ACLU Probes Ceres Police Sweeps Following Attack on Officers

Three civil rights groups have filed a public records request for documentation of Ceres police tactics following the gang-member killing of a police officer last month. The American Civil Liberties Union, California Rural Legal Assistance, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights made the Public Records Act request Thursday. They want copies of documents covering guidelines and procedures for multiple police sweeps involving Latino youth in Ceres and Modesto in January.  The police actions followed the shooting death of Police Sergeant Howard Stevenson, 39, on January 9. Active-duty Marine and Norteno gang member Andres Raya fatally shot Stevenson and seriously wounded another officer. Raya died in a shoot-out with police later that night.  A week later, Ceres police, along with the Modesto Police Department and Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department, began conducting sweeps in Ceres and neighboring Modesto.  The law enforcement agencies reported making 83 arrests, detaining 135 individuals for questioning, contacting 391 people for personal information, conducting 270 home searches, and making 160 vehicle stops in connection with the sweeps.  The Public Records Act filing requests police documents to learn if house searches were made with proper consent, the reasons for vehicle stops and searches, when and how the department's new semi-automatic rifles were displayed, and criteria for determining gang membership and associations. [more]