Guide To The Ron Wilkins Los Angeles Community Alert Patrol Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Ron Wilkins Los Angeles Community Alert Patrol Collection
Creator:
Wilkins, Ron
Identifier/Call Number: URB.CAP
Physical Description:
.208 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1966-2023
Abstract: The Ron Wilkins Los Angeles Community
Alert Patrol Collection contains Wilkins's published book, original Community Alert Patrol
(CAP) materials including a volunteer roster and patrol reports, related news clippings, and
Wilkins's teaching materials and speeches about CAP. Ron Wilkins was the head of the
Community Organizing Patrol, founded in June 1966 to "police the police." The materials
document police brutality and racism in Los Angeles, California focusing on the time period
following the 1965 Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion or Watts
Uprising.
Language of Material:
English.
Biographical / Historical
Ron Wilkins is an activist and scholar focusing on Pan-African international organizing,
revolutionary photojournalism, and strengthening mutually supportive relationships between
Black and Brown peoples. He was the head of the Community Organizing Patrol (CAP) and a
member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
The Community Organizing Patrol (CAP) was founded in June 1966 by the Temporary Alliance of
Local Organizations (TALO). It was the first civilian volunteer patrol group in the U.S. to
"police the police". It operated for approximately one year. The group used patrol cars to
move around the Los Angeles area, used radios provided by SNCC to communicate, submitted
nightly reports, and worked to keep an eye on the Los Angeles Police force, trying to
improve the treatment of Black community members.
Scope and Contents
The Ron Wilkins Los Angeles Community Alert Patrol Collection includes Wilkins's published
book, original Community Alert Patrol (CAP) materials including a volunteer roster and
patrol reports, news clippings about CAP, and Wilkins's teaching materials and speeches
about the Community Alert Patrol. The materials document police brutality and racism in Los
Angeles, California focusing on the time period following the 1965 Watts Riots, also known
as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising. Notably, the CAP reports provide firsthand
accounts of police activity, brutality and interactions with Black community members.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Ron Wilkins, 2024.
Preferred Citation
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information
Carri Frola, 2024.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs
Audiovisual materials
Documents
Ephemera
Box 1, Folder 1
Community Alert Patrol Article in
Jet
Magazine,
1966
Box 1, Folder 2
Community Alert Patrol Newspaper Clippings,
1966-1968
Box 1, Folder 3
Community Alert Patrol, Patrol Car and Ron Wilkins Photographs,
1966
Box 1, Folder 4
Community Alert Patrol Photographs,
1966-1969
Box 1, Folder 5
Community Alert Patrol "Report Your Local Police" Sign,
undated
Box 1, Folder 6
Community Alert Patrol Reports,
1967
Box 1, Folder 7
Community Alert Patrol Roster of Volunteers,
1966
Box 1, Folder 8
Crook's Lens; A Photographic Journey Through the Black
Liberation Struggle
by Ron Wilkins,
2023
Box 1, Folder 9
Ron Wilkins Presentation Materials and Evidence of White Supremacy in Law
Enforcement,
1966-2015
Box 1, Folder 10
Ron Wilkins Presentations and Speeches on the Community Alert Patrol
(CAP),
2020-2023
Digital Folder
Ron Wilkins Presentations and Speeches on the Community Alert Patrol
(CAP),
2020-2023
