By Last night, members of Occupy Oakland gathered at the Grand Lake Theater to discuss the Oakland Police Department’s crowd control policies and their use of force in response to Occupy demonstrations. The meeting was held in place of a similar event that was to be hosted by the Citizen’s Police Review Board, an independent volunteer body comprised of residents of the City of Oakland. Originally scheduled to be held at City Hall, the CPRB event was postponed somewhat last minute.
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What explains the militarization of police forces in the US?
On yesterday’s Your Call, KALW’s news call-in show, Station Manager Matt Martin led a roundtable discussion about the escalating use of military weapons and tactics by police departments. According to guest and reporter Radley Balko, “Police militarization is now an ingrained part of American culture.” We’re seeing local police dressed in riot gear use stun grenades and rubber coated bullets on demonstrators. How did we get here? And how is this affecting the relationship between police departments and local communities? Ali Winston and Norm Stamper also joined.
Q&A: J Patrick O’Connor on The Framing of Kevin Cooper
By Hans Bennett, Prison Radio
In this interview, author J. Patrick O’Connor discusses his newly released book Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and The Framing of Kevin Cooper, explaining why he is convinced of Kevin Cooper’s innocence. O’Connor asserts that the police and prosecution orchestrated an obvious frame-up that continues to be upheld by federal appeals courts, albeit with the blatantly unfair rulings by US District Court Judge Marilyn Huff blocking critical forensics tests that had been ordered by the US Ninth Circuit Court in 2004.
This week, O’Connor launches a California book tour, beginning in the San Francisco Bay Area (view schedule here). On Monday, O’Connor sat down for a video interview with Prison Radio, where he discusses aspects of this story not addressed in the text interview below (watch video here). Marking the book release, Prison Radio has recorded a special message from Kevin Cooper himself (listen here). To learn more about Cooper’s case and what you can do to help, visit this site.
In the news: Jordan takes over OPD as troubles mount for department
Ali Winston
By Nicole Jones
Howard Jordan was named permanent police chief of Oakland Wednesday. He’d been serving as interim since October after former police Chief Anthony Batts suddenly resigned, citing reasons such as mounting pressure and “limited control, but full accountability” in his job.
From working on patrol to the SWAT team, Jordan has a two-decade history with the Oakland Police Department. Mayor Jean Quan said she has high expectations for Jordan’s leadership and his plans for reforms especially now when all eyes are on the department.
Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi booked on domestic violence charges
Oakland: Federal ammo running short for War on Crime
Ali Winston
This piece comes to us from City Limits, an independent, non-profit, investigative magazine based in New York City.
Around 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 8, Maria Teresa Ramirez was pushing a red plastic car with her 3-year-old son Carlos Fernandez Nava along International Boulevard in East Oakland, Calif. As Ramirez and her son drew close to a group of men standing outside a pizzeria near International and 64th Avenue, gunfire erupted from a passing car, striking Nava and two men on the corner. While the older men, the intended targets of the shooting, lived, Nava was fatally wounded by a bullet that passed through his neck. The murder, the 67th of 2011, sparked outrage. In a city where only a quarter of all murders are solved, police received a flood of tips and within a week arrested two men now charged with Nava’s death.
Discrimination lawsuit underway against Richmond’s police chief
Chronicle reporter Demian Bulwa talks with KQED about the lawsuit against Richmond’s Police Chief Chris Magnus for racial discrimination. The city is supporting the chief, whose accusers are high-ranking African American police and command staff.
Man charged with Feb. sexual assault of 56 year-old woman
Oakland Police Department
Derrick Parks, 18, is accused of the rape of a 56-year-old woman in Oakland on Feb. 8, 2011
An 18-year-old Oakland man has been charged with the assault and rape of a 56-year old woman that took place last winter. On February 8th, the woman was walking home from work in the area of 8th and Jackson Streets when she was grabbed from behind, forced into her basement, beaten and sexually assaulted.
Although no witnesses were present, surveillance video OPD later released to the public showed a man walking away from the area. While releasing the video did not yield any leads, a trace on evidence taken from the sexual assault examination of the victim yielded a match on October 27th from a national DNA database for convicted offenders.
Derrick Parks, an 18-year-old man who was already in custody for a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, was identified by the DNA profile as the 56-year-old woman’s attacker.
On November 17, Parks was charged with multiple accounts of rape, forcible sodomy and charging enhancements by the Alameda County District Attorney. He is facing anywhere from 15 years to four life sentences in prison.