Multi-Jurisdiction Meeting Held to Address California Sikh Cab Driver Shootings
Richmond, CA--In response to recent shootings of two Sikh cab drivers in the Bay Area, the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART), a national Sikh civil rights organization, recently facilitated a meeting between local and federal law enforcement officials, elected representatives, and cab drivers. Following the meeting, SMART was able to confirm good faith and diligent efforts by the Richmond Police Department regarding the cab driver shootings.
The police are aggressively pursuing leads in the July 2 murder of Gurpreet Singh and the July 5 shooting of Inderjit Singh. The city of Richmond has announced a reward of $2,500 for tips leading to arrests in the shootings. El Sobrante Gurdwara has matched the city’s reward.
Following the meeting, the Richmond police agreed to send officers to the El Sobrante Gurdwara to train cab drivers on how to effectively relay emergency calls to local police. Additionally drivers will be trained on how to deal with confrontational situations. Based on the cab drivers’ requests, city officials promised to consider the cab drivers’ suggestions for installing video cameras and glass partitions in cabs. Local law enforcement officials also agreed to consider new taxi cab safety regulations to address safety concerns.
Attendees at the multi-jurisdiction meeting included Richmond Police Chief Joseph Samuels, County Supervisor John Gioia, Department of Justice Representative Booker T. Neal, and El Sobrante Gurdwara President Harpreet Singh Sandhu, who was there on behalf of the local cab drivers seeking the Sikh community’s assistance in response to the shootings.
SMART also discussed conducting awareness and protocol training it has conducted nationally with the Department of Justice to provide law enforcement officials with the necessary background and strategies to more effectively work with the Sikh community.
Over thirty South Asian cab drivers, many of whom were Sikh, met at the El Sobrante Gurdwara in advance of the multi-jurisdiction meeting to express their concerns and develop an agenda for the meeting with city officials and law enforcement.
Chief Samuels said he is hiring more dispatchers and officers, and invites Punjabi speaking applicants to apply for these positions. If you or someone you know is interested in working as a dispatcher or in joining the Richmond Police, please contact SMART at 202-393-2700.
SMART will continue to update the community about the investigation and community relations efforts.
To help the community better respond to such incidents, SMART has developed a KNOW WHAT TO DO pocket guide detailing steps that should be taken in the event of a hate crime, discrimination in the workplace, police profiling, and airport security issues. You can download the pocket guide at: http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/pubs/Know_What_To_Do.PDF.
Please print and distribute the pocket guide at your gurdwara, to your local community, family and friends. To order the pocket guides from SMART, please send an email to: [email protected].