African Americans were pulled over by OPD 15,000 times last year, nearly 10,000 more than the next racial group. OAKLAND CITY COUNCILHalf of the more than 11,000 traffic citations issued by Oakland police officers last year were given to African… Read More ›
Oakland PD
Oakland council committee moves to cool OPD coordination with ICE
Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan addressing the public safety committee on Tuesday night. OAKLAND CITY COUNCILAn Oakland City Council committee backed an ordinance Tuesday night that revokes authority previously given to the city administrator for entering agreements with the U.S. Immigration,… Read More ›
With patience and time running out, Oakland finds a way to approve $2.5bn two-year budget
Oakland Councilmember Abel Guillen’s motion allowed the city approve its two-year budget just under the wire before a Friday deadline. OAKLAND CITY COUNCILFor a budget battle in Oakland that resulted earlier in the week with an abrupt adjournment in response… Read More ›
ALCO DA hopeful Price says she’s running on police accountability, criminal justice reform
Oakland civil rights attorney Pamela Price says Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley did not protect victim of police sex crimes. ALAMEDA COUNTYUnseating Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley might be the longest of longshots in the East Bay next year. But… Read More ›
Oakland settles notorious police misconduct lawsuit for $1 million
OAKLAND CITY COUNCILThose involved in Oakland’s notorious police misconduct scandal that included the alleged sexual abuse of a then-underage girl have either been fired, suspended, or charged with serious crimes. Now, it’s the city’s turn to pay for one of Oakland’s… Read More ›
ANNE KIRKPATRICK TO BE OAKLAND’S FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF
Anne Kirkpatrick is slated to become Oakland’s next police chief, according to reports. OAKLAND | Anne Kirkpatrick, a former Spokane, Wash. police chief and current head of a Chicago police accountability task force, is set to be named Oakland’s next… Read More ›
Schaaf highlights crime reduction, fixing housing crunch in first state of the city
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf delivers her first state of the city Wednesday night at the City Council chambers. OAKLAND | STATE OF THE CITY | Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf entered the City Council chambers for her first State of the… Read More ›
LISTEN! East Bay Citizen Show with special guests Robert Gammon; Dr. Death
//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3770699/height/250/width/450/theme/legacy/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/ East Bay Express Editor-in-Chief Robert Gammon and Raiders superfan Dr. Death. EPISODE 5 | A very eclectic podcast this week. East Bay Express Editor-in-Chief Robert Gammon and I discuss the growing use of police body cameras in the East… Read More ›
AGENDA NOTES: Oakland’s Homeland Security grant does not yet include approval for thermal imaging camera
Oakland City Council will decide Tuesday whether to accept a $578,000 Homeland Security grant. Oakland City Council Preview1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, third floorTuesday, April 21, 2015, 7 p.m.[FULL AGENDA HERE] Twitter hashtag: #oakmtg HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT Any time grant funding from the U.S. Department… Read More ›
Oakland city attorney ‘haphazardly’ prepared cases against disciplined cops
Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker PHOTO/Shane Bond OAKLAND | An investigation precipitated by the controversial reinstatement last year of an Oakland police officer disciplined at an Occupy Oakland protest in 2011, found the city attorney’s office typically handled arbitration hearings… Read More ›
Former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown says D.A. Nancy O’Malley is racist
Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley and former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown. OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Oakland Civil Rights icon Elaine Brown called Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley a racist at a special session of the Oakland City Council last… Read More ›
Police and race relations in Oakland headline an eventful discussion
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | It may have been Oakland’s most eventful public meeting in recent memory. Rep. Barbara Lee called for protesters to continue applying pressure toward alleviating social and economic equity and ridding the city of police brutality at… Read More ›
Libby Schaaf woke up this morning to the reality of being Oakland mayor
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. OAKLAND | Is Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf enjoying a free pass from the press that her predecessor Jean Quan never enjoyed? Yes. Example: the press scrum that followed Schaaf on a tour of Oakland schools earlier… Read More ›
Oakalnd to pay protesters $1.3 million for wrongful arrests at YMCA
Oakland Police Department has shown a great deal of restraint lately when it comes to interactions with various protests on its streets. However, the city is still paying the misdeeds of its near past. From Courthouse News: The 360 Occupy… Read More ›
Desley Brooks’ amazing speech on race in Oakland; need for civil disobedience
Desley Brooks: “Our city has been torn upby angry, young white people, but that’s not the perception that goes out.“ OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Councilmember Desley Brooks can sometimes confound even her strongest supporters with a propensity toward inflammatory and… Read More ›
Schaaf, Quan Vow A Seamless Transition
Oakland Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf at press conference Thursday morning at City Hall with Mayor Jean Quan in the background. PHOTOS/Steven Tavares OAKLAND | MAYOR | Oakland’s current and future mayor addressed the media two days after Libby Schaaf’s surprisingly easy… Read More ›
The Wild and the Wacky from Tuesday’s Oakland City Council Meeting
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Just over an hour into Tuesday night’s Oakland City Council meeting, a man jumped on the desk and, at one point, attempted to leap onto the council dais. “Okie-dokie,” Council President Pat Kernighan calmly said as… Read More ›
Oakland Moves to Stuff the Ballot with Important Referendums
Oakland voters might be asked to decide between two competing measures to raise the minimum wage. OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Three ballot initiatives were approved by the Oakland City Council Tuesday, one of which will ask voters to renew a… Read More ›
Oakland is Leaving a Whole Lot of Money on the Table, says Grand Jury Report
OAKLAND | ALCO GRAND JURY | A new Alameda County Grand Jury report is questioning whether the City of Oakland and its police department are receiving all the revenue they’re due from a long-term towing contract. In addition, the report… Read More ›
Oakland Mayoral Challengers Debate Crime, Need for More Officers
Oakland mayoral candidate Joe Tuman addresses voters during a candidate’s forum Wednesday at Laney College. PHOTO/STEVEN TAVARES OAKLAND | MAYOR | Ten of the 17 current candidates for the Oakland mayoral race met at Laney College this week. Mayor Jean… Read More ›
Oakland Mayoral Candidates Discuss the Election’s Defining Issue—Public Safety
A full house at Oakland’s Temple Sinai Thursday night listened as nine of the city’s mayoral candidates discuss a single issue–public safety. PHOTO/Steven Tavares OAKLAND | MAYOR | Public safety, the likely signature issue of this year’s Oakland mayoral election,… Read More ›
Blackwell’s Departure may be a Tipping Point for Quan’s Re-Election Chances
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan at a Save Oakland Sports event last January. PHOTO/Steven Tavares OAKLAND | ANALYSIS | Last year, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan suffered through an somewhat embarrassing few days when, in a matter of roughly 48 hours, the city… Read More ›
The Skinny: Oakland City Council Preview, Apr. 1, 2014
Oakland City Council Preview1 Frank Ogawa PlazaTuesday, Apr. 1, 5:30 p.m.[FULL AGENDA HERE]Twitter hashtag: #oakmtg >>> REASON TO FILL OUT A SPEAKER’S CARD The crematorium proposed for East Oakland could incinerate 3,000 bodies a year. ASHES TO ASHES Last year,… Read More ›
Quan’s State of the City Highlights Improving Economy; Skewers Critics
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan delivered her last State of the City Thursday night before facing re-election later this year. OAKLAND | STATE OF THE CITY | Oakland Mayor Jean Quan state of the city highlighted a city hoping to parlay a… Read More ›
The Skinny: Oakland City Council Committees, Feb. 25, 2014
Oakland City Council Committees Preview1 Frank Ogawa PlazaTuesday, Feb. 25, begins at 9:30 a.m.Hashtag: #oakmtg >>> FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEEROSY ECONOMIC NUMBERS City Administration says Oakland has an additional $18 million in projected revenue during the second quarter of the… Read More ›
The Skinny: Oakland City Council Committee Preview, Jan. 14, 2014
Oakland City Council Committees Preview1 Frank Ogawa PlazaTuesday, Jan. 14, begins at 9:30 a.m.Hashtag: #oakmtg >>> FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEENO-BID CONTRACT Committee will discuss awarding a $5.8 million no-bid contract to IPS Group, Inc. to install 4,300 parking meters in… Read More ›
Oakland Mayoral Candidate calls for $15 Minimum Wage; End of Surveillance Hub
Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel announces his run for mayor Thursday morning at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland. PHOTO/Steven Tavares ELECTION 2014| OAKLAND | MAYOR | Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel laid out a distinctively progressive platform as he formally announced… Read More ›
2013 Year-In-Review, Part II: Oakland Gets Three Police Chiefs In A Week; Censure In The Air; BART Strike Rattles Bay Area
April 2013 >>>San Leandro City Council approves the construction of a private 100-foot wind turbine on its shoreline and angers a group of homeowners at the neighboring Heron Bay housing development. The homeowners association sues the city and the story… Read More ›
Quan, The Mayor Who Cracked Down On Occupy Oakland, Praises Mandela
Nelson and Winnie Mandela at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990. OAKLAND | ANALYSIS | The death of former South African President Nelson Mandela Thursday had a inextricable East Bay link. The U.S. support for his anti-apartheid reforms first ruminated in the Berkeley… Read More ›
Chronicle Columnist Thinks City Hall Belongs To Politicians, Not The People
Oakland City Council meeting Nov. 19. OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | ANALYSIS | There are times when even the most veteran of journalists drop their editorial guard and reveal exactly how they think. Most people in Oakland know San Francisco Chronicle… Read More ›