FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ISPN Issues Statement on SLMPD Shooting of Bade Ali Jabir:

Calls for Full Transparency in the Investigation 

ST. LOUIS, {February 13, 2023} - 

The Immigrant Service Providers Network (ISPN) joins the call for full transparency in the investigation of the police-involved shooting of Bade Ali Jabir on September 7, 2022.  It has been reported that police arrived on the scene to carry out an eviction, which then escalated to the shooting and killing of Ali Jabir.  Local news investigation and community witnesses report the absence of the Crisis Response Unit and adequate interpretation services during the hours-long standoff between the police and Ali Jabir.  Bade Ali Jabir was a father, community member, and Sudanese refugee with known linguistic and mental health needs.  Individuals who were speaking to Ali Jabir during the stand-off report that he expressed fear and a willingness to come out peacefully. 

According to case.net records, Ali Jabir was arrested at the end of May 2022.  He was released after 24 hours with multiple charges and a warrant later issued for his arrest. However, community members were not aware of the warrants and are unsure if Ali Jabir was aware of them.  It is unclear what, if any, interpretation resources were used to communicate with Ali Jabir during the May incident, or what, if any, translated resources were provided to communicate detailing information about the warrants and his responsibility afterward.  Reports of September 7th show multiple failures to comprehensively follow through with language access procedures under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment. This preventable and tragic loss underlines the historic abuse of identities Ali Jabir held including his race, language, culture, trauma, mental health, and poverty status. 

ISPN requests explicit transparency in the following four ways:

  • Release of all audio and visual recordings from any interactions that SLMPD had with Bade Ali Jabir on September 7th in accordance with Sunshine Law, including body camera recordings up to and minutes after the shooting occurred.  

  • Detailed procedural list of language access protocols that took place.  This includes the release of any:

    • written or recorded disclosures, 

    • interviews, 

    • recounts from officers, 

    • on-site witnesses, 

    • Crisis Response Unit call logs, 

    • interpretation service call logs and service members,

    • any other disclosures in contact with SLMPD and/or Ali Jabir throughout the event on September 7th.  

  • Written release of both SLMPD’s language access plan and the Crisis Intervention Unit’s protocol for engaging people identified as limited-English proficient (LEP).  

  • Written release of agency-specific language access strategic plan and related documents, including but not limited to procedural, training, and educational resources in current use and to be developed in future planning efforts. For any such materials that are not available, we ask SLMPD to identify a timeline and a work plan to which they shall conduct internal language access strategic planning and implementation processes.  

About ISPN

The Immigrant Service Providers Network (ISPN) increases collaboration by convening organizations and community members working with foreign-born individuals and their families and with the mission to educate and facilitate responsive collective impact in the St. Louis region. Monthly, general meetings are hosted to bring service providers together. These small group discussions facilitate pressing issues and result in shared resources. Meetings are held over Zoom from 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM the fourth Wednesday of the month. Founded in 2015, ISPN is a fiscally sponsored coalition of service providers and community advocates of immigrants in the St. Louis Region. The work of the ISPN is generously sponsored by the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis and the Marillac Mission Fund. The St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA) provides structural support to the ISPN. For more information, visit https://www.ispnstl.org and follow @ispnstl.


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MEDIA CONTACTS:

{Marissa Cohen, ISPN Co-Convener, mcohen@ehoc-stl.org, 314-534-5800 x 2005}

{Lizzie Warner, ISPN Language Justice Chair, lizzie@ihelpstl.org, 314-714-6897}