Police Monitoring Is Nothing New - But Now They Have The Internet
On August 20th 2024, the ACLU of Oregon filed a lawsuit against the Medford Police Department (MPD) alleging that the Medford police violated Oregon law by illegally monitoring activists.
According to the filing, since 2020 the MPD has been keeping extensive records on Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, Stabbin Wagon, and former Stabbin Wagon Director Melissa Jones. ORS 181A.250 expressly prohibits law enforcement from collecting and maintaining information on activists and organizations, unless it directly relates to a criminal investigation. Public records obtained by the ACLU show that MPD had no justifiable reason to be monitoring these activists.
What Did The MPD Do?
The ACLU lawsuit alleges that the MPD engaged in illegal monitoring. Monitoring is not only wiretapping and following someone home in an unmarked car, monitoring can also be: looking at Instagram to see what protests people will be attending, joining a private Facebook group to keep track of people, and creating a dedicated task force to surveil people outside of a criminal investigation.
According to public records, MDP tracked and discussed activists' social media posts, admitted to joining activists' private Facebook groups, and paid an analyst to monitor who they called “our local activists”. If true, these actions are a violation of ORS181A.250.
Activists' social media posts, admitted to joining activists' private Facebook groups, and even hired an analyst to monitor who they called “our local activists”. If true, these actions are a violation of ORS181A.250.
The plaintiffs in this lawsuit (Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, Stabbin Wagon, and Melissa Jones) are not the only activists to be illegally monitored by the Oregon police. There is a long history of Oregon police monitoring activists going back to the 1960s, that is why ORS181A.250 was passed in the first place. In the age of social media it is easier than ever for cops to do it.
More recently, public records revealed the MPD also monitored protesters and activists involved in the Pembina pipeline protests for years after the pipeline was canceled in 2021.
Monitoring Is Not a Victimless Crime
Monitoring is illegal for a reason. Police have influence in local communities and politics, and misuse of this power has far-reaching impacts. For example, police officers often sit on boards that approve grants and funding for nonprofits, such as the plaintiffs in this case. Police can even control where activists can go in their community.
“The police will pressure local businesses downtown to enter into trespassing agreements where law enforcement can trespass people from these places or properties without the property owner having to take more of an involved role.” Alicia LeDuc Montgomery, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said, “Law enforcement’s influence extends well beyond just controlling and enforcing the law, it starts to affect how everyday people in businesses and other nonprofits or public entities are providing their services or running their businesses.“
If there is no legal justification for the MPD to be monitoring the plaintiffs, then ask yourself: Why are they doing it? Why these activists? Why these political movements?
There is no definitive motive, but there are examples of interactions between MPD and the plaintiffs that can shed light onto possible factors. In August of 2023, at a Stabbin Wagon event called the “HIV Testing Party,” Melissa Jones and Sam Strong (Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers co-founder) were arrested. The ACLU alleges there is dash cam footage from the arrest that revealed one of the arresting officers saying, “Yeah, those activists are literally the worst human beings ever and I am very happy they are going to jail.” Emails uncovered by the ACLU show that when Stabbin Wagon was given $1.5 million in grant funding, MPD officers remarked on their disapproval of the decision, saying it was “unbelievable”, and that the funding would “cause more destruction”.
This incidence of monitoring continues to have harmful effects on activists:
“For a number of months I was afraid to leave my house. I had been doxxed. My friends and I continue to be scared. The police have so much power within their own group and also in the community” said Sam Strong, in the ACLU press release.
When physical and virtual surveillance are inescapable, where can activists and whistleblowers find safety? There is nowhere activists are safe as long as police continue to side step the law. Police surveillance goes beyond Medford, or even Oregon. This is a systemic issue which will only continue to grow in the next four years as tech giants align themselves with an increasingly authoritarian right.
The animosity displayed by police in Medford, and around the country is a self fulfilling prophecy. Continuously monitoring activists and members of the press for no justifiable reason will only fuel the fires of disdain. How can we expect fair and just treatment from the authorities when they have decided guilt from the outset? Without any crime being committed activists have already been branded " the worst human beings” And have their privacy invaded for no reason. Is that justice? Is that due process?
The Cost Of The Crime
There is another victim to this crime: you, the taxpayer. Public records allegedly show police officers spent time on duty monitoring Facebook groups, Instagram pages, and TikTok accounts. Funds were spent paying an analyst to spend government time on social media tracking accounts of non-violent, non-criminal community program advocates and track activists and organized protests. Litigating this lawsuit will also cost the city money and city lawyers time. Those expenses will also get passed along to taxpayers. Illegal surveillance operations should not be used to justify police budgets.
What do we do about it?
Simply put, there needs to be more accountability. The police are not about to turn themselves in for their own operation. Even the Mayor of Medford was allegedly aware of the surveillance and said nothing. The “blue wall of silence,“ and self interest are strong motivators. If nonprofits had not put their time and money into the public records request then most of this information would never have come to light.
Why doesn't everybody request records?
Although a public right, public record requests cost money, and can be a difficult process for those who have never learned how to submit them. It is not infrequent that a record request cannot be fulfilled on a technicality. On top of that, it can take months for the request to be fulfilled. All of these factors mean getting public records is not accessible.
What can you do to support accountability?
On a micro level, the ACLU has a template that you can use to search for your own name in public records, if you have the time and money you are encouraged to look for yourself. And on the community level, be vocal about this injustice. Now more than ever, it's important to support local activists, be aware of police surveillance, and demand transparency from police. Police are meant to enforce laws and serve us, not break them and surveil us. And If not us, who are the police protecting and serving?