think it's important to remember and celebrate the enormous effort put in by APABA and the generous space accomodation made by EastWest Players.