Oakland Police Department

Notice warns of Monday AM raid on Occupy Oakland

Ali Winston

Oakland Police face off with the Occupy Oakland camp on October 25, 2011

[UPDATE 11/13/11 10:42 PM: The Bay Citizen has confirmed tomorrow morning's raid on Occupy Oakland. Read the full article here]

The following excerpt is from an email send to parents of a school near the Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Text from the message was reposted on the Facebook page of Old Oakland, a historic district in downtown Oakland. Rumors have been flying all weekend about imminent police raids on the encampment in front of City Hall. However, three days of cease & desist notices from Oakland authorities, the early opening of the city’s winter homeless shelter and a planned mass demonstration at the University of California-Berkeley on Tuesday are strong indicators that OPD and other law enforcement will take action sooner rather than later.

We are waiting for a response from Oakland Police on the source of this notification and will update as soon as possible.

“A highly coordinated law enforcement raid to clear out OO is planned to take place Monday morning early. Significant public safety mutual aid is being called in from neighboring jurisdictions. The goal is to permanently clear out the OO encampment of illegal activities. Expect to see overwhelming use of force by police directed to occupiers who refuse to comply.

Peaceful protesters are advised by police to stand down until the situation stabilizes. The general public is advised to stay away from the area during the action to avoid potential personal injury from incidental contact with conflicts.”

FILED UNDER: Police, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland

November 11, 2011 | 11:53 AM | By Ali Winston

Violence and the 99 percent – Occupy Oakland shaken by city’s harsh reality

Ali Winston

An unidentified man meditates in front of police tape cordoning off a murder scene in Frank Ogawa Plaza on Nov. 10, 2011.

Use of force by police undeniably an issue in Oakland, as demonstrated by the injuries sustained by Scott Olsen, Kayvan Sabeghi and several other protesters, apparently at the hands of police over the past few weeks during clashes with Occupy Oakland supporters. Street violence is also a familiar story in Oakland – last night’s murder was a tragically familiar narrative. Reportedly, the shooting stemmed from a physical altercation between two groups of young African-American men earlier that day over a marijuana deal. Yesterday afternoon, one of the people involved returned with a posse, chased the young man through the camp, and beat him before shooting him multiple times in the head.

As expected, Oakland politicians such as East Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid and Mayor Jean Quan took the shooting as conclusive evidence that Occupy Oakland must pack up and go. The Oakland Police Officers’ Association also weighed in with their own open letter to Occupy Oakland this morning. Oakland politics treat murder as an immutable fact that needs to be spun to particular political means. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Community, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland

November 11, 2011 | 10:12 AM | By Ali Winston

Oakland Police Officers’ Association to Occupy Oakland – Let us get back to our jobs

Henderson Images

OPOA President Dom Arotzarena sent this letter to members of the media this morning, adding to the chorus of voices calling for Occupy Oakland to leave their encampment in Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Worth noting is the figure OPOA uses for this year’s homicide count in Oakland. Official OPD statistics indicate there were 91 murders in the city as of November 6th. Counting yesterday’s murder and two other shootings that took place over the weekend, 94 people have been killed in Oakland this year in civilian-on-civilian violence, with 7 people fatally wounded during encounters with police.

An Open Letter to Occupy Oakland from the Oakland Police Officers’ Association

On behalf of the 645 Oakland police officers we represent, this letter comes to you out of duty to protect the Oakland community and its citizens.

Oakland police officers are the 99% and we understand and sympathize with your message. We respect your right to peaceful protest.

We are also sworn to protect the citizens ofOakland. Right now, Oakland is in a state of emergency. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Oakland Police Officer's Association, Occupy Oakland

November 10, 2011 | 10:40 PM | By Ali Winston

SLIDESHOW

Man slain yards from Occupy Oakland encampment

Ali Winston

Police cordon off a portion of Frank Ogawa Plaza where a man was fatally shot on Nov. 10, 2011

An unidentified man was shot to death following an argument that devolved into a fistfight in Frank Ogawa Plaza this afternoon, on the one-month anniversary of the Occupy Oakland encampment. According to several witnesses, the victim was shot at least twice in the head in Frank Ogawa Plaza near the Sankofa Boutique and Western Federal Credit Union. The man collapsed several feet in front of an entrance to the 12th Street-City Center BART station, where he was first treated by Occupy Oakland medics and then emergency medical personnel.

The incident started when an altercation between two groups of young men broke out near the medic tent at Occupy Oakland. Emma, a camper who did not want her last name to be used, said she saw a large group of people clustered around two feuding groups, trying to defuse the situation. Shortly thereafter, a fight broke out and spilled over from the encampment to a sidewalk area in front of the Western Federal Credit Union. Al, a homeless veteran who has slept at Ogawa Plaza for the past month, said he saw a group of young men chasing another man run by him, then heard four to six shots.

According to Interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan, the shooting victim died from his wounds at Highland Hospital. No arrests have been made, and no weapons have been recovered, Jordan said. Several campers did not recognize the shooting victim. There are conflicting reports as to whether the dead man had ties to the camp. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland

November 10, 2011 | 5:04 PM | By Ali Winston

138 arrested in Oakland during multi-agency sweep

Ali Winston

Some of the weapons seized by law enforcement during a 6-day crackdown in Oakland, California

A six-day joint operation between Oakland Police and nine other federal and local law enforcement agencies netted 138 arrested, seized 13 guns, two bulletproof vests and $32,000 in cash along with assorted narcotics and a stolen vehicle. Suspects were arrested on outstanding felony warrants including murder, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, and narcotics trafficking, in addition to 14 sex offenders who were found in violation of their conditions of release.

Interim Police Chief Howard announced the conclusion of the sweep, which began on November 4th, this morning alongside U.S. Attorney for Northern California Melinda Haag, Mayor Jean Quan, City Administrator Deanna Santana, U.S. Marshal Donald O’Keefe, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley and Ronald Brooks, director of the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The law enforcement collaboration was a direct response to the violence Oakland has suffered through this year, with almost 30 percent more murders this year than at this point in 2011. “There are two Oaklands,” said Mayor Quan. “One is very thriving and very successful, but we also have big pockets of poverty, our 100 toughest blocks,” where much of this six-day operation took place.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, Alameda County District Attorney, Drug Enforcement Adminstration, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, U.S. Attorney of Northern California, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Secret Service

November 7, 2011 | 5:49 PM | By Ali Winston

Crime rises in area covered by North Oakland injunction

Puck Lo

Opponents of Oakland's gang injunction strategy outside Alameda County Superior Court in October 2010

Oakland’s first gang injunction against 15 alleged members of the North Side Oakland set may have withstood an appeals challenge last week, but it will face renewed scrutiny at the City Council’s Public Safety Committee tomorrow evening. At question will be a new report prepared by Oakland Police regarding the effects of the North Oakland injunction almost a year and a half after it was approved by Alameda County Superior Judge Robert Freedman.

Among the reports findings are the following:

Part 1 crimes (murders, shootings, aggravated assaults and robberies) in the “safety zone” covered by the NSO injunction increased following the injunction’s approval in mid-2010 to October 6, 2011. There was one more murder, two more attempted murders, nine more shootings, and 26 more robberies after the injunction’s passage than beforehand.
During the same period after mid-2010, arrests in the safety zone fell by 64 percent, from 315 from April 2009 to June 2010 to 112 arrests from June 2010 to October 2011In the report, OPD says the loss of 80 officers in mid-2010 and ongoing staffing issues are most plausible explanation for this drop.
After the injunction, crime in the NSO injunction area rose at a rate exceeding the citywide average.
Eight of the 15 enjoined NSO members were arrested for crimes following the injunction. Of those, only one was arrested inside the injunction zone. This corroborates with existing research about the “displacement effect” gang injunctions have on crime, pushing offenders to other areas. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, Gang Injunctions, North Side Oakland, Oakland, Oakland Police Department

November 7, 2011 | 10:43 AM | By Ali Winston

Man shot with less-lethal round while filming police during 11/2 Occupy Oakland protest

A video posted to Youtube on Saturday shows a man struck by a less-lethal projectile while videotaping a line of police at Frank Ogawa Plaza during an Occupy Oakland demonstration gone awry last week. The videographer, Scott Campbell, said in an email interview that he had moved to Ogawa Plaza after police from Oakland and other agencies had dispersed a crowd gathered at a foreclosed building that had been occupied earlier Wednesday night following Oakland’s day-long General Strike.

Campbell said he began filming the line of police around 12:50 AM, after the dispersal order was given outside the Traveler’s Aid Society but before fires were set and windows broken along Broadway that night.

“There was nothing going on in that area, everything was calm and I thought it would good to document the police presence. That’s what I was doing when I was shot,” Campbell wrote.

In the video, Campbell can be heard asking police “is this OK?,” presumably in reference to his distance from the police line and whether or not he can film the officers in riot gear. As Campbell walks down the skirmish line, 33 seconds into the clip an officer can be seen leveled some sort of firearm at Campbell and firing on him. Campbell is not sure whether he was struck with a beanbag or another sort of projectile. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, mutual aid, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland

November 1, 2011 | 11:01 AM | By Ali Winston

Oakland Police Officers’ Association: “we’re being alienated”

Ali Winston

Oakland Police face off with the Occupy Oakland camp on October 25, 2011

The Oakland Police Department has come under worldwide scrutiny following its raid of the Occupy Oakland camp and the use of tear gas, flash-bang grenades and less-lethal projectiles later that evening by its officers and outside law enforcement.

While Mayor Jean Quan initially signed off on plans by OPD to dismantle the camp and left the operational planning to City Administrator Deanna Santana and Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan, Tuesday’s violent confrontation between police and demonstrators prompted Quan to backtrack and allow tent cities to reappear in Frank Ogawa Plaza and Snow Park.

Oakland’s rank-and-file police officers appear to be frustrated with Quan’s back-and-forth stance on the Occupation, and issued an open letter this morning to that effect. In the letter, Oakland Police Officers’ Association President Dom Arotzarena writes that OPD staff are “confused” by the Mayor’s announcement that city employees may take off work tomorrow and protest – while OPD is cancelling days off and bringing in its full staff for Nov. 2nd.

Continue reading →