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COPs Program

Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs) empowers the citizen to take control of a huge government that is seriously out of control. Even those responsible for understanding what these bodies are doing are overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of the problem. However, with citizen volunteers, we can turn an intractable problem into a manageable one.

Our oversight responsibility was well recognized as crucial to our democracy, and was originally called the "Council of Censors". Please see the section of the Pennsylvania constitution written by Benjamin Franklin: Council Of Censors

The framers of the 1776 Pennsylvania constitution did not trust solely to "a mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments of government" to protect the people against oppression and tyranny. They introduced a special organ of government for this purpose, called the council of censors. The censors were charged with the duties of inquiring whether the constitution had been preserved inviolate, and whether the government had performed their duties properly without assuming unconstitutional powers. They were also to inquire whether the public taxes had been justly levied and collected, in what manner they had been spent, and whether the laws had been duly executed. They were empowered to send for persons, papers, and records, to pass public censures, to order impeachments, and to recommend to the legislature the repeal of such laws as should appear to them to have been enacted contrary to the principles of the constitution. Furthermore, they were empowered to call by a two-thirds vote a constitutional convention to amend any article of the constitution which might be defective, explain such as might be thought not clearly expressed, and add such as might be necessary for the preservation of the rights and happiness of the people.

In essence, we now understand the genius of the framers and have re-instituted the censors in the form of COPs.

There are two categories of oversight projects

  • Govt Oversight - those that oversee specific governmental bodies. As a COPs panelist, you will become a fixture at the meetings of a particular board, council, or other body, or providing oversight to specific elected officials. Read Govt Oversight to learn how to find an appropriate governmental body to oversee.
  • Issue Oversight - those that oversee specific political issues or development projects, such as to oversee specific outsourced contracts, work that would normally be done by governmental institutions, but for some reason contracted out to the lowest bidder, or perhaps to a friend or campaign contributor, you know how it works.

In addition to those two Project Types, we also have Infrastructure Projects which deal with the logistics of organizing our work.

Since the start of COPs, we've found that in addition to providing oversight to specific governmental bodies, we wind up engaged in a number of projects. Each project gathers information and other activist citizens who want to help make important changes or to stop projects out of control.

COPs Projects And Citations

Note: The following list is being changed to a dynamic list of projects.
  • See Common Projects for the deprecated (manual) list
  • Add Project: Topic Name:

Government Oversight Projects

Project Description Parent Project Curator Status
Grossmont Healthcare District After being cited by the California Medical review board, the community became aware that the District Board was unaware of these events, despite a clear expectation by the community that they stay perform hospital oversight.   Raymond Lutz Active
Grossmont Union High School District Oppose the sad story of a high school district taken over by religious radicals and left in disarray. Now, they've done it again.   Raymond Lutz Active
La Mesa Spring Valley School Board Oversight of board, and most recently, the banning of the President's address.   Raymond Lutz Hot
Lakeside Fire Board Oversight of the Lakeside Fire Board   Raymond Lutz Active

Issue Oversight Projects

Project Description Parent Project Curator Status
Blackwater In Soutwestern College SWC approved using BW shooting range in trade for on-campus conference room use. Blackwater Otay Raymond Lutz Active
Blackwater-Xe at Los Coyotes Reservation Blackwater-Xe mercenary training camp at the Los Coyotes Reservation, near Warner Springs. Private Mercenaries   Active
BlackwaterOtay Opposition to private mercenary training center in Otay Mesa, San Diego Private Mercenaries Raymond Lutz Active
Blackwater Worldwide Considers the entire family of companies related to Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater Lodge Training Center. Private Mercenaries Raymond Lutz Active
Border Security This topic includes discussion of the border fence, and the larger issue of border security and immigration reform.   Raymond Lutz Active
Campaign Finance Reform Limit those with money to buy elections. Election Integrity Raymond Lutz Active
Climate Change Investigation into the debate over anthropogenic climate change based on Greenhouse gasses. Energy Policy Raymond Lutz Active
ECPAC - East County Performing Arts Center Tracking of management of ECPAC   Raymond Lutz Active
Covert Canyon A shooting range training area in East San Diego County, off Japatul Valley Rd and operated by Marc Halcon. Private Mercenaries Raymond Lutz Active
Current Events Theater Screen progressive films to counteract conservative and corporate media.   Raymond Lutz Active
Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster Background and ideas for dealing with this disaster   Raymond Lutz Active
Election Integrity Comprises all election integrity issues   Raymond Lutz Active
EnergyPolicy Consideration of various approaches to solving fossil fuel addiction.   Raymond Lutz Active
Israeli Palestinian Conflict Oversight and discussion of perhaps the most divisive conflict on earth.   Raymond Lutz Active
Local Politics East County Politics that is not covered by another project   Raymond Lutz Active
Manual Tally Issues 1% Manual Tally is required for certification of elections but are either not completed or are insufficient to report vote-substitution errors. SERIOUS PROBLEMS DETECTED IN SAN DIEGO! Election Integrity Raymond Lutz Active
NineEleven Inquiry into the truth surrounding the events of 9-11-2001   Raymond Lutz Active
Open Canvass Method Describes a method of election canvass processing that uses high-speed electronic equipment but is not subject to hacking vulnerabilities Election Integrity Raymond Lutz Active
Park Station at La Mesa Crossroads Huge mixed-use project at El Cajon Blvd and Baltimore Dr.   Raymond Lutz Active
Private Mercenaries Considers the rise of private mercenary firms and warfare training camps. War Profiteering Raymond Lutz Active
Procinctu Group Opposition to development of "The Ranch", a mercenary training center in Riverside County Private Mercenaries Ann Weston? Active
Progressive TV and Radio Project to establish and support progressive TV and Radio stations   Raymond Lutz Active
San Diego County Canvass Procedure Detailed written procedures for the canvass in San Diego County Election Integrity Raymond Lutz Active
Scanner Tape Review Our attempt to audit the elections process in San DIego County regarding Diebold scanner tapes. Election Integrity Raymond Lutz Active
SunrisePowerlink Project to oppose the installation of the Sunrise Powerlink Energy Policy Raymond Lutz Active
East County Performing Arts Center Describes the takeover of ECPAC by CCT El Cajon City Council Raymond Lutz Active
War Profiteering Explores the problem with war-for-profit   Raymond Lutz Active
WindZero Mercenary-style trainging camp just east of San Diego County in Ocotillo/Nomirage. Private Mercenaries   Active

Infrastructure Projects

Project Description Parent Project Curator Status
Cops Program Parent project to all COPs projects.   Raymond Lutz Active
COPs Resources Compilation of resources and related information useful to COPs participants. COPs Program Raymond Lutz Active
Project Anatomy A "project of projects" -- how we manage and organize COPs projects on this site. COPs Program Raymond Lutz Active

Articles and Media (marked COPs Program): (Add | All Media)

Request and Response Letters to Governmental Bodies (Add | All Media)

COPs Program Project Infrastructure

-- Raymond Lutz - 07 Jan 2007

Project Form edit

Project Name? Cops Program
Project Description? Parent project to all COPs projects.
Project Founder? Raymond Lutz
Project Curator? Raymond Lutz
Project Parents?

Project Status? Active
Project Type Infrastructure Project
Thumbnail Link?

► Attachments

▼ Attachments

Topic attachments
I Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment
pdfpdf 0113_calaware_Public_Access_to_Law_Enforcement_Information_Audit_Report.pdf manage 85.8 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz Calaware law enforcemetn audit report
pdfpdf COPSBrochure.pdf manage 1953.6 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz COPs Brochure. Print and distribute!
docrtf COPs_Proposal_V2.rtf manage 50.8 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz COPS Proposal
docdoc NewsRelease1-06-07-FINAL.doc manage 94.5 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz News Release: COPS to Police Local Govt.
pdfpdf NewsRelease1-06-07-FINAL.pdf manage 91.0 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz  
docdoc PanelistQuestionnaire.doc manage 92.5 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz Panelist Application / Questionnaire
pdfpdf PanelistQuestionnaire.pdf manage 70.3 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz Panelist Application / Questionnaire (PDF)
pdfpdf Top10_FirstAmendment.pdf manage 193.3 K 2009-03-22 - 22:30 Raymond Lutz Top ten points on First Amendment rights
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Topic revision: r43 - 2010-03-17 - 15:58:27 - Raymond Lutz
 
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