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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:30 p.m. Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An Oakland police officer was shot and killed early Friday morning while responding to a burglary at a cannabis business near Jack London Square, police officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city late Friday identified the officer as Tuan Le, 36, who had been with the department for nearly four years and, over the last two, had served as a community resource officer in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Officer Tuan Le, a dedicated public servant, loving husband, and a cherished member of the Oakland community,” the city said \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/in-loving-memory-of-officer-tuan-le\">in a statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le was part of an overnight burglary operation that responded to an initial burglary report at the business, on Embarcadero near Fifth Avenue, at around 1 a.m. Officers investigated but didn’t see anyone, said interim Police Chief Darren Allison.[aside label=\"more on Oakland police\" tag=\"oakland-police\"]Several hours later, just after 4:30 a.m., the team — of uniformed and plainclothes officers — responded to a second report at the same location, Allison said. This time, officers found multiple suspects fleeing the scene, at least one of whom opened fire, striking Le, who was wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le’s partners rushed him to Highland Hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 8:44 a.m., with family members and other officers by his side, Allison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The dangers and demands of this profession are real and come with significant sacrifice,” Allison said during a Friday afternoon press briefing at the police department’s headquarters. “Sadly, today one of our officers paid the ultimate sacrifice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the incident, officers did not return fire or make any arrests, and the assailants remained at large as of Friday afternoon, Allison said. But homicide detectives were following up on “a lot of actionable evidence,” he added, and urged anyone with information to contact the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of our officers and specialized units are out there on the street right now engaged in following every lead that comes in seeking these suspects,” Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, told KQED on Saturday. “And let me just tell you, they are going to be successful. We are going to bring these folks to justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le’s death is the city’s 125th homicide of the year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le was born in Saigon, Vietnam and later moved to Oakland where he became a naturalized citizen on Sept. 11, 2001, the city said in its statement. He graduated from Oakland’s 183rd police academy in February 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an officer in West Oakland, Le “devoted himself to strengthening the bond between law enforcement and the residents of Oakland,” the city said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His death comes as Oakland grapples with an increase in violent crime, \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1399143926072\">largely fueled by a steep rise in robberies \u003c/a>(up 37% compared to this time last year) and burglaries (up 24%). The city has also struggled for months to find a new permanent police chief to lead the department, after Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961636/report-recommends-oakland-mayor-consider-reinstating-former-police-chief-leronne-armstrong\">fired former Chief LeRonne Armstrong\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao called the killing “an assault on our city,” and pledged her administration would “work tirelessly” with law enforcement to find those responsible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am truly devastated by this news, and I know that all of Oakland feels the impact of this loss,” she said at Friday’s press briefing. “This loss cuts deep. Many of our officers are hurting right now, and they’re going to need our support. Our community is in shock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are angry. We are united in mourning,” added Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This senseless murder underscores the courage and bravery of our officers,” he said, “and it demonstrates everyday that they arrive at work to serve and protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who at times has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/05/07/pamela-price-wants-to-reshape-alameda-countys-justice-system-so-far-its-been-messy/\">vocal critic of law enforcement\u003c/a>, called Le’s death “a tremendous tragedy,” and said her office stood ready to prosecute those responsible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The deadly violence that we have experienced in Oakland in recent years has no place in Alameda County,” she said in a statement. “The murder of this young officer is inexcusable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident marks the 54th time an Oakland police officer has been killed in the line of duty, according to the police union, and the first instance since March 2009, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/03/22/cop-shooter-was-frustrated-with-parole-system-was-person-of-interest-in-2007-homicide/\">when four officers were gunned down\u003c/a> by a single assailant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Katherine Monahan and Brian Krans contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:30 p.m. Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An Oakland police officer was shot and killed early Friday morning while responding to a burglary at a cannabis business near Jack London Square, police officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city late Friday identified the officer as Tuan Le, 36, who had been with the department for nearly four years and, over the last two, had served as a community resource officer in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Officer Tuan Le, a dedicated public servant, loving husband, and a cherished member of the Oakland community,” the city said \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/in-loving-memory-of-officer-tuan-le\">in a statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le was part of an overnight burglary operation that responded to an initial burglary report at the business, on Embarcadero near Fifth Avenue, at around 1 a.m. Officers investigated but didn’t see anyone, said interim Police Chief Darren Allison.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Several hours later, just after 4:30 a.m., the team — of uniformed and plainclothes officers — responded to a second report at the same location, Allison said. This time, officers found multiple suspects fleeing the scene, at least one of whom opened fire, striking Le, who was wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le’s partners rushed him to Highland Hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 8:44 a.m., with family members and other officers by his side, Allison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The dangers and demands of this profession are real and come with significant sacrifice,” Allison said during a Friday afternoon press briefing at the police department’s headquarters. “Sadly, today one of our officers paid the ultimate sacrifice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the incident, officers did not return fire or make any arrests, and the assailants remained at large as of Friday afternoon, Allison said. But homicide detectives were following up on “a lot of actionable evidence,” he added, and urged anyone with information to contact the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of our officers and specialized units are out there on the street right now engaged in following every lead that comes in seeking these suspects,” Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, told KQED on Saturday. “And let me just tell you, they are going to be successful. We are going to bring these folks to justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le’s death is the city’s 125th homicide of the year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Le was born in Saigon, Vietnam and later moved to Oakland where he became a naturalized citizen on Sept. 11, 2001, the city said in its statement. He graduated from Oakland’s 183rd police academy in February 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an officer in West Oakland, Le “devoted himself to strengthening the bond between law enforcement and the residents of Oakland,” the city said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His death comes as Oakland grapples with an increase in violent crime, \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1399143926072\">largely fueled by a steep rise in robberies \u003c/a>(up 37% compared to this time last year) and burglaries (up 24%). The city has also struggled for months to find a new permanent police chief to lead the department, after Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961636/report-recommends-oakland-mayor-consider-reinstating-former-police-chief-leronne-armstrong\">fired former Chief LeRonne Armstrong\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao called the killing “an assault on our city,” and pledged her administration would “work tirelessly” with law enforcement to find those responsible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am truly devastated by this news, and I know that all of Oakland feels the impact of this loss,” she said at Friday’s press briefing. “This loss cuts deep. Many of our officers are hurting right now, and they’re going to need our support. Our community is in shock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are angry. We are united in mourning,” added Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This senseless murder underscores the courage and bravery of our officers,” he said, “and it demonstrates everyday that they arrive at work to serve and protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who at times has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/05/07/pamela-price-wants-to-reshape-alameda-countys-justice-system-so-far-its-been-messy/\">vocal critic of law enforcement\u003c/a>, called Le’s death “a tremendous tragedy,” and said her office stood ready to prosecute those responsible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The deadly violence that we have experienced in Oakland in recent years has no place in Alameda County,” she said in a statement. “The murder of this young officer is inexcusable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident marks the 54th time an Oakland police officer has been killed in the line of duty, according to the police union, and the first instance since March 2009, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/03/22/cop-shooter-was-frustrated-with-parole-system-was-person-of-interest-in-2007-homicide/\">when four officers were gunned down\u003c/a> by a single assailant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Katherine Monahan and Brian Krans contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Oakland Passes Broad Public Safety Resolution Amid Rising Crime Concerns",
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"content": "\u003cp>Following \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894410/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-interim-police-chief-respond-to-concerns-over-crime\">a recent uptick in reported crime\u003c/a>, Oakland city leaders plan to evaluate — and potentially expand — several key services and agencies focused on preventing and responding to violence and theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council early Wednesday morning passed a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=95b35524-694d-401c-8ef5-c78ed8a14fda.pdf\">resolution (PDF)\u003c/a> directing the city administrator to evaluate how to hire and retain more 911 dispatchers and police officers, expand violence prevention programs, and create a grant program to provide surveillance equipment for local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The increase in crime and the violent nature of some of those crimes over the past several months is just unacceptable,” Councilmember Dan Kalb, who proposed the resolution, told KQED. “We have to do as much as we can to help reduce crime in the short- and long-term.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11927904,news_11961636,forum_2010101890809,news_11928655]Crime rates in Oakland are significantly lower than they were throughout much of the 1990s and at a peak in 2012. But there has been a more recent uptick that’s put many residents on edge, including a 17% increase in violent incidents such as homicide and aggravated assault compared to this time last year, and a 44% increase in burglary and other property crimes, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1280647384290\">the city’s police department (PDF)\u003c/a>. The rate of vehicle theft in the city has also nearly doubled since before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among its numerous goals, the broad public safety resolution orders the city administrator to produce a report outlining possible measures the city can take to address its short-staffed 911 dispatch center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland needs to fill at least 16 vacancies for 911 dispatchers, a position that offers a competitive salary — about $110,000 annually — but is emotionally draining work, with high rates of turnover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, an Alameda County Grand Jury found that the Oakland Police Department was \u003ca href=\"https://grandjury.acgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/city-of-oakland-response-1.pdf\">not answering emergency calls fast enough and was failing to adhere to state standards (PDF)\u003c/a>, which dictate that 95% of a department’s 911 calls be answered within 15 seconds. A 2022 report shows that Oakland’s emergency communication center only \u003ca href=\"https://grandjury.acgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2022-23-GJ-Full-Report-Consolodated.pdf\">responded to about half of its calls within that time window (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution also calls for recommendations on ways the city could create and implement a new grant program for small businesses looking to purchase security cameras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Tuesday’s vote requires the city to evaluate and report on its \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/oaklands-ceasefire-strategy\">CeaseFire program\u003c/a> and other public safety programs, like the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO), which dispatches mental health workers to handle certain non-violent 911 calls in an effort to free up police officers for more dangerous situations and divert them from incidents that may be better handled by mental health experts. Additionally, the vote requires the city administrator to do a cost-benefit analysis of the city’s walking beat officers and non-police ambassadors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution also calls for legislation to create and fund an abbreviated police academy, also known as lateral police academies, in the current budget cycle, in order to “get some experienced officers in place more quickly than it takes with brand new officers, which takes a long, long time,” Kalb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While nearly every council member supported the resolution, some members of the public called in to say they disagreed with the fast-tracked police academy idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Oakland interim police chief Darren Alison stated that the lateral police academies “have not been wildly successful in the past.” He cited a past example where the Oakland Police Department ran one such academy. The program brought in 22 applicants, and none were successfully hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kalb’s resolution is also looking for additional support from federal agencies, like the FBI, to assist Oakland in investigating unsolved homicides and shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, at 714 sworn officers, Oakland currently has more police than it’s ever had, Thao recently told KQED. In addition, she said, the governor has assigned six additional California Highway Patrol officers to work with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other public speakers and council members expressed concern over the focus on adding police instead of meeting basic needs and addressing the underlying reasons why robberies and other crimes have increased recently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The child tax credit ended, food stamps in California were slashed,” said Councilmember Carroll Fife. “What we need to do is make people feel safe by making sure their everyday needs are taken care of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misty Cross, a mother and member of the Moms of Magnolia Street housing activist group, said to the council, “We got to talk about the issues that are creating this. When I think about the robberies and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">bipping\u003c/a> and everything going on, and people who are committing these crimes, these are people in poverty, these are people adapting to their survival mode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11959799 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/GettyImages-1258762861-1-1-1020x680.jpg']All findings and recommendations stemming from the resolution are due by the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday told KQED the city is working on many of the challenges the city plans to probe, including securing funding to expand police patrols, auditing the city’s gun violence prevention program, and approving 300 additional surveillance cameras around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also said she is working to obtain drones to assist police response to shootings. This comes after several recent homicides, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/09/16/mother-of-two-killed-by-stray-bullet-in-oakland-friday-night/\">a mother of two who was shot and killed\u003c/a> by a stray bullet on Friday night as she sat on a couch in her Laurel District home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor, however, admitted that the city recently \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/15/oakland-misses-state-grant-retail-theft/\">missed a key deadline\u003c/a> to apply for potentially millions of dollars in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961449/california-targets-smash-and-grabs-with-267-million-program-aimed-at-brazen-store-thefts\">state funding to help combat retail theft\u003c/a>. San Francisco, San José, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Palo Alto are among the many cities across the state that will receive funding over the next three years to buy surveillance equipment, build up investigative units, increase foot patrols, and prosecute more theft cases — but Oakland will not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao attributed the mishap in part to “a personnel issue,” including understaffing in the city’s Economic Workforce Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re putting in measures and mechanisms so that we would never miss an opportunity like this again,” Thao said. “It is very disappointing. I’m highly disappointed in myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Following \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894410/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-interim-police-chief-respond-to-concerns-over-crime\">a recent uptick in reported crime\u003c/a>, Oakland city leaders plan to evaluate — and potentially expand — several key services and agencies focused on preventing and responding to violence and theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council early Wednesday morning passed a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=95b35524-694d-401c-8ef5-c78ed8a14fda.pdf\">resolution (PDF)\u003c/a> directing the city administrator to evaluate how to hire and retain more 911 dispatchers and police officers, expand violence prevention programs, and create a grant program to provide surveillance equipment for local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The increase in crime and the violent nature of some of those crimes over the past several months is just unacceptable,” Councilmember Dan Kalb, who proposed the resolution, told KQED. “We have to do as much as we can to help reduce crime in the short- and long-term.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Crime rates in Oakland are significantly lower than they were throughout much of the 1990s and at a peak in 2012. But there has been a more recent uptick that’s put many residents on edge, including a 17% increase in violent incidents such as homicide and aggravated assault compared to this time last year, and a 44% increase in burglary and other property crimes, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1280647384290\">the city’s police department (PDF)\u003c/a>. The rate of vehicle theft in the city has also nearly doubled since before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among its numerous goals, the broad public safety resolution orders the city administrator to produce a report outlining possible measures the city can take to address its short-staffed 911 dispatch center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland needs to fill at least 16 vacancies for 911 dispatchers, a position that offers a competitive salary — about $110,000 annually — but is emotionally draining work, with high rates of turnover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, an Alameda County Grand Jury found that the Oakland Police Department was \u003ca href=\"https://grandjury.acgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/city-of-oakland-response-1.pdf\">not answering emergency calls fast enough and was failing to adhere to state standards (PDF)\u003c/a>, which dictate that 95% of a department’s 911 calls be answered within 15 seconds. A 2022 report shows that Oakland’s emergency communication center only \u003ca href=\"https://grandjury.acgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2022-23-GJ-Full-Report-Consolodated.pdf\">responded to about half of its calls within that time window (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution also calls for recommendations on ways the city could create and implement a new grant program for small businesses looking to purchase security cameras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Tuesday’s vote requires the city to evaluate and report on its \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/oaklands-ceasefire-strategy\">CeaseFire program\u003c/a> and other public safety programs, like the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO), which dispatches mental health workers to handle certain non-violent 911 calls in an effort to free up police officers for more dangerous situations and divert them from incidents that may be better handled by mental health experts. Additionally, the vote requires the city administrator to do a cost-benefit analysis of the city’s walking beat officers and non-police ambassadors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution also calls for legislation to create and fund an abbreviated police academy, also known as lateral police academies, in the current budget cycle, in order to “get some experienced officers in place more quickly than it takes with brand new officers, which takes a long, long time,” Kalb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While nearly every council member supported the resolution, some members of the public called in to say they disagreed with the fast-tracked police academy idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Oakland interim police chief Darren Alison stated that the lateral police academies “have not been wildly successful in the past.” He cited a past example where the Oakland Police Department ran one such academy. The program brought in 22 applicants, and none were successfully hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kalb’s resolution is also looking for additional support from federal agencies, like the FBI, to assist Oakland in investigating unsolved homicides and shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, at 714 sworn officers, Oakland currently has more police than it’s ever had, Thao recently told KQED. In addition, she said, the governor has assigned six additional California Highway Patrol officers to work with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other public speakers and council members expressed concern over the focus on adding police instead of meeting basic needs and addressing the underlying reasons why robberies and other crimes have increased recently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The child tax credit ended, food stamps in California were slashed,” said Councilmember Carroll Fife. “What we need to do is make people feel safe by making sure their everyday needs are taken care of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misty Cross, a mother and member of the Moms of Magnolia Street housing activist group, said to the council, “We got to talk about the issues that are creating this. When I think about the robberies and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">bipping\u003c/a> and everything going on, and people who are committing these crimes, these are people in poverty, these are people adapting to their survival mode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>All findings and recommendations stemming from the resolution are due by the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday told KQED the city is working on many of the challenges the city plans to probe, including securing funding to expand police patrols, auditing the city’s gun violence prevention program, and approving 300 additional surveillance cameras around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also said she is working to obtain drones to assist police response to shootings. This comes after several recent homicides, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/09/16/mother-of-two-killed-by-stray-bullet-in-oakland-friday-night/\">a mother of two who was shot and killed\u003c/a> by a stray bullet on Friday night as she sat on a couch in her Laurel District home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor, however, admitted that the city recently \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/15/oakland-misses-state-grant-retail-theft/\">missed a key deadline\u003c/a> to apply for potentially millions of dollars in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961449/california-targets-smash-and-grabs-with-267-million-program-aimed-at-brazen-store-thefts\">state funding to help combat retail theft\u003c/a>. San Francisco, San José, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Palo Alto are among the many cities across the state that will receive funding over the next three years to buy surveillance equipment, build up investigative units, increase foot patrols, and prosecute more theft cases — but Oakland will not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao attributed the mishap in part to “a personnel issue,” including understaffing in the city’s Economic Workforce Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re putting in measures and mechanisms so that we would never miss an opportunity like this again,” Thao said. “It is very disappointing. I’m highly disappointed in myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A new report claims to have found significant inaccuracies in the investigation that led to Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong’s firing, calling it unreliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing that investigation’s alleged lack of credibility, the report urges Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao to meet with Armstrong to discuss “the possibility of reinstatement.” Armstrong was fired in February for allegedly mishandling misconduct charges against an officer. His dismissal prompted at least one rally of about 100 people in his support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.courts.ca.gov/7665.htm\">Retired California judge Maria P. Rivera\u003c/a> authored the Sept. 7 report, in her role as an administrative hearing officer. Rivera’s report largely rebuts an investigation into OPD that was called for by Oakland’s federal oversight monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, Rivera stopped short of explicitly calling for the chief to be reinstated, which she emphasized is not her role. She also poked holes in Armstrong’s arguments that he was fired as a whistleblower, and found no evidence to substantiate his allegations that the federal monitor is improperly padding his own pocket by continuing to oversee the department’s reform efforts. And Rivera also did not fully endorse Armstrong’s claims that he was fired for exercising his First Amendment rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera does, however, take space in the report to praise Armstrong’s role in moving his department toward independence, writing, “it is noteworthy that, after twenty years of oversight under more than ten police chiefs, the sustainability period was finally entered during chief Armstrong’s tenure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, Armstrong hailed the findings as vindication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This report is not a surprise to me. The outcome is consistent to what I have said from the beginning: I should not have been disciplined or fired,” he said. “I want the public to know that I told the truth, that I am the same chief they remember and respect. And in light of this report I want the opportunity to sit down with the city and be considered for reinstatement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/08/14/opd-chief-armstrong-accuses-mayor-thao-of-retaliation-monitor-corruption/\">filed an administrative claim\u003c/a> against Oakland last month, alleging Thao fired him in retaliation for whistleblowing against the police department’s federal monitor. That claim is a precursor to a potential lawsuit, but also prompted the report by Rivera, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.adrservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Rivera-Maria.pdf\">works for ADR Services\u003c/a>, a dispute resolution firm, that helps facilitate the regular administrative hearing process for officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be wise for both parties, and of great benefit to the citizens of Oakland, to avoid the costs and related toll of protracted litigation,” Rivera wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s report also explicitly calls for Thao’s initial 30-day suspension of Armstrong to be removed from his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are limits to the impact of the report and to the authority of Rivera, who cannot compel Oakland to do anything, let alone take back Armstrong. As Rivera notes, it’s a report, not an adjudication — there were no witnesses, no cross-examination, no discovery of evidence — only an evaluation of the text of the actual investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the report may provide political ammunition for Armstrong’s supporters to urge Thao to consider rehiring him.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"oakland-police-department\"]“The chief did nothing wrong here,” said John Burris, the longtime civil rights attorney, who supports Armstrong. “And that’s the point that I was arguing at the very outset, is that the investigative report reached by the lawyers and the investigators really jumped to conclusions and made assertions, made assumptions, that when you analyzed the report, the facts did not support it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris said Armstrong’s firing heavily slowed OPD’s efforts to get out from under federal oversight, which began in 2003 after a group of officers were exposed for misconduct, including the beatings of Black people in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This [firing] became a major stumbling block and set us back,” he said, adding that if Armstrong is not reinstated, it could send a message that any police chief can be fired without due process or cause, which could harm future hiring efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s City Charter doesn’t allow for a mayor to re-hire a police chief. Instead, the chief must go through the police commission’s hiring process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Thao told KQED that her decision to fire Armstrong was because he immediately dismissed the investigation’s allegations as mistakes, and he insisted the officer had already been held accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland needs leaders, including at OPD, who will stand up and make tough decisions in the name of accountability and community trust,” she said. “By immediately and prematurely standing up for himself personally, Mr Armstrong failed to stand up for accountability at OPD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His conduct forced me to make one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. I am proud that I, with the support of my administration, faced the decision head on and did what I knew in my heart was right for Oakland, fully understanding the controversy that might follow,” Thao added. “I will continue working hard and making tough decisions to improve our police department.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940412/oaklands-police-chief-and-the-long-road-to-police-reform\">placed Armstrong on paid administrative leave in January\u003c/a>, the same month allegations emerged that the Oakland Police Dept. improperly investigated misconduct charges against Sgt. Michael Chung, who was accused of a hit-and-run collision in 2021 and of discharging a firearm in an OPD elevator in 2022. He also admitted to subsequently throwing the bullet’s shell casing off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in a bid to cover his tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incidents were found to have been minimized and mishandled by OPD’s internal affairs investigators, according to a report by law firm Clarence Dyer & Cohen, LLP. That firm was retained by the city of Oakland at the behest of Robert Warshaw, the federal monitor overseeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">OPD’s negotiated settlement agreement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The revelations in the firm’s report found “systemic failures far larger and more serious than the actions of one police officer,” including efforts in the internal affairs division to edit an investigative report into Chung that hid his misconduct, allowing him to avoid consequences for his actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sealed documents \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/02/08/confidential-files-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-leave-car-crash-gunshot-elevator-internal-affairs/\">obtained by The Oaklandside\u003c/a> painted a picture of Chung’s importance to the department: He led patrols in Oakland’s Chinatown that were vital to groups like the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce during the height of anti-AAPI hate incidents. The group was vocally against cutting funds to OPD amid national protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. And the chamber’s leader, Carl Chan, was a vocal supporter of Armstrong’s in the wake of his firing, and is a lead proponent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955812/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-calls-recall-proponents-election-deniers\">in the recall effort of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao fired Armstrong the next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland has yet to hire a new police chief, despite a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-bay-area-rates-18259788.php\">rise in homicides, armed robberies and property crime\u003c/a> that has residents on edge. Crime in Oakland, however, is still lower than it has been at peaks in the 1990s and in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao has pointed a finger at the Oakland Police Commission for the slow pace of the hiring process, with the commission in turn \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/sheng-thao-oakland-state-of-emergency-police-chief-commission/\">admonishing Thao for her public statements\u003c/a>, alleging she hampered their efforts by refusing to meet with commission leadership and not providing immediate support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if the commission would consider selecting Armstrong in its hiring process, Oakland Police Commission Chair Tyfahra Milele said in a statement, “If Chief Armstrong would be willing to consider returning to Oakland and taking that last hard mile to reform, while very much making the city safe again, the Police Commission would welcome that conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s report doesn’t explicitly take Thao to task. The mayor generally has the right to fire the police chief, an at-will employee, for any reason. The report does, however, point out an exception to that rule. Employees are still granted due process in cases where their termination is a result of misconduct, “especially if this misconduct would ‘stigmatize’ [Armstrong’s] reputation or ‘seriously impair’ his opportunity to earn a living,” or might impact Armstrong’s community standing, Rivera wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city of Oakland has claimed it had the right to terminate the chief based on the law firm’s report ordered by the federal monitor and Armstrong’s disagreement with them, Rivera said, “that kind of circular reasoning effectively eviscerates the chief’s rights,” particularly “if the reports are questionable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And should Thao and Armstrong not arrive at a settlement together, Rivera’s report’s findings could become the basis for the former chief to bring a suit against the city for wrongful termination. Oakland has been down this road before, awarding former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/police-lawsuits-oakland-government-and-politics-629e700c17779733bda06e7dcf88ba2e\">a $1.4 million payout in a whistleblower claim\u003c/a> just last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, Rivera wrote in her report that it is within her purview to evaluate if the findings of the law firm’s investigation into Armstrong were “supported by the record,” but, ultimately, “there are no findings of any wrongdoing or dereliction of duty by the chief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm’s report into the alleged failures of OPD to investigate misconduct by Sgt. Chung is lengthy and complex. But the allegations against Armstrong essentially boil down to a failure to properly investigate Chung and to hold police staff accountable who mishandled that investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm’s investigation asserted the chief was “not credible” when saying, in interviews, he could not recall if video was shown of Chung’s hit-and-run; that the chief failed to perform his duties as a supervisor by not reading an OPD investigative report into Chung before signing it; and that the chief refused to answer a question pertinent to Chung’s investigation during a key disciplinary meeting, and had a negligent lack of awareness that an alleged cover up was taking place in the internal affairs investigation into Chung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera underscored that her job is solely to evaluate the law firm’s report, not investigate the alleged misconduct, but she said she found that the firm’s allegations weren’t backed up by the presented evidence and that it made assumptive leaps based on speculation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said the firm’s investigation lacked a more contextualized assessment of the shortcomings of OPD’s internal affairs procedures, which would have provided greater perspective on OPD’s shortcomings to Thao and to the federal monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The narrow focus on only the two investigations may well have resulted in overstating the significance of the deficits found in the two cases,” Rivera wrote. “Nothing in the record suggests that these failures or shortcomings were pervasive, repeated, persistent, or anything other than isolated incidents.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new report claims to have found significant inaccuracies in the investigation that led to Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong’s firing, calling it unreliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing that investigation’s alleged lack of credibility, the report urges Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao to meet with Armstrong to discuss “the possibility of reinstatement.” Armstrong was fired in February for allegedly mishandling misconduct charges against an officer. His dismissal prompted at least one rally of about 100 people in his support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.courts.ca.gov/7665.htm\">Retired California judge Maria P. Rivera\u003c/a> authored the Sept. 7 report, in her role as an administrative hearing officer. Rivera’s report largely rebuts an investigation into OPD that was called for by Oakland’s federal oversight monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, Rivera stopped short of explicitly calling for the chief to be reinstated, which she emphasized is not her role. She also poked holes in Armstrong’s arguments that he was fired as a whistleblower, and found no evidence to substantiate his allegations that the federal monitor is improperly padding his own pocket by continuing to oversee the department’s reform efforts. And Rivera also did not fully endorse Armstrong’s claims that he was fired for exercising his First Amendment rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera does, however, take space in the report to praise Armstrong’s role in moving his department toward independence, writing, “it is noteworthy that, after twenty years of oversight under more than ten police chiefs, the sustainability period was finally entered during chief Armstrong’s tenure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, Armstrong hailed the findings as vindication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This report is not a surprise to me. The outcome is consistent to what I have said from the beginning: I should not have been disciplined or fired,” he said. “I want the public to know that I told the truth, that I am the same chief they remember and respect. And in light of this report I want the opportunity to sit down with the city and be considered for reinstatement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/08/14/opd-chief-armstrong-accuses-mayor-thao-of-retaliation-monitor-corruption/\">filed an administrative claim\u003c/a> against Oakland last month, alleging Thao fired him in retaliation for whistleblowing against the police department’s federal monitor. That claim is a precursor to a potential lawsuit, but also prompted the report by Rivera, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.adrservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Rivera-Maria.pdf\">works for ADR Services\u003c/a>, a dispute resolution firm, that helps facilitate the regular administrative hearing process for officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be wise for both parties, and of great benefit to the citizens of Oakland, to avoid the costs and related toll of protracted litigation,” Rivera wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s report also explicitly calls for Thao’s initial 30-day suspension of Armstrong to be removed from his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are limits to the impact of the report and to the authority of Rivera, who cannot compel Oakland to do anything, let alone take back Armstrong. As Rivera notes, it’s a report, not an adjudication — there were no witnesses, no cross-examination, no discovery of evidence — only an evaluation of the text of the actual investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the report may provide political ammunition for Armstrong’s supporters to urge Thao to consider rehiring him.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The chief did nothing wrong here,” said John Burris, the longtime civil rights attorney, who supports Armstrong. “And that’s the point that I was arguing at the very outset, is that the investigative report reached by the lawyers and the investigators really jumped to conclusions and made assertions, made assumptions, that when you analyzed the report, the facts did not support it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris said Armstrong’s firing heavily slowed OPD’s efforts to get out from under federal oversight, which began in 2003 after a group of officers were exposed for misconduct, including the beatings of Black people in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This [firing] became a major stumbling block and set us back,” he said, adding that if Armstrong is not reinstated, it could send a message that any police chief can be fired without due process or cause, which could harm future hiring efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s City Charter doesn’t allow for a mayor to re-hire a police chief. Instead, the chief must go through the police commission’s hiring process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Thao told KQED that her decision to fire Armstrong was because he immediately dismissed the investigation’s allegations as mistakes, and he insisted the officer had already been held accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland needs leaders, including at OPD, who will stand up and make tough decisions in the name of accountability and community trust,” she said. “By immediately and prematurely standing up for himself personally, Mr Armstrong failed to stand up for accountability at OPD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His conduct forced me to make one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. I am proud that I, with the support of my administration, faced the decision head on and did what I knew in my heart was right for Oakland, fully understanding the controversy that might follow,” Thao added. “I will continue working hard and making tough decisions to improve our police department.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940412/oaklands-police-chief-and-the-long-road-to-police-reform\">placed Armstrong on paid administrative leave in January\u003c/a>, the same month allegations emerged that the Oakland Police Dept. improperly investigated misconduct charges against Sgt. Michael Chung, who was accused of a hit-and-run collision in 2021 and of discharging a firearm in an OPD elevator in 2022. He also admitted to subsequently throwing the bullet’s shell casing off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in a bid to cover his tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incidents were found to have been minimized and mishandled by OPD’s internal affairs investigators, according to a report by law firm Clarence Dyer & Cohen, LLP. That firm was retained by the city of Oakland at the behest of Robert Warshaw, the federal monitor overseeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">OPD’s negotiated settlement agreement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The revelations in the firm’s report found “systemic failures far larger and more serious than the actions of one police officer,” including efforts in the internal affairs division to edit an investigative report into Chung that hid his misconduct, allowing him to avoid consequences for his actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sealed documents \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/02/08/confidential-files-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-leave-car-crash-gunshot-elevator-internal-affairs/\">obtained by The Oaklandside\u003c/a> painted a picture of Chung’s importance to the department: He led patrols in Oakland’s Chinatown that were vital to groups like the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce during the height of anti-AAPI hate incidents. The group was vocally against cutting funds to OPD amid national protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. And the chamber’s leader, Carl Chan, was a vocal supporter of Armstrong’s in the wake of his firing, and is a lead proponent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955812/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-calls-recall-proponents-election-deniers\">in the recall effort of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao fired Armstrong the next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland has yet to hire a new police chief, despite a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-bay-area-rates-18259788.php\">rise in homicides, armed robberies and property crime\u003c/a> that has residents on edge. Crime in Oakland, however, is still lower than it has been at peaks in the 1990s and in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao has pointed a finger at the Oakland Police Commission for the slow pace of the hiring process, with the commission in turn \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/sheng-thao-oakland-state-of-emergency-police-chief-commission/\">admonishing Thao for her public statements\u003c/a>, alleging she hampered their efforts by refusing to meet with commission leadership and not providing immediate support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if the commission would consider selecting Armstrong in its hiring process, Oakland Police Commission Chair Tyfahra Milele said in a statement, “If Chief Armstrong would be willing to consider returning to Oakland and taking that last hard mile to reform, while very much making the city safe again, the Police Commission would welcome that conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s report doesn’t explicitly take Thao to task. The mayor generally has the right to fire the police chief, an at-will employee, for any reason. The report does, however, point out an exception to that rule. Employees are still granted due process in cases where their termination is a result of misconduct, “especially if this misconduct would ‘stigmatize’ [Armstrong’s] reputation or ‘seriously impair’ his opportunity to earn a living,” or might impact Armstrong’s community standing, Rivera wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city of Oakland has claimed it had the right to terminate the chief based on the law firm’s report ordered by the federal monitor and Armstrong’s disagreement with them, Rivera said, “that kind of circular reasoning effectively eviscerates the chief’s rights,” particularly “if the reports are questionable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And should Thao and Armstrong not arrive at a settlement together, Rivera’s report’s findings could become the basis for the former chief to bring a suit against the city for wrongful termination. Oakland has been down this road before, awarding former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/police-lawsuits-oakland-government-and-politics-629e700c17779733bda06e7dcf88ba2e\">a $1.4 million payout in a whistleblower claim\u003c/a> just last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, Rivera wrote in her report that it is within her purview to evaluate if the findings of the law firm’s investigation into Armstrong were “supported by the record,” but, ultimately, “there are no findings of any wrongdoing or dereliction of duty by the chief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm’s report into the alleged failures of OPD to investigate misconduct by Sgt. Chung is lengthy and complex. But the allegations against Armstrong essentially boil down to a failure to properly investigate Chung and to hold police staff accountable who mishandled that investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm’s investigation asserted the chief was “not credible” when saying, in interviews, he could not recall if video was shown of Chung’s hit-and-run; that the chief failed to perform his duties as a supervisor by not reading an OPD investigative report into Chung before signing it; and that the chief refused to answer a question pertinent to Chung’s investigation during a key disciplinary meeting, and had a negligent lack of awareness that an alleged cover up was taking place in the internal affairs investigation into Chung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera underscored that her job is solely to evaluate the law firm’s report, not investigate the alleged misconduct, but she said she found that the firm’s allegations weren’t backed up by the presented evidence and that it made assumptive leaps based on speculation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said the firm’s investigation lacked a more contextualized assessment of the shortcomings of OPD’s internal affairs procedures, which would have provided greater perspective on OPD’s shortcomings to Thao and to the federal monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The narrow focus on only the two investigations may well have resulted in overstating the significance of the deficits found in the two cases,” Rivera wrote. “Nothing in the record suggests that these failures or shortcomings were pervasive, repeated, persistent, or anything other than isolated incidents.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in Northern California has stripped 47 deputies of their guns and arrest powers because they failed psychological exams, it was reported Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “horrible″ to have to relieve the deputies of their duties, sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly told KTVU-TV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The station obtained \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22925255-47-deputies-relieved\">a copy of a letter\u003c/a> notifying the deputies of their change of status last Friday. The deputies will still receive their pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move came after the sheriff’s office conducted an internal audit of deputies’ psychological examinations from January 2016 to the present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter from Sheriff Gregory Ahern notified a deputy — whose name was blacked out in the copy — that the deputy had been graded “D. Not Suited” in a psychological evaluation and under state law couldn’t serve as a peace officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter said the sheriff’s office had previously been operating under incorrect advice received several years ago from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, which said it could hire candidates who received such a rating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11924889,news_11924514\"]Ahern said the deputy can be hired if a second examination declares them “suitable,” and the office intends to schedule an appointment for such an exam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our intention is to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” Ahern wrote. “We also intend to have you return to full duty status once you obtain a ‘Suitable’ finding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said he hoped that the retests would occur in the next two months. The tests will be conducted by a psychologist who doesn’t work for the sheriff, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said the audit followed the arrest earlier this month of former Deputy Devin Williams Jr., 24. Williams is charged with fatally shooting a couple in their Dublin home on September 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams' mother, Anitra Williams, told KTVU-TV that her son had been in a romantic relationship with the woman, Maria Tran, and had believed she was unmarried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KTVU-TV said four sources said Williams had failed his psychological exam, although Kelly previously said Williams, who was hired in September 2021, had passed all psychological tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an Oakland nonprofit that deals with race and criminal justice issues, accused the sheriff’s office of previously turning a “blind eye” to the problem of unsuited deputies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This further highlights the egregious levels of dysfunction and corruption that have plagued the sheriff’s office for years,” the center’s organizing director, Jose Bernal, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said the department has been under “enormous pressure” to hire more deputies and that it was hard to find people for the tough job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that people are going to assume that all these deputies are killers,” Kelly said. “But that’s not true. This test tries to find out if you are psychologically suitable for the job, to handle all the horrible things we see. At the age of 22, sometimes you’re not. I know this isn’t good. But it’s not as bad as it sounds.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in Northern California has stripped 47 deputies of their guns and arrest powers because they failed psychological exams, it was reported Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “horrible″ to have to relieve the deputies of their duties, sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly told KTVU-TV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The station obtained \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22925255-47-deputies-relieved\">a copy of a letter\u003c/a> notifying the deputies of their change of status last Friday. The deputies will still receive their pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move came after the sheriff’s office conducted an internal audit of deputies’ psychological examinations from January 2016 to the present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter from Sheriff Gregory Ahern notified a deputy — whose name was blacked out in the copy — that the deputy had been graded “D. Not Suited” in a psychological evaluation and under state law couldn’t serve as a peace officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ahern said the deputy can be hired if a second examination declares them “suitable,” and the office intends to schedule an appointment for such an exam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our intention is to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” Ahern wrote. “We also intend to have you return to full duty status once you obtain a ‘Suitable’ finding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said he hoped that the retests would occur in the next two months. The tests will be conducted by a psychologist who doesn’t work for the sheriff, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said the audit followed the arrest earlier this month of former Deputy Devin Williams Jr., 24. Williams is charged with fatally shooting a couple in their Dublin home on September 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams' mother, Anitra Williams, told KTVU-TV that her son had been in a romantic relationship with the woman, Maria Tran, and had believed she was unmarried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KTVU-TV said four sources said Williams had failed his psychological exam, although Kelly previously said Williams, who was hired in September 2021, had passed all psychological tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an Oakland nonprofit that deals with race and criminal justice issues, accused the sheriff’s office of previously turning a “blind eye” to the problem of unsuited deputies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This further highlights the egregious levels of dysfunction and corruption that have plagued the sheriff’s office for years,” the center’s organizing director, Jose Bernal, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly said the department has been under “enormous pressure” to hire more deputies and that it was hard to find people for the tough job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that people are going to assume that all these deputies are killers,” Kelly said. “But that’s not true. This test tries to find out if you are psychologically suitable for the job, to handle all the horrible things we see. At the age of 22, sometimes you’re not. I know this isn’t good. But it’s not as bad as it sounds.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oakland Mayor Schaaf Asks Governor for License Plate Readers and Surveillance Cameras to Curb Spike in Violent Crime",
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"content": "\u003cp>License plate readers and vehicle recognition cameras may soon be installed at on- and off-ramps and on state highways in and around Oakland, after Mayor Libby Schaaf sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday requesting the devices as a way to stem her city’s spike in violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf’s ask came after Oakland on Monday \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/13/oakland-reaches-grim-milestone-as-city-ties-2012-homicide-mark/\">reported its 131st homicide of the year\u003c/a>, the greatest number in a decade. Armed robberies also are up 46% this year, and carjacking robberies are up 77%, Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The primary mode of transportation for those committing the violent crimes are vehicles that are often stolen or have switched license plates, many of whom travel into and throughout the Oakland [sic] on the highways and main thoroughfares,” Schaaf wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The need for a system that can capture vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement to vehicles associated with violent crime, in real time, has never been more apparent,” she added. “Such technology can multiply law enforcement efforts in a focused, intelligence-based manner, while still balancing the important privacy interests of the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/daviddebolt/status/1470874638099959809\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said he made a similar request to the city several weeks ago, and was encouraged to see the mayor acting on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am in full support of the mayor’s request and look forward to new technology that will help make the city of Oakland safer,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the prospect of more cameras tracing the movement of drivers in the city is sparking serious concerns among some privacy advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People in Oakland are worried when their government wants to track what time they are getting on and off the highway,” said Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of surveillance approach invades residents’ privacy, “discourages people from going to protests and can lead to mistaken identity and police aiming guns at them,” he said.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"oakland-crime\"]Schwartz also said surveillance cameras are more often used in lower-income, largely Black and Latino communities than in more affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think license plate readers are not worth these downsides,” Schwartz said. Rather, he added, money should be spent on improving the trust between the police and the community instead of “ever more frightening surveillance technology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Schaaf, citing the city’s seemingly intractable jump in violent crime, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/us-news-crime-police-race-and-ethnicity-homicide-9ceaa74e9ac9d310d6f889cfaf414f59#:~:text=SAN%20FRANCISCO%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The,in%20homicides%20and%20gun%20violence.\">asked the city council to approve funding to create two new police academies and add 60 officers to the force\u003c/a>, a proposal the council nearly unanimously approved. Critics of the move accused the mayor and councilmembers of reversing course and betraying pledges they had made in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879404/oakland-just-redirected-18-million-away-from-police-into-violence-prevention-programs\">to cut the city’s policing budget\u003c/a> and reallocate some of those funds to violence prevention and social service programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades in Oakland we’ve over-invested in policing, and the number of homicides and robberies this year are clear proof that this approach to public safety simply does not work,” Cat Brooks, executive director of the Justice Teams Network and a co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, said earlier this month. “We can’t make the same mistakes we made in the past. We cannot throw more good money after failed policy solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooks said tens of thousands of Oakland residents filled the streets last year to demand the city “reinvest our tax dollars into programs that will actually keep us safe, not over-police Black and Brown communities.” By approving Schaaf’s police funding increase, the council was walking away from that mandate, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the same day Schaaf sent her letter, San Francisco Mayor London Breed — who last year\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11862094/sf-mayor-breed-unveils-plan-for-reinvesting-120-million-from-police-into-black-communities\"> championed an even more dramatic police divestment plan\u003c/a> — responded to the uptick in crime in areas of her city by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899060/vowing-to-end-reign-of-criminals-destroying-our-city-sf-mayor-breed-announces-latest-tenderloin-crackdown\">calling for new, more aggressive policing tactics\u003c/a>, particularly targeted at the beleaguered Tenderloin neighborhood, including a push to give officers more real-time access to surveillance footage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Schaaf’s letter to Newsom this week, she also reiterated a request for as much California Highway Patrol presence and enforcement in the city as possible. A recent grant-funded effort between Oakland and the CHP “was extremely helpful,” she added, without providing specific details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf additionally asked for help from the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force regarding “recent caravan robberies of pharmacies, stores and cannabis businesses in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s office did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Schaaf’s requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting by KQED’s Matthew Green and by Keith Burbank of Bay City News.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>License plate readers and vehicle recognition cameras may soon be installed at on- and off-ramps and on state highways in and around Oakland, after Mayor Libby Schaaf sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday requesting the devices as a way to stem her city’s spike in violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf’s ask came after Oakland on Monday \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/13/oakland-reaches-grim-milestone-as-city-ties-2012-homicide-mark/\">reported its 131st homicide of the year\u003c/a>, the greatest number in a decade. Armed robberies also are up 46% this year, and carjacking robberies are up 77%, Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The primary mode of transportation for those committing the violent crimes are vehicles that are often stolen or have switched license plates, many of whom travel into and throughout the Oakland [sic] on the highways and main thoroughfares,” Schaaf wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The need for a system that can capture vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement to vehicles associated with violent crime, in real time, has never been more apparent,” she added. “Such technology can multiply law enforcement efforts in a focused, intelligence-based manner, while still balancing the important privacy interests of the community.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said he made a similar request to the city several weeks ago, and was encouraged to see the mayor acting on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am in full support of the mayor’s request and look forward to new technology that will help make the city of Oakland safer,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the prospect of more cameras tracing the movement of drivers in the city is sparking serious concerns among some privacy advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People in Oakland are worried when their government wants to track what time they are getting on and off the highway,” said Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of surveillance approach invades residents’ privacy, “discourages people from going to protests and can lead to mistaken identity and police aiming guns at them,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Schwartz also said surveillance cameras are more often used in lower-income, largely Black and Latino communities than in more affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think license plate readers are not worth these downsides,” Schwartz said. Rather, he added, money should be spent on improving the trust between the police and the community instead of “ever more frightening surveillance technology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Schaaf, citing the city’s seemingly intractable jump in violent crime, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/us-news-crime-police-race-and-ethnicity-homicide-9ceaa74e9ac9d310d6f889cfaf414f59#:~:text=SAN%20FRANCISCO%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The,in%20homicides%20and%20gun%20violence.\">asked the city council to approve funding to create two new police academies and add 60 officers to the force\u003c/a>, a proposal the council nearly unanimously approved. Critics of the move accused the mayor and councilmembers of reversing course and betraying pledges they had made in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879404/oakland-just-redirected-18-million-away-from-police-into-violence-prevention-programs\">to cut the city’s policing budget\u003c/a> and reallocate some of those funds to violence prevention and social service programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades in Oakland we’ve over-invested in policing, and the number of homicides and robberies this year are clear proof that this approach to public safety simply does not work,” Cat Brooks, executive director of the Justice Teams Network and a co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, said earlier this month. “We can’t make the same mistakes we made in the past. We cannot throw more good money after failed policy solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooks said tens of thousands of Oakland residents filled the streets last year to demand the city “reinvest our tax dollars into programs that will actually keep us safe, not over-police Black and Brown communities.” By approving Schaaf’s police funding increase, the council was walking away from that mandate, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the same day Schaaf sent her letter, San Francisco Mayor London Breed — who last year\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11862094/sf-mayor-breed-unveils-plan-for-reinvesting-120-million-from-police-into-black-communities\"> championed an even more dramatic police divestment plan\u003c/a> — responded to the uptick in crime in areas of her city by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899060/vowing-to-end-reign-of-criminals-destroying-our-city-sf-mayor-breed-announces-latest-tenderloin-crackdown\">calling for new, more aggressive policing tactics\u003c/a>, particularly targeted at the beleaguered Tenderloin neighborhood, including a push to give officers more real-time access to surveillance footage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Schaaf’s letter to Newsom this week, she also reiterated a request for as much California Highway Patrol presence and enforcement in the city as possible. A recent grant-funded effort between Oakland and the CHP “was extremely helpful,” she added, without providing specific details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf additionally asked for help from the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force regarding “recent caravan robberies of pharmacies, stores and cannabis businesses in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s office did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Schaaf’s requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting by KQED’s Matthew Green and by Keith Burbank of Bay City News.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "on-our-watch-litigation-reveals-new-details-in-police-shooting-of-oscar-grant",
"title": "'On Our Watch' Litigation Reveals New Details in Police Shooting of Oscar Grant",
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"headTitle": "‘On Our Watch’ Litigation Reveals New Details in Police Shooting of Oscar Grant | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Rev. Wanda Johnson sits down on a folding chair in her driveway on a hot afternoon in June. There’s no air conditioning inside, so she’s fashioned an outside office, and pulls her chair up to a small table where a computer is perched. She’s getting ready to listen to excerpts of nearly 60 hours of newly released tapes — recordings of a police investigation that have been secret for over a decade. On those tapes is a story that’s never been fully heard before: the story of what happened after a transit cop shot her son on a Bay Area Rapid Transit platform on New Year’s Day 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant’s back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. The event would later be depicted in the movie “Fruitvale Station,” in which Michael B. Jordan plays Grant on what would be the last day of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Rev. Wanda Johnson, Oscar Grant's mother\"]‘Oscar wasn’t the first. Definitely will not be the last.’[/pullquote]But until now, no one outside the agency has actually heard what happened after the cell phone video ended. A lawsuit filed by KQED earlier this year forced BART to comply with California’s “The Right to Know Act,” a 2019 police transparency law, and release the never-before-heard tapes. The subject of a new podcast by NPR and KQED, \u003cem>On Our Watch\u003c/em>, the tapes allow listeners inside that investigation for the first time, and may provide lessons for larger failings about the system that promises to hold police accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has long been clear that BART made significant missteps in the investigation of Grant’s shooting, and in the aftermath of the incident the Police Chief and two commanders retired. Mehserle would be convicted of involuntary manslaughter and serve 11 months in jail. But the long-secret files focus new attention on former BART police Officer Anthony “Tony” Pirone, who was fired for his actions on the platform but never criminally charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone was the first officer to respond to a call about a fight on the train crowded with people celebrating New Year’s. When Pirone stopped a group of young men on the platform, Grant and his friend Michael Greer jumped back on the train. Pirone removed Greer from the train and threw him on the ground. After Grant tried to stand up to intervene, Pirone repeatedly hit Grant. The crowd began yelling at Pirone and his partner, objecting to their handling of the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880661\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11880661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"321\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oscar Grant’s mother Rev. Wanda Johnson listens during a press conference in Oakland on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, after Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced she would not file new charges against BART police Officer Anthony Pirone. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Five more BART officers, including Johannes Mehserle, responded to calls for backup. Mehserle attempted to handcuff Grant as Pirone held Grant down with his knee. When he could not get Grant’s hands, Mehserle pulled out his gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within seven minutes of Pirone arriving on the platform, Oscar Grant was fatally shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing happened to him and that’s what’s so disheartening and so upsetting to me. This man (started) an event that spiraled out of control, (and) caused my son to lose his life,” Johnson says, as she listens to the tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Mehserle nor Pirone agreed to comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Close Personal Relationship’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The internal documents and tapes show that BART’s criminal investigators and leaders repeatedly missed opportunities to question officers, limiting the scope and potentially the outcome of both the criminal and administrative investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just after the shot was fired, BART police officers put out a call for medical assistance and backup over the radio. What they didn’t broadcast was that an officer was the shooter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to basically put two and two together and figure out it was an officer-involved shooting on my own,” one Oakland police officer would later tell investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The BART detective who responded to the initial call, Joel Enriquez, also had to wait for another officer to clarify that the incident was a police shooting. Enriquez can be heard in recordings from that night telling another officer that he wished he could review the policy manual so he could be better prepared to investigate the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enriquez was also close to two of the primary officers involved in the incident, Johannes Mehserle and Tony Pirone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would like to put it on record that I have a close, personal and working relationship with you, Tony,” Enriquez, addressing Pirone, said on the Jan. 1, 2009, tape, recorded less than an hour after Grant died in an Oakland hospital. “And I want to make sure that you’re okay with me interviewing you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, I’m fine with that,” Pirone replied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the initial interview with Pirone, Enriquez fails to ask key questions about the officer’s repeated use of force, and does not challenge or ask Pirone to explain his assertion that he was himself on the verge of using deadly force and in fear for his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enriquez did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone’s partner, Officer Marysol Domenici, told investigators that she felt the crowd on the platform was so threatening after Mehserle shot Grant that she was ready to open fire herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I knew, you know, it’s us or them — the crowd,” she said during a Jan. 7, 2009, interview. Because she only had two taser cartridges, she said, she thought she’d have to “start shooting people… I started thinking, Jesus, I’m going to have to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The outside law firm BART hired to take over the internal affairs inquiry later concluded that both officers exaggerated or lied about their level of fear during the incident in an attempt to justify their actions. Both were fired, though Domenici won her job back after an appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Strategic Decision\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Just a week into the shooting inquiry, BART investigators did start to raise questions about Pirone’s violent behavior, police reports show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one report, BART Police Commander Maria White noted that eight days after the killing, one of the department’s internal affairs investigators, Sgt. David Chlebowski, alerted her to a witness video on a local TV website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sgt. Chlebowski and several unnamed BART detectives, “voiced concern” over Pirone’s actions depicted in the tape, White wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she “told the detective unit members that their primary focus was the homicide investigation,” delaying a probe into Pirone’s actions, police records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She waited a month — until several days after BART obtained a copy of the video from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office — before ordering BART Det. Alan Fueng to open a criminal investigation into Pirone’s use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In subsequent police reports, Fueng described interviewing Pirone and his partner, Domenici, the night of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result of his inquiry was a “brief summary report.” On March 20, 2009, the report was submitted, “without recommendation,” to the D.A.’s Office “for their review and disposition.” Pirone was never charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880665\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11880665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-800x561.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protestors lay on the ground and yell “don’t shoot” in a demonstration held outside Oakland City Hall on January 14, 2009, to protest the police killing of Oscar Grant. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in an interview with KQED and NPR that not charging Pirone was a strategic decision. Her office wanted to build the strongest possible case against Mehserhle, which meant using Pirone as a witness, she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a key witness in this because he started the whole thing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2009, under intense public pressure, BART hired an outside law firm called Meyers Nave to do an internal affairs investigation of the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART’s board decided to hire Meyers Nave “because it felt it was critical that the public would have confidence in an independent investigation conducted by a well-respected, experienced law firm,” according to a statement from a spokeswoman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Meyers Nave report, which was unsealed by “The Right to Know” Act or Senate Bill 1421 in 2019, found that Pirone’s aggressive behavior on the platform broke policy and escalated the situation, rather than taking control of the situation in a way that ensured public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tapes show that Meyers Nave investigators asked Pirone to explain why he used racial epithets in an exchange with Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I specifically remember him telling me about his 4-year-old daughter and how he respects the police. I said, ‘Then why are you giving us a bad time?'” Pirone said to Meyers Nave investigators. “That’s when he says, well, ‘You’re a bitch ass n*****.’ And I said, ‘You’re calling me a bitch ass n*****, you know, that type of thing. And he said, ‘yeah.’ And then I said, ‘Bitch ass, n***** huh?’ I think that’s when Mehserle comes over and pushes him down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pirone was, in large part, responsible for setting the events in motion that created a chaotic and tense situation on the platform, setting the stage, even if inadvertent, for the shooting of Oscar Grant,” the report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers Nave also found that Pirone’s statements about his grounds for detaining Grant, his own actions and uses of force shifted across multiple interviews and were contradicted by witness and video evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on this report, Pirone was fired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone is currently serving the California Army National Guard. He’s a Special Forces Communications Sergeant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pirone is a highly decorated soldier with many awards and has been in the military since 1997,” a spokesman for the National Guard wrote in an email. He declined to answer further questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘I Thought He Had a Gun’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The recordings also refocus attention on Mehserle’s controversial explanation for the shooting and his ultimate defense at trial — that he meant to draw a taser, not his semiautomatic pistol, and that the shooting was unintentional. (Both Pirone and Carlos Reyes, one of the men detained on the platform, later said they heard Mehserle announce he was going to tase Grant.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Mehserle’s criminal trial, the jury believed his explanation and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Meyers Nave report, released in 2019 after the passage of Senate Bill 1421, came to a different conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He can be seen trying to draw (his gun) at least two times and on the final occasion can be seen looking back at his hand on the gun/holster to watch the gun come out,” it reads. When Mehserle fired, the report found, Oscar Grant had his hands behind his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mehserle’s lawyer Michael Rains disputed this finding in an interview with NPR and KQED, calling the Meyers Nave analysis “flawed” and based on a single frame of video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s probably one one thousandth of a second,” Rains said. “He doesn’t process, ‘I’m looking at my gun.’ That’s ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the newly-released records also include statements of BART officers whom Mehserle confided in after the shooting. They tell investigators Mehserle said he believed Grant was going for a gun and never mentioned his taser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Foreman, a senior BART police officer who served as emotional support for Mehserle in the hours after the shooting, told investigators that he spoke to Mehserle every day in the week after he shot Grant. “Every so often he’ll just say, ‘I thought he had a gun, you know, I thought he had a gun,'” Foreman said during a Jan. 9, 2009, interview. He added that Mehserle frequently broke down weeping during these conversations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have an answer for that,” Rains said when asked why Mehserle didn’t tell Foreman that he’d meant to use his taser. Rains said his client was in “horrible shape emotionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was both an embarrassing failure and a shameful failure on his part,” Rains said. “And that’s the way he felt for days, for weeks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foreman and three other officers testified at trial that in the days after the shooting Mehserle did not mention anything about the taser or that it was a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘I’d Be in Jail Right Now’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons that Mehserle’s defense remains in question could come down to decisions made by BART Command staff in those early hours after the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mehserle’s Legal Defense Fund lawyer David Mastagni asked to review the bystander video of the shooting before his client provided a statement to investigators on the morning of New Year’s Day, unsealed police records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880660\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11880660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-800x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-800x576.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-1020x734.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter.png 1492w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oscar Grant had a photo of his 4-year-old daughter in his wallet when he was killed by police in 2009. Redaction done by BART police department. \u003ccite>(Via BART Police Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Commander White conferred with investigators from the D.A.’s Office and they made the decision to let Mehserle and his attorney see the video, according to a report written by White.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After watching the video and learning that Oscar Grant had died at the hospital, Mehserle invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to give a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White did discuss ordering Mehserle — an employee — to give a statement, according to her report. A compelled statement would not be usable in a criminal investigation, but it could be used administratively to determine why Mehserle shot Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART Command staff did not compel Mehserle to give an interview that morning. Mehserle said he was too tired to talk, according to White’s report. They allowed him to go home, and he agreed he would make a statement the next day. He did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six days later, Mehserle resigned from the police force rather than give that statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART Command staff also did not require the other officers who were on the platform at the time of the shooting, Emery Knudtson, Jonathan Guerra, Noel Flores and Jon Woffinden, to give interviews. They were instead asked to type up a statement in Microsoft Word. (BART’s regular case management system was visible to other departments.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers were not questioned about the actions of Mehserle or Pirone. They were also not questioned about their own actions: Knudtson tackled Fernando Anicete, a friend of Oscar Grant’s, who allegedly threw a phone toward Domenici. Flores pulled both his taser and baton. Woffinden was Mehserle’s partner that night and also drew his baton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers were eventually questioned more thoroughly by BART detectives and later by Meyers Nave investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of Oscar Grant’s friends who were with him on the platform, Fernando Anicete, Michael Greer, Jack Bryson, Nigel Bryson and Carlos Reyes were all taken to the BART police station that morning. Each was handcuffed and questioned by police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were read their Miranda Rights, according to the police records, but told they weren’t under arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I was to shoot somebody on BART in their chest while they’re already down I’d be in jail right now,” Jack Bryson can be heard telling investigators. “The cops just did the same thing. So why is it different? Because he’s a cop?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tape detectives tell Bryson that there is “no cover up” and that there is “no favoritism” in how police investigate police shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October 2009, BART detective Enriquez recommended that all the detainees be charged with resisting arrest, police records show. The other lead investigator, Fueng, agreed. But the records show they were overruled by command staff who did not want the recommendation forwarded to the D.A.’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five detainees went on to sue BART. The agency eventually settled with them for $175,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A Force With Bad Apples’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When another video of a police killing went viral last summer and protests against police violence once again gripped the country, Wanda Johnson felt the echoes of what had happened with her son. George Floyd was not shot, but the way he was pinned made her think of the way Pirone had held down Oscar Grant. Witnesses to Grant’s shooting said he told officers, “I can’t breathe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October of 2020, Johnson and her family held a press conference to ask that Grant’s case be reopened and that the District Attorney reconsider charges against Tony Pirone. Johnson said they felt the new information released with Senate Bill 1421, combined with the groundswell of protests, made it the right moment to take another look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880675\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11880675\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"321\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tatiana Grant and Wanda Johnson at the BART Fruitvale Station during a vigil on the 10 year anniversary of Grant’s death in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D.A. Nancy O’Malley agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in January 2021 she announced that while Pirone’s conduct was “aggressive, utterly unprofessional and disgraceful” her office could not charge him with anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We looked at videos, we read every report,” she said. “We did everything to see if there was any legal theory that could hold Pirone accountable other than a 149.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Penal Code 149 — assault under color of authority — is a misdemeanor. The statute of limitations on that charge ran out long ago. KQED’s review of hundreds of internal police records unsealed by the “Right to Know Act” reveal that officers are rarely criminally charged for potentially criminal misbehavior from perjury to sexual misconduct to improper use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oscar Grant lost his life and we’re sorry for that,” said the current BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez said that the agency learned a lot of hard lessons from the killing of Oscar Grant, and that it has improved significantly in the decade since the Grant shooting by implementing reforms including body cameras, better taser training and a civilian auditor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez condemned Pirone’s actions and said they remain against policy. But, he said he personally believes that Mehserle did confuse his gun and his taser. At the same time, Alvarez credits the Meyers Nave report for many of the reforms the department has adopted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who came in after the fact had time to, I think, process a lot more information and they look at things through different lenses,” Alvarez said of the outside investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing has not changed: investigations into shootings or officer misconduct remain in-house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez said he doesn’t see any issue with this common practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Friendships are going to always be there,” Alvarez said. “So you just have to deal with it on the professional level and understand that that is your job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Cephus Johnson, Oscar Grant's uncle\"]‘It’s very obvious if all investigations start in this way, we can never fix this system.’[/pullquote]Grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson, who fought for the passage of “The Right to Know Act,” said it is painful to hear the missteps made by investigators in the early hours and days after his nephew’s shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, everything that we knew is actually coming to light today through just listening to these conversations,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To him, it is proof that police cannot police themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve always said accountability and transparency we gotta have, and this is the reason why,” he added. “It’s very obvious if all investigations start in this way, we can never fix this system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond this case, the files that have been released under the transparency law show that there is little standardization and less oversight of these internal investigations. Deadly force is overwhelmingly found to be justified and in compliance with policies, even in cases where investigators raised questions about the need for officers to shoot and kill. Investigations into sexual assault by officers do not address systemic issues that allowed those officers to abuse their power. And officers with a history of dishonesty have continued to testify in criminal cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oscar wasn’t the first. Definitely will not be the last,” said his mother Wanda Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you want to change the force, you would take action on those who commit the offenses. But because you don’t take action on those who commit those offenses, you have exactly what you want — a force with bad apples on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR’s Austin Fast contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Follow On Our Watch on \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=998011488:998413542\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast app. This podcast is produced as part of the\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003cem> California Reporting Project\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a coalition of news organizations in California\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27On+Our+Watch%27+Litigation+Reveals+New+Details+In+Police+Shooting+Of+Oscar+Grant&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Rev. Wanda Johnson sits down on a folding chair in her driveway on a hot afternoon in June. There’s no air conditioning inside, so she’s fashioned an outside office, and pulls her chair up to a small table where a computer is perched. She’s getting ready to listen to excerpts of nearly 60 hours of newly released tapes — recordings of a police investigation that have been secret for over a decade. On those tapes is a story that’s never been fully heard before: the story of what happened after a transit cop shot her son on a Bay Area Rapid Transit platform on New Year’s Day 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant’s back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. The event would later be depicted in the movie “Fruitvale Station,” in which Michael B. Jordan plays Grant on what would be the last day of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But until now, no one outside the agency has actually heard what happened after the cell phone video ended. A lawsuit filed by KQED earlier this year forced BART to comply with California’s “The Right to Know Act,” a 2019 police transparency law, and release the never-before-heard tapes. The subject of a new podcast by NPR and KQED, \u003cem>On Our Watch\u003c/em>, the tapes allow listeners inside that investigation for the first time, and may provide lessons for larger failings about the system that promises to hold police accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has long been clear that BART made significant missteps in the investigation of Grant’s shooting, and in the aftermath of the incident the Police Chief and two commanders retired. Mehserle would be convicted of involuntary manslaughter and serve 11 months in jail. But the long-secret files focus new attention on former BART police Officer Anthony “Tony” Pirone, who was fired for his actions on the platform but never criminally charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone was the first officer to respond to a call about a fight on the train crowded with people celebrating New Year’s. When Pirone stopped a group of young men on the platform, Grant and his friend Michael Greer jumped back on the train. Pirone removed Greer from the train and threw him on the ground. After Grant tried to stand up to intervene, Pirone repeatedly hit Grant. The crowd began yelling at Pirone and his partner, objecting to their handling of the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880661\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11880661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"321\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Wanda_NochargesPirone_photo_-Sandhya-Dirks-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oscar Grant’s mother Rev. Wanda Johnson listens during a press conference in Oakland on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, after Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced she would not file new charges against BART police Officer Anthony Pirone. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Five more BART officers, including Johannes Mehserle, responded to calls for backup. Mehserle attempted to handcuff Grant as Pirone held Grant down with his knee. When he could not get Grant’s hands, Mehserle pulled out his gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within seven minutes of Pirone arriving on the platform, Oscar Grant was fatally shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing happened to him and that’s what’s so disheartening and so upsetting to me. This man (started) an event that spiraled out of control, (and) caused my son to lose his life,” Johnson says, as she listens to the tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Mehserle nor Pirone agreed to comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Close Personal Relationship’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The internal documents and tapes show that BART’s criminal investigators and leaders repeatedly missed opportunities to question officers, limiting the scope and potentially the outcome of both the criminal and administrative investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just after the shot was fired, BART police officers put out a call for medical assistance and backup over the radio. What they didn’t broadcast was that an officer was the shooter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to basically put two and two together and figure out it was an officer-involved shooting on my own,” one Oakland police officer would later tell investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The BART detective who responded to the initial call, Joel Enriquez, also had to wait for another officer to clarify that the incident was a police shooting. Enriquez can be heard in recordings from that night telling another officer that he wished he could review the policy manual so he could be better prepared to investigate the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enriquez was also close to two of the primary officers involved in the incident, Johannes Mehserle and Tony Pirone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would like to put it on record that I have a close, personal and working relationship with you, Tony,” Enriquez, addressing Pirone, said on the Jan. 1, 2009, tape, recorded less than an hour after Grant died in an Oakland hospital. “And I want to make sure that you’re okay with me interviewing you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, I’m fine with that,” Pirone replied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the initial interview with Pirone, Enriquez fails to ask key questions about the officer’s repeated use of force, and does not challenge or ask Pirone to explain his assertion that he was himself on the verge of using deadly force and in fear for his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enriquez did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone’s partner, Officer Marysol Domenici, told investigators that she felt the crowd on the platform was so threatening after Mehserle shot Grant that she was ready to open fire herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I knew, you know, it’s us or them — the crowd,” she said during a Jan. 7, 2009, interview. Because she only had two taser cartridges, she said, she thought she’d have to “start shooting people… I started thinking, Jesus, I’m going to have to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The outside law firm BART hired to take over the internal affairs inquiry later concluded that both officers exaggerated or lied about their level of fear during the incident in an attempt to justify their actions. Both were fired, though Domenici won her job back after an appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Strategic Decision\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Just a week into the shooting inquiry, BART investigators did start to raise questions about Pirone’s violent behavior, police reports show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one report, BART Police Commander Maria White noted that eight days after the killing, one of the department’s internal affairs investigators, Sgt. David Chlebowski, alerted her to a witness video on a local TV website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sgt. Chlebowski and several unnamed BART detectives, “voiced concern” over Pirone’s actions depicted in the tape, White wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she “told the detective unit members that their primary focus was the homicide investigation,” delaying a probe into Pirone’s actions, police records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She waited a month — until several days after BART obtained a copy of the video from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office — before ordering BART Det. Alan Fueng to open a criminal investigation into Pirone’s use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In subsequent police reports, Fueng described interviewing Pirone and his partner, Domenici, the night of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result of his inquiry was a “brief summary report.” On March 20, 2009, the report was submitted, “without recommendation,” to the D.A.’s Office “for their review and disposition.” Pirone was never charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880665\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11880665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-800x561.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-84291204.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protestors lay on the ground and yell “don’t shoot” in a demonstration held outside Oakland City Hall on January 14, 2009, to protest the police killing of Oscar Grant. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in an interview with KQED and NPR that not charging Pirone was a strategic decision. Her office wanted to build the strongest possible case against Mehserhle, which meant using Pirone as a witness, she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a key witness in this because he started the whole thing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2009, under intense public pressure, BART hired an outside law firm called Meyers Nave to do an internal affairs investigation of the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART’s board decided to hire Meyers Nave “because it felt it was critical that the public would have confidence in an independent investigation conducted by a well-respected, experienced law firm,” according to a statement from a spokeswoman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Meyers Nave report, which was unsealed by “The Right to Know” Act or Senate Bill 1421 in 2019, found that Pirone’s aggressive behavior on the platform broke policy and escalated the situation, rather than taking control of the situation in a way that ensured public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tapes show that Meyers Nave investigators asked Pirone to explain why he used racial epithets in an exchange with Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I specifically remember him telling me about his 4-year-old daughter and how he respects the police. I said, ‘Then why are you giving us a bad time?'” Pirone said to Meyers Nave investigators. “That’s when he says, well, ‘You’re a bitch ass n*****.’ And I said, ‘You’re calling me a bitch ass n*****, you know, that type of thing. And he said, ‘yeah.’ And then I said, ‘Bitch ass, n***** huh?’ I think that’s when Mehserle comes over and pushes him down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pirone was, in large part, responsible for setting the events in motion that created a chaotic and tense situation on the platform, setting the stage, even if inadvertent, for the shooting of Oscar Grant,” the report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers Nave also found that Pirone’s statements about his grounds for detaining Grant, his own actions and uses of force shifted across multiple interviews and were contradicted by witness and video evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on this report, Pirone was fired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pirone is currently serving the California Army National Guard. He’s a Special Forces Communications Sergeant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pirone is a highly decorated soldier with many awards and has been in the military since 1997,” a spokesman for the National Guard wrote in an email. He declined to answer further questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘I Thought He Had a Gun’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The recordings also refocus attention on Mehserle’s controversial explanation for the shooting and his ultimate defense at trial — that he meant to draw a taser, not his semiautomatic pistol, and that the shooting was unintentional. (Both Pirone and Carlos Reyes, one of the men detained on the platform, later said they heard Mehserle announce he was going to tase Grant.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Mehserle’s criminal trial, the jury believed his explanation and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Meyers Nave report, released in 2019 after the passage of Senate Bill 1421, came to a different conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He can be seen trying to draw (his gun) at least two times and on the final occasion can be seen looking back at his hand on the gun/holster to watch the gun come out,” it reads. When Mehserle fired, the report found, Oscar Grant had his hands behind his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mehserle’s lawyer Michael Rains disputed this finding in an interview with NPR and KQED, calling the Meyers Nave analysis “flawed” and based on a single frame of video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s probably one one thousandth of a second,” Rains said. “He doesn’t process, ‘I’m looking at my gun.’ That’s ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the newly-released records also include statements of BART officers whom Mehserle confided in after the shooting. They tell investigators Mehserle said he believed Grant was going for a gun and never mentioned his taser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Foreman, a senior BART police officer who served as emotional support for Mehserle in the hours after the shooting, told investigators that he spoke to Mehserle every day in the week after he shot Grant. “Every so often he’ll just say, ‘I thought he had a gun, you know, I thought he had a gun,'” Foreman said during a Jan. 9, 2009, interview. He added that Mehserle frequently broke down weeping during these conversations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have an answer for that,” Rains said when asked why Mehserle didn’t tell Foreman that he’d meant to use his taser. Rains said his client was in “horrible shape emotionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was both an embarrassing failure and a shameful failure on his part,” Rains said. “And that’s the way he felt for days, for weeks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foreman and three other officers testified at trial that in the days after the shooting Mehserle did not mention anything about the taser or that it was a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘I’d Be in Jail Right Now’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons that Mehserle’s defense remains in question could come down to decisions made by BART Command staff in those early hours after the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mehserle’s Legal Defense Fund lawyer David Mastagni asked to review the bystander video of the shooting before his client provided a statement to investigators on the morning of New Year’s Day, unsealed police records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880660\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11880660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-800x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-800x576.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-1020x734.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/Grantdaughter.png 1492w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oscar Grant had a photo of his 4-year-old daughter in his wallet when he was killed by police in 2009. Redaction done by BART police department. \u003ccite>(Via BART Police Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Commander White conferred with investigators from the D.A.’s Office and they made the decision to let Mehserle and his attorney see the video, according to a report written by White.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After watching the video and learning that Oscar Grant had died at the hospital, Mehserle invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to give a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White did discuss ordering Mehserle — an employee — to give a statement, according to her report. A compelled statement would not be usable in a criminal investigation, but it could be used administratively to determine why Mehserle shot Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART Command staff did not compel Mehserle to give an interview that morning. Mehserle said he was too tired to talk, according to White’s report. They allowed him to go home, and he agreed he would make a statement the next day. He did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six days later, Mehserle resigned from the police force rather than give that statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART Command staff also did not require the other officers who were on the platform at the time of the shooting, Emery Knudtson, Jonathan Guerra, Noel Flores and Jon Woffinden, to give interviews. They were instead asked to type up a statement in Microsoft Word. (BART’s regular case management system was visible to other departments.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers were not questioned about the actions of Mehserle or Pirone. They were also not questioned about their own actions: Knudtson tackled Fernando Anicete, a friend of Oscar Grant’s, who allegedly threw a phone toward Domenici. Flores pulled both his taser and baton. Woffinden was Mehserle’s partner that night and also drew his baton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers were eventually questioned more thoroughly by BART detectives and later by Meyers Nave investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of Oscar Grant’s friends who were with him on the platform, Fernando Anicete, Michael Greer, Jack Bryson, Nigel Bryson and Carlos Reyes were all taken to the BART police station that morning. Each was handcuffed and questioned by police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were read their Miranda Rights, according to the police records, but told they weren’t under arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I was to shoot somebody on BART in their chest while they’re already down I’d be in jail right now,” Jack Bryson can be heard telling investigators. “The cops just did the same thing. So why is it different? Because he’s a cop?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tape detectives tell Bryson that there is “no cover up” and that there is “no favoritism” in how police investigate police shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October 2009, BART detective Enriquez recommended that all the detainees be charged with resisting arrest, police records show. The other lead investigator, Fueng, agreed. But the records show they were overruled by command staff who did not want the recommendation forwarded to the D.A.’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five detainees went on to sue BART. The agency eventually settled with them for $175,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A Force With Bad Apples’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When another video of a police killing went viral last summer and protests against police violence once again gripped the country, Wanda Johnson felt the echoes of what had happened with her son. George Floyd was not shot, but the way he was pinned made her think of the way Pirone had held down Oscar Grant. Witnesses to Grant’s shooting said he told officers, “I can’t breathe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October of 2020, Johnson and her family held a press conference to ask that Grant’s case be reopened and that the District Attorney reconsider charges against Tony Pirone. Johnson said they felt the new information released with Senate Bill 1421, combined with the groundswell of protests, made it the right moment to take another look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880675\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11880675\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"321\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/WandaJohnson_TatianaGrant_10-year-anniversary_photoSandhyaDirks-scaled-e1625784652546.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tatiana Grant and Wanda Johnson at the BART Fruitvale Station during a vigil on the 10 year anniversary of Grant’s death in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D.A. Nancy O’Malley agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in January 2021 she announced that while Pirone’s conduct was “aggressive, utterly unprofessional and disgraceful” her office could not charge him with anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We looked at videos, we read every report,” she said. “We did everything to see if there was any legal theory that could hold Pirone accountable other than a 149.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Penal Code 149 — assault under color of authority — is a misdemeanor. The statute of limitations on that charge ran out long ago. KQED’s review of hundreds of internal police records unsealed by the “Right to Know Act” reveal that officers are rarely criminally charged for potentially criminal misbehavior from perjury to sexual misconduct to improper use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oscar Grant lost his life and we’re sorry for that,” said the current BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez said that the agency learned a lot of hard lessons from the killing of Oscar Grant, and that it has improved significantly in the decade since the Grant shooting by implementing reforms including body cameras, better taser training and a civilian auditor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez condemned Pirone’s actions and said they remain against policy. But, he said he personally believes that Mehserle did confuse his gun and his taser. At the same time, Alvarez credits the Meyers Nave report for many of the reforms the department has adopted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who came in after the fact had time to, I think, process a lot more information and they look at things through different lenses,” Alvarez said of the outside investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing has not changed: investigations into shootings or officer misconduct remain in-house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez said he doesn’t see any issue with this common practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Friendships are going to always be there,” Alvarez said. “So you just have to deal with it on the professional level and understand that that is your job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s very obvious if all investigations start in this way, we can never fix this system.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson, who fought for the passage of “The Right to Know Act,” said it is painful to hear the missteps made by investigators in the early hours and days after his nephew’s shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, everything that we knew is actually coming to light today through just listening to these conversations,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To him, it is proof that police cannot police themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve always said accountability and transparency we gotta have, and this is the reason why,” he added. “It’s very obvious if all investigations start in this way, we can never fix this system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond this case, the files that have been released under the transparency law show that there is little standardization and less oversight of these internal investigations. Deadly force is overwhelmingly found to be justified and in compliance with policies, even in cases where investigators raised questions about the need for officers to shoot and kill. Investigations into sexual assault by officers do not address systemic issues that allowed those officers to abuse their power. And officers with a history of dishonesty have continued to testify in criminal cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oscar wasn’t the first. Definitely will not be the last,” said his mother Wanda Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you want to change the force, you would take action on those who commit the offenses. But because you don’t take action on those who commit those offenses, you have exactly what you want — a force with bad apples on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR’s Austin Fast contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Follow On Our Watch on \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=998011488:998413542\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast app. This podcast is produced as part of the\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003cem> California Reporting Project\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a coalition of news organizations in California\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27On+Our+Watch%27+Litigation+Reveals+New+Details+In+Police+Shooting+Of+Oscar+Grant&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "oakland-just-redirected-18-million-away-from-police-into-violence-prevention-programs",
"title": "Oakland Just Redirected $18 Million Away From Police — Into Violence Prevention Programs",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Just Redirected $18 Million Away From Police — Into Violence Prevention Programs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oakland city councilmembers redirected $18 million proposed for police spending from the mayor’s budget to alternative methods of violence prevention when the council passed a $3.8 billion budget Thursday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote came at about 5:30 p.m. following hours of public comment and discussion at a virtual meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"James Burch, policy director for the Anti Police-Terror Project\"]‘We’re talking about a police budget that is well over $300 million every year consistently and continues to increase — even this year.’[/pullquote]The cuts to police spending were made from Mayor Libby Schaaf’s proposed budget for fiscal years 2021-2023 released in May, which would have added two police academy classes to the usual four over the two-year budget cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s budget proposal was then amended by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilmembers Carroll Fife, Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo. The amendment was what passed on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The budget passed today by the Oakland City Council makes bold investments to reimagine public safety through violence prevention and non-police strategies that I strongly support,” Schaaf said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, it also cuts 50 police officers who respond to Oaklanders’ 911 calls and enforce traffic safety,” Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879475\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879475\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A few hundred people gathered at Lake Merritt for a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Six councilmembers voted in favor of the new budget, while Councilmembers Loren Taylor and Treva Reid opposed it because of concerns over an equitable distribution of city funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Taylor and Reid represent East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes come amid a historic increase in violence in the city, with at least 61 homicides so far this year — nearly all by firearms — up about 90% from a year ago, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The violence was palpable last weekend when gunfire killed one and wounded at least six others in a shooting near Lake Merritt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Armstrong reportedly said no number of officers at the lake would have prevented the tragedy and some councilmembers used that statement to bolster their argument for less spending on police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879449\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879449\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas speaks at Lake Merritt during a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Oakland residents have been demanding less spending since the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, calling on city leaders to cut the Police Department’s budget by 50% and invest that money in alternatives to police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such group was the Anti Police-Terror Project. James Burch, policy director for the group, said the vote marked a tremendous victory after a six-year campaign. “And it speaks to how difficult it has been for us to gain traction and demand common sense out of the city council,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Burch highlighted that while police won’t be seeing that $18 million, it’s “a drop in the bucket.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about a police budget that is well over $300 million every year consistently and continues to increase — even this year. And so it’s important that we maintain that perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor\"]‘We are asking people to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, promising to get to them before they need it to land.’[/pullquote]The previous two-year budget spent $665 million for police and constituted 19.6% of the city budget. The mayor’s proposed budget had slightly increased the total dollars for police to $692 million but decreased the percentage police use from the city budget to 17.9%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>APTP has been calling on investments like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11874272/build-something-powerful-oakland-aims-to-remove-police-from-some-nonviolent-911-calls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland\u003c/a>, also known as MACRO, which the council also supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a pilot program, trained MACRO personnel will respond to non-violent, non-criminal mental and behavioral health calls instead of police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget passed Thursday will invest $4 million in MACRO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879450\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879450\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Councilmember Carol Fife speaks at Lake Merritt during a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although the investments in alternatives to police are expected to reduce violence, Taylor expressed concern that they are not proven or in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=\"opd\" label=\"More on Oakland police\"]“We are asking people to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, promising to get to them before they need it to land,” Taylor said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the final vote, Reid put forth an amendment to add a third police academy class in the first year of the budget and reduce the number of classes to one in the second year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid expressed concern about redirecting the proposed police spending when bullets are flying into the homes of East Oaklanders who she represents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid’s amendment failed by a vote of 6-3, with Kalb, Taylor and Reid as the three votes in favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from Bay City News and KQED’s Raquel Maria Dillon and Julie Chang.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Oakland Just Redirected $18 Million Away From Police — Into Violence Prevention Programs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oakland city councilmembers redirected $18 million proposed for police spending from the mayor’s budget to alternative methods of violence prevention when the council passed a $3.8 billion budget Thursday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote came at about 5:30 p.m. following hours of public comment and discussion at a virtual meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The cuts to police spending were made from Mayor Libby Schaaf’s proposed budget for fiscal years 2021-2023 released in May, which would have added two police academy classes to the usual four over the two-year budget cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s budget proposal was then amended by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilmembers Carroll Fife, Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo. The amendment was what passed on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The budget passed today by the Oakland City Council makes bold investments to reimagine public safety through violence prevention and non-police strategies that I strongly support,” Schaaf said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, it also cuts 50 police officers who respond to Oaklanders’ 911 calls and enforce traffic safety,” Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879475\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879475\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50148_011_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A few hundred people gathered at Lake Merritt for a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Six councilmembers voted in favor of the new budget, while Councilmembers Loren Taylor and Treva Reid opposed it because of concerns over an equitable distribution of city funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Taylor and Reid represent East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes come amid a historic increase in violence in the city, with at least 61 homicides so far this year — nearly all by firearms — up about 90% from a year ago, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The violence was palpable last weekend when gunfire killed one and wounded at least six others in a shooting near Lake Merritt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Armstrong reportedly said no number of officers at the lake would have prevented the tragedy and some councilmembers used that statement to bolster their argument for less spending on police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879449\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879449\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50143_006_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas speaks at Lake Merritt during a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Oakland residents have been demanding less spending since the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, calling on city leaders to cut the Police Department’s budget by 50% and invest that money in alternatives to police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such group was the Anti Police-Terror Project. James Burch, policy director for the group, said the vote marked a tremendous victory after a six-year campaign. “And it speaks to how difficult it has been for us to gain traction and demand common sense out of the city council,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Burch highlighted that while police won’t be seeing that $18 million, it’s “a drop in the bucket.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about a police budget that is well over $300 million every year consistently and continues to increase — even this year. And so it’s important that we maintain that perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The previous two-year budget spent $665 million for police and constituted 19.6% of the city budget. The mayor’s proposed budget had slightly increased the total dollars for police to $692 million but decreased the percentage police use from the city budget to 17.9%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>APTP has been calling on investments like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11874272/build-something-powerful-oakland-aims-to-remove-police-from-some-nonviolent-911-calls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland\u003c/a>, also known as MACRO, which the council also supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a pilot program, trained MACRO personnel will respond to non-violent, non-criminal mental and behavioral health calls instead of police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget passed Thursday will invest $4 million in MACRO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11879450\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11879450\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50164_027_Oakland_JuneteenthShootingVigil_06222021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Councilmember Carol Fife speaks at Lake Merritt during a vigil calling for peace on June 22, 2021, following the Juneteenth shooting that wounded seven people and left one man dead. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although the investments in alternatives to police are expected to reduce violence, Taylor expressed concern that they are not proven or in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We are asking people to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, promising to get to them before they need it to land,” Taylor said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the final vote, Reid put forth an amendment to add a third police academy class in the first year of the budget and reduce the number of classes to one in the second year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid expressed concern about redirecting the proposed police spending when bullets are flying into the homes of East Oaklanders who she represents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid’s amendment failed by a vote of 6-3, with Kalb, Taylor and Reid as the three votes in favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from Bay City News and KQED’s Raquel Maria Dillon and Julie Chang.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "A National Night Out — Without Police",
"title": "A National Night Out — Without Police",
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"content": "\u003cp>On the first Tuesday in August, police officers and neighbors come together on sidewalks and in parking lots around the country for \u003ca href=\"https://natw.org/about\">National Night Out.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part barbecue, part block party, these yearly events are meant to create a sense of security and to help support community policing. National Night Out, which grew out of a volunteer's efforts in the Philadelphia suburbs in the late 1970s, began in 1984 in 400 places around the country as part of a drive to increase community and neighborhood watch efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zachary Norris went to a few National Night Out events with his sister. “For years she went, not because she was excited about the way police were treating communities, but because she saw break-ins on her street,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris, now the head of the \u003ca href=\"https://ellabakercenter.org/\">Ella Baker Center for Human Rights\u003c/a> in Oakland, sometimes went along, but something about the event made him feel uncomfortable. “As police are passing out these little buttons and badges for kids, I’m thinking to myself, 'How do you view this young person? How do you view this young black child that you're handing this button to?' ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/ZachNorris-e1533846969371.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685929 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/ZachNorris-e1533846969371.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zachary Norris, the head of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, welcomes people to Night Out for Safety and Liberation in San Antonio Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, in 2012, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, killed \u003ca href=\"//www.kqed.org/news/103519/jury-finds-zimmerman-not-guilty-of-2nd-degree-murder\">Trayvon Martin\u003c/a>, a 17-year-old high school student on his way home from the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris and his team at the Ella Baker Center started to think about what it means to watch our neighbors, and about the connection between safety and National Night Out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At those events, people are told you are the eyes and ears of the police, but people have more than eyes and ears,” he said. “They have hearts. They have hands. They have minds. And all of those things are needed to build safety.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they planned an alternative event on the same night, but separate. They called it a \u003ca href=\"http://www.nosl.us/\">Night Out for Safety and Liberation.\u003c/a> “Our aim is really to redefine safety, beyond policing and punishment and prisons,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first one happened in 2013, but over the past five years it has grown and expanded. This year there were five events in the East Bay and one in San Francisco, and more than 20 cities in the country participated. Norris said it has only become more necessary now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to incidents this summer, even here “in the so-called progressive Bay Area,” which have shown how white people use police or the threat of police to restrict the movement and activities of people of color. For example, in May \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13832886/were-still-here-bbqn-while-black-draws-out-oaklanders-in-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a white woman in Oakland called police complaining about two black men having a barbecue at Lake Merritt. \u003c/a>In June, a white woman in San Francisco called police \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/permit-patty-alison-ettel-audio-911-police-water-13035847.php\">on a young girl selling water.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Calling on police to exclude and push people out of communities -- that is actually the opposite of safety,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/blessing-e1533846783284.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685935 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/blessing-e1533846783284.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iyalode Yeyefini blesses the land at Night Out for Safety and Liberation in San Antonio Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tuesday night, in San Antonio Park in East Oakland, about 100 people gathered to eat pupusas, listen to music and Ohlone songs, and hear East African blessings. Balloons were tied to trees, foldout tables manned by local organizations lined the park's walkway, and people danced into the evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Mama-Blue-e1533846828918.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685942 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Mama-Blue-e1533846828918.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tenika Blue emcees Night Out for Safety and Liberation in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is what safety and liberation looks like on a Tuesday night in Oakland, California, y’all!” shouted out Tenika Blue, known as SheBeLadyBlue, who emceed the festivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot of positive energy out here, people are feeling good! There’s lots of hugs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/watchingtheblessing-e1533846901486.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11685944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/watchingtheblessing-e1533846901486.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watching the blessing at Night Out for Safety and Liberation in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My community is very important, safety is important,” Blue said, but she added that for many who have grown up in the black community, safety isn’t represented by police. “Safety is health care. Safety is children being able to play freely and be children.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were hundreds of official National Night Out block parties across Oakland. Some black elders argue police are needed and the biggest problem is when officers don't arrive in time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/08/05/429773896/with-police-in-the-news-national-night-out-goes-alternative\">They say events like National Night Out are imperative to creating a collaborative relationship with police.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris said he understands where they are coming from. \"We understand that we need first responders, but they need to respond in the interest of community.\" Police, he said, can often act in a militarized manner, especially in poor and minority neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is absolutely not an anti-police event,\" Norris said. \"But we need to look at different kinds of first responders.\" The community, organizing together, can often provide the best response to people in crisis, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that way, Night Out for Safety and Liberation is part of a larger conversation happening in Oakland and across the country about finding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11677337/oakland-church-steps-out-on-faith-and-pledges-to-stop-calling-police\">alternatives to policing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Paige was watching her young grandchildren hula-hoop on the park grass. “I grew up around here,” she said. “This is where I bring my grandbabies to play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, when she smelled the food and heard the music, she thought it was a National Night Out event, not being aware that there was an alternative. She said she does not have problems with police. “I don’t discriminate. Police do everybody like that,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she understands why some people want to get to know each other without law enforcement. “Police take it to extremes to solve the situation, especially unarmed people,” Paige said. “And they shouldn’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She came with her grandchildren on this warm August evening not because of politics or to make a statement. She was just there for the community, the music and the food.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the first Tuesday in August, police officers and neighbors come together on sidewalks and in parking lots around the country for \u003ca href=\"https://natw.org/about\">National Night Out.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part barbecue, part block party, these yearly events are meant to create a sense of security and to help support community policing. National Night Out, which grew out of a volunteer's efforts in the Philadelphia suburbs in the late 1970s, began in 1984 in 400 places around the country as part of a drive to increase community and neighborhood watch efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zachary Norris went to a few National Night Out events with his sister. “For years she went, not because she was excited about the way police were treating communities, but because she saw break-ins on her street,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris, now the head of the \u003ca href=\"https://ellabakercenter.org/\">Ella Baker Center for Human Rights\u003c/a> in Oakland, sometimes went along, but something about the event made him feel uncomfortable. “As police are passing out these little buttons and badges for kids, I’m thinking to myself, 'How do you view this young person? How do you view this young black child that you're handing this button to?' ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/ZachNorris-e1533846969371.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685929 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/ZachNorris-e1533846969371.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zachary Norris, the head of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, welcomes people to Night Out for Safety and Liberation in San Antonio Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, in 2012, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, killed \u003ca href=\"//www.kqed.org/news/103519/jury-finds-zimmerman-not-guilty-of-2nd-degree-murder\">Trayvon Martin\u003c/a>, a 17-year-old high school student on his way home from the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris and his team at the Ella Baker Center started to think about what it means to watch our neighbors, and about the connection between safety and National Night Out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At those events, people are told you are the eyes and ears of the police, but people have more than eyes and ears,” he said. “They have hearts. They have hands. They have minds. And all of those things are needed to build safety.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they planned an alternative event on the same night, but separate. They called it a \u003ca href=\"http://www.nosl.us/\">Night Out for Safety and Liberation.\u003c/a> “Our aim is really to redefine safety, beyond policing and punishment and prisons,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first one happened in 2013, but over the past five years it has grown and expanded. This year there were five events in the East Bay and one in San Francisco, and more than 20 cities in the country participated. Norris said it has only become more necessary now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to incidents this summer, even here “in the so-called progressive Bay Area,” which have shown how white people use police or the threat of police to restrict the movement and activities of people of color. For example, in May \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13832886/were-still-here-bbqn-while-black-draws-out-oaklanders-in-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a white woman in Oakland called police complaining about two black men having a barbecue at Lake Merritt. \u003c/a>In June, a white woman in San Francisco called police \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/permit-patty-alison-ettel-audio-911-police-water-13035847.php\">on a young girl selling water.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Calling on police to exclude and push people out of communities -- that is actually the opposite of safety,” Norris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/blessing-e1533846783284.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685935 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/blessing-e1533846783284.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iyalode Yeyefini blesses the land at Night Out for Safety and Liberation in San Antonio Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tuesday night, in San Antonio Park in East Oakland, about 100 people gathered to eat pupusas, listen to music and Ohlone songs, and hear East African blessings. Balloons were tied to trees, foldout tables manned by local organizations lined the park's walkway, and people danced into the evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Mama-Blue-e1533846828918.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11685942 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Mama-Blue-e1533846828918.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tenika Blue emcees Night Out for Safety and Liberation in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is what safety and liberation looks like on a Tuesday night in Oakland, California, y’all!” shouted out Tenika Blue, known as SheBeLadyBlue, who emceed the festivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot of positive energy out here, people are feeling good! There’s lots of hugs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/watchingtheblessing-e1533846901486.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11685944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/watchingtheblessing-e1533846901486.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watching the blessing at Night Out for Safety and Liberation in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sandhya Dirks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My community is very important, safety is important,” Blue said, but she added that for many who have grown up in the black community, safety isn’t represented by police. “Safety is health care. Safety is children being able to play freely and be children.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were hundreds of official National Night Out block parties across Oakland. Some black elders argue police are needed and the biggest problem is when officers don't arrive in time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/08/05/429773896/with-police-in-the-news-national-night-out-goes-alternative\">They say events like National Night Out are imperative to creating a collaborative relationship with police.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris said he understands where they are coming from. \"We understand that we need first responders, but they need to respond in the interest of community.\" Police, he said, can often act in a militarized manner, especially in poor and minority neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is absolutely not an anti-police event,\" Norris said. \"But we need to look at different kinds of first responders.\" The community, organizing together, can often provide the best response to people in crisis, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that way, Night Out for Safety and Liberation is part of a larger conversation happening in Oakland and across the country about finding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11677337/oakland-church-steps-out-on-faith-and-pledges-to-stop-calling-police\">alternatives to policing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Paige was watching her young grandchildren hula-hoop on the park grass. “I grew up around here,” she said. “This is where I bring my grandbabies to play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, when she smelled the food and heard the music, she thought it was a National Night Out event, not being aware that there was an alternative. She said she does not have problems with police. “I don’t discriminate. Police do everybody like that,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she understands why some people want to get to know each other without law enforcement. “Police take it to extremes to solve the situation, especially unarmed people,” Paige said. “And they shouldn’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She came with her grandchildren on this warm August evening not because of politics or to make a statement. She was just there for the community, the music and the food.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Oakland Marchers Turn Out to Support Baltimore; More Protests on Way",
"title": "Oakland Marchers Turn Out to Support Baltimore; More Protests on Way",
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"content": "\u003cp>\"Baltimore, we've got your back!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was one of the chants shouted by a small group of activists marching through the streets of Oakland on Monday night. They came out to express solidarity with protesters in Baltimore, where riots have followed the death and funeral of \u003ca href=\"http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/\">Freddie Gray\u003c/a>, a 25-year-old African American man who apparently suffered fatal injuries while in police custody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some marchers handed out fliers to bystanders that promoted another day of protest against police violence this Friday, May Day, when members of Occupy Oakland and workers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/04/port-oakland-may-day-police-shootings-shut-down.html\">Port of Oakland\u003c/a> are planning to shut down operations there and join other demonstrations happening across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Oakland protesters marched peacefully through streets in downtown and West Oakland while bicyclists cleared the path ahead of the group of roughly 75 to 100 people. Police kept their distance and stood by to monitor, as some protesters flipped them off and yelled expletives in their direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group marched past City Hall and blocked the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway. Many stood and chatted, while some used a bullhorn to call for more action. Eventually, protesters made their way down Broadway to Oakland Police Department headquarters, and shortly thereafter most participants went their separate ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one group marched back north to the Uptown district, where windows were smashed at the Dogwood bar and restaurant at 17th Street and Telegraph Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Alexeis Filipello said Tuesday she wasn't present at the time, but got a call from one of her bartenders. She said she was told someone masked and wearing all black took a hammer to the bar's large windows -- at least the fourth smashed window inflicted on her bar during a protest since it opened four years ago, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're so used to dealing with the protest stuff,\" she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn't make it any easier. Filipello supported the Occupy movement, she said. She supported the essence of Monday's protest, too, which in part rallied against disproportionate police killings of minority people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You guys don't get that I am totally in support,\" she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Filipello said she weighs the cost of doing business in a city that is growing and wants to be better, despite its many systemic problems, and people who show they're frustrated by attacking her bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers at the Port of Oakland are planning to shut down the port Friday during its first shift from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to protest police violence, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/04/port-oakland-may-day-police-shootings-shut-down.html\">San Francisco Business Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the request of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, its monthly labor meeting has been moved. That time will instead reportedly be used to rally against police violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The temporary suspension isn't expected to have lasting effect on port operations,\" said Mike Zampa, spokesman for the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The port will reopen for its second shift, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\"Baltimore, we've got your back!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was one of the chants shouted by a small group of activists marching through the streets of Oakland on Monday night. They came out to express solidarity with protesters in Baltimore, where riots have followed the death and funeral of \u003ca href=\"http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/\">Freddie Gray\u003c/a>, a 25-year-old African American man who apparently suffered fatal injuries while in police custody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some marchers handed out fliers to bystanders that promoted another day of protest against police violence this Friday, May Day, when members of Occupy Oakland and workers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/04/port-oakland-may-day-police-shootings-shut-down.html\">Port of Oakland\u003c/a> are planning to shut down operations there and join other demonstrations happening across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Oakland protesters marched peacefully through streets in downtown and West Oakland while bicyclists cleared the path ahead of the group of roughly 75 to 100 people. Police kept their distance and stood by to monitor, as some protesters flipped them off and yelled expletives in their direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group marched past City Hall and blocked the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway. Many stood and chatted, while some used a bullhorn to call for more action. Eventually, protesters made their way down Broadway to Oakland Police Department headquarters, and shortly thereafter most participants went their separate ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one group marched back north to the Uptown district, where windows were smashed at the Dogwood bar and restaurant at 17th Street and Telegraph Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Alexeis Filipello said Tuesday she wasn't present at the time, but got a call from one of her bartenders. She said she was told someone masked and wearing all black took a hammer to the bar's large windows -- at least the fourth smashed window inflicted on her bar during a protest since it opened four years ago, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're so used to dealing with the protest stuff,\" she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn't make it any easier. Filipello supported the Occupy movement, she said. She supported the essence of Monday's protest, too, which in part rallied against disproportionate police killings of minority people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You guys don't get that I am totally in support,\" she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Filipello said she weighs the cost of doing business in a city that is growing and wants to be better, despite its many systemic problems, and people who show they're frustrated by attacking her bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers at the Port of Oakland are planning to shut down the port Friday during its first shift from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to protest police violence, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/04/port-oakland-may-day-police-shootings-shut-down.html\">San Francisco Business Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the request of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, its monthly labor meeting has been moved. That time will instead reportedly be used to rally against police violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The temporary suspension isn't expected to have lasting effect on port operations,\" said Mike Zampa, spokesman for the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The port will reopen for its second shift, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "In Oakland, a 5 a.m. Protest at Libby Schaaf's House",
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"content": "\u003cp>Protesters who say they want to reclaim the radical legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. rallied for a couple of hours Monday morning outside the home of new Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The protesters took issue with the mayor spending her first day in office with the police department.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The crowd gathered at 5 a.m. Around 40 demonstrators chanted, \"Turn it up, don't turn it down, we do this for Mike Brown.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demonstrators also danced and held vigils for local residents killed by police. They stood with fists raised while speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. played on a speaker, including his famous \"\u003ca href=\"http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm\" target=\"_blank\">A Time to Break Silence\u003c/a>\" address, criticizing the Vietnam War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protesters said they take issue with the mayor spending her first day in office with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/my-town/ci_27269514/mayor-libby-schaaf-devotes-first-day-oakland-police\" target=\"_blank\">police department\u003c/a>. Some said they did not like the way Schaaf dealt with officer-involved shootings when she was on the City Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_27348922/oakland-mayor-libby-schaffs-home-scene-protest\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Area News Group reported\u003c/a> that demonstrators drew outlines of bodies in the street. From the report:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>They also rang her doorbell and handed her husband a list of demands that include dismantling the Oakland school district's police force, ending paid leave for city officers being investigated in questionable shootings, overhauling a state law that limits public access to police personnel records, and ending ties with Israel.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>One protester, Xan West, said she came to \"pray for Libby and bring a change to our neighborhoods.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West says Schaaf's focus on crime sends a clear message that she intends to invest in policing rather than infrastructure and economic development in communities that need it the most. That does little to honor the values of King, protesters said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Martin Luther King is a victim of identity theft,\" said West. \"The way that he's portrayed is very much that he's this meek and mild character who just sought justice through peaceful means, which is very true. But he was not meek and mild. He used nonviolent direct action. And so we're here to reclaim that spirit of nonviolent direct action and say, 'Libby, you have no right to hold onto his legacy, you don't do anything to uphold what he stood for … and we're bringing that to her front doorstep.'\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police were present but did not disperse the crowd. Several neighbors came outside to view the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Protesters-outside-Oakland-mayor-s-house-6024982.php\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco Chronicle reported\u003c/a> that an elderly woman living across the street from Schaaf \"voiced displeasure\" at the protest, after which a demonstrator apologized to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what did Schaaf have to say? From the \u003ca href=\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27348922/oakland-mayor-libby-schaffs-home-scene-protest\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Area News Group\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"I'm happy to meet with people about the city's business in City Hall during normal hours,\" Schaaf said after the protest, as she traveled between events commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf said her children, ages 7 and 9, slept through much of the protest and that she and her husband tried to make it a teachable moment for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I am sorry that it disturbed my neighbors, but I appreciate that we live in a country where people are free to protest and express their passionate politics,\" she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Protesters who say they want to reclaim the radical legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. rallied for a couple of hours Monday morning outside the home of new Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The protesters took issue with the mayor spending her first day in office with the police department.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The crowd gathered at 5 a.m. Around 40 demonstrators chanted, \"Turn it up, don't turn it down, we do this for Mike Brown.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demonstrators also danced and held vigils for local residents killed by police. They stood with fists raised while speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. played on a speaker, including his famous \"\u003ca href=\"http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm\" target=\"_blank\">A Time to Break Silence\u003c/a>\" address, criticizing the Vietnam War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protesters said they take issue with the mayor spending her first day in office with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/my-town/ci_27269514/mayor-libby-schaaf-devotes-first-day-oakland-police\" target=\"_blank\">police department\u003c/a>. Some said they did not like the way Schaaf dealt with officer-involved shootings when she was on the City Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_27348922/oakland-mayor-libby-schaffs-home-scene-protest\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Area News Group reported\u003c/a> that demonstrators drew outlines of bodies in the street. From the report:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>They also rang her doorbell and handed her husband a list of demands that include dismantling the Oakland school district's police force, ending paid leave for city officers being investigated in questionable shootings, overhauling a state law that limits public access to police personnel records, and ending ties with Israel.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>One protester, Xan West, said she came to \"pray for Libby and bring a change to our neighborhoods.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West says Schaaf's focus on crime sends a clear message that she intends to invest in policing rather than infrastructure and economic development in communities that need it the most. That does little to honor the values of King, protesters said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Martin Luther King is a victim of identity theft,\" said West. \"The way that he's portrayed is very much that he's this meek and mild character who just sought justice through peaceful means, which is very true. But he was not meek and mild. He used nonviolent direct action. And so we're here to reclaim that spirit of nonviolent direct action and say, 'Libby, you have no right to hold onto his legacy, you don't do anything to uphold what he stood for … and we're bringing that to her front doorstep.'\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police were present but did not disperse the crowd. Several neighbors came outside to view the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Protesters-outside-Oakland-mayor-s-house-6024982.php\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco Chronicle reported\u003c/a> that an elderly woman living across the street from Schaaf \"voiced displeasure\" at the protest, after which a demonstrator apologized to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what did Schaaf have to say? From the \u003ca href=\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27348922/oakland-mayor-libby-schaffs-home-scene-protest\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Area News Group\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"I'm happy to meet with people about the city's business in City Hall during normal hours,\" Schaaf said after the protest, as she traveled between events commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaaf said her children, ages 7 and 9, slept through much of the protest and that she and her husband tried to make it a teachable moment for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I am sorry that it disturbed my neighbors, but I appreciate that we live in a country where people are free to protest and express their passionate politics,\" she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bay-areas-top-stories-in-2013-housings-insane-techies-to-blame-and-pray-for-rain",
"title": "Bay Area's Top Stories in 2013: Housing's Insane, Techies to Blame -- and Pray for Rain",
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"headTitle": "Bay Area’s Top Stories in 2013: Housing’s Insane, Techies to Blame — and Pray for Rain | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"single-video\">\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/GRaGYJkmDy0\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Time’s running out on 2013, and it’s time to paw through (or pore over, if you’re the dignified sort) the posts that have piled up over the past 12 months and name our picks for the most important stories of the year. For extra credit, we’ll try to say why we think the stories are important both now and in the future. And we welcome you to tell us where we’ve gone astray or where we’re short-sighted and ignorant. (And above, the view of the year that’s almost past from our colleagues at “KQED Newsroom.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here goes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[contextly_sidebar id=”6ddfb926ea579e022c87330032e1a10c”]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eviction Crisis/Housing Affordability: A surging tech sector economy in San Francisco is spurring \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/18/total-value-san-francisco-metro-housing-stock-jumps-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new spike in home prices and rents in and around the city\u003c/a>. The hot rental market, in turn, has led to\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/117540/Priced-Out-Ellis-Act-San-Francisco-eviction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a surge in evictions\u003c/a>. That “\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/priced-out/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Priced Out\u003c/a>” phenomenon has gotten to the point where activist groups have organized to demand action from San Francisco officials to stop certain evictions and to speed up action on creating new affordable housing. The soaring rents and increase in evictions have also accentuated a culture clash between longer-term city residents and the growing number of mostly newly arrived young technology workers. Read on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_121543\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/20/on-the-google-bus-looking-out-at-the-protest/google-bus/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-121543\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-121543\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/Google-Bus-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"The view from a shuttle bus in West Oakland, headed for Google's Mountain View campus but halted by protesters. (@craigsfrost via Twitter).\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view from a shuttle bus in West Oakland, headed for Google’s Mountain View campus but halted by protesters. (\u003ca href=\"http://t.co/VGCyhBLgyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@craigsfrost via Twitter)\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“San Francisco” vs. “The Techies”\u003c/strong>: The leading symbol of the divide between those who fancy themselves the real residents of San Francisco (meaning: they’ve lived and worked here awhile) and recently arrived technology workers is the Google bus. The buses have appeared in increasing numbers throughout the city and East Bay, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n03/rebecca-solnit/diary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one serious cultural critic says\u003c/a>, “I think of them as the spaceships on which our alien overlords have landed to rule over us.” In addition to carrying people who can and do pay top dollar for housing, thus helping drive up rents, many in the city also complain that the buses are using stops reserved for Muni without paying a dime for the privilege. In the final weeks of 2013, the unease with the technology buses — they carry thousands of people to Google, Apple, Facebook and other tech firms — has gone beyond talk. \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/20/eviction-protesters-oakland-san-francisco-target-silicon-valley-buses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twice in the last few weeks\u003c/a>, anti-eviction protesters in the city have blocked the buses. A similar protest in Oakland resulted in vandalism to one of the Silicon Valley-bound motor coaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The BART Strikes: \u003c/strong>BART’s two biggest unions, SEIU Local 1021 and ATU Local 1555, had given up more than $100 million in concessions in 2009 and went into negotiations this year seeking significant wage increases and trying to hold the line on medical insurance and pension plans. They ran into a hard line from a management that sought to limit labor costs and plow as much money as possible into upgrading the aging BART system. The clash led to two four-day strikes, in \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/03/bart-strike-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/18/bart-strike-update-day-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October\u003c/a>, that forced BART’s 200,000 or so weekday riders to find alternative transit and sparked widespread public anger at union workers. Two workers inspecting tracks in Walnut Creek \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/20/ntsb-investigating-bart-train-accident-that-killed-two-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">died during the October walkout\u003c/a> when they were struck by a train operated by a management trainee. The strike exposed a deep and so far unhealed rift between management and workers and led to calls for a change in state law \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/19/bart-board-considers-ballot-measure-on-strikes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to ban strikes\u003c/a> by public transit workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[contextly_sidebar id=”c8beeb5d4b7a54b42df6b7509feb5a76″]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Police/Oakland Crime: It has not been a good year for crime-weary of Oakland residents and the city’s beleaguered Police Department. The \u003ca href=\"http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/police/documents/webcontent/oak044723.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">latest city statistics\u003c/a> show robberies are up 16 percent over last year. Robberies committed with firearms are up 27 percent. A federal judge overseeing a civil rights settlement with the city and the Police Department installed \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/03/05/judge-appoints-director-to-oversee-oakland-police/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new outside “compliance director”\u003c/a> early this year. Shortly afterward, Police Chief Howard Jordan quit (\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/09/96633/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">for medical reasons, he insisted\u003c/a>). Outside consultant William Bratton issued a report finding that the department was poorly organized and ineffective at dealing with some of the most common crimes, with just one part-time investigator assigned to handle a backlog of 10,000 burglary cases. Just as that report came out, Jordan \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/10/96792/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was replaced by not one, but two interim chiefs\u003c/a>. The second of those stand-in leaders, Sean Whent, has overseen the implementation of new programs designed to build bridges to distrustful residents while more efficiently dealing with violent crime. It’s too early to say what the long-term outcome of those changes will be, but here’s something to note: The city suffered through a resurgence of deadly violence in 2012, with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/02/12/oaklands-other-homicide-crisis-unsolved-cases/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">131 homicides citywide\u003c/a>. With just a few days to go in 2013, Oakland has recorded 87 homicides for the year. That toll still gives Oakland one of the highest homicide rates in the United States, but it’s a dramatic improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_122144\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/27/kqed-news-fix-top-news-stories-for-2013/rs6229_img_5691-lpr/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-122144\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-122144\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/RS6229_IMG_5691-lpr-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"The new Bay Bridge eastern span, left, and the old span, right. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new Bay Bridge eastern span, left, and the old span, right. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bay Bridge Completed:\u003c/strong> Caltrans assured us that 2013 would be the year that, 24 years after the Loma Prieta earthquake that demonstrated the eastern span of the Bay Bridge was seismically unfit, we would finally have a new bridge to drive on. The agency delivered on its promise, years later than promised and at a price, $6.4 billion, that was several times the original estimate. However, the completion of the new eastern span, a self-anchored suspension bridge with a gleaming white tower, was not accomplished without some tense moments. When it came time to fasten two massive seismic stabilizers on the suspension span last March, the huge threaded rods that were supposed to hold them in place \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/03/27/bay-bridge-bolts-snap-repairs-could-cost-up-to-5-million/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">snapped\u003c/a>. That forced engineers to come up with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/26/bay-bridge-short-term-fix-a-go-but-no-word-on-open-date/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workarounds\u003c/a> to hold the stabilizers in place, and at one point bridge authorities scrapped plans for the long-planned Labor Day opening of the new span. But when repair work went better than expected and officials expressed concern about the risks of keeping the old span open, the Labor Day plan was reinstated. The new bridge, complete with traffic shoulders and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-admin/post.php?post=109958&action=edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a beautiful bike path\u003c/a>, opened late Labor Day evening. But the saga isn’t yet complete: East Bay state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier is leading \u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_24413224/state-sen-mark-desaulnier-launches-legislative-probe-into\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an investigation \u003c/a>into why the bridge took so long and cost so much to complete. And some in the engineering community still express \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/09/more-questions-about-durability-of-steel-parts-on-new-bay-bridge/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concerns about the long-term impact\u003c/a> of the project’s\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/20/97597/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> various construction problems\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_121326\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/19/news-pix-2013-in-photos/doma-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-121326\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-121326\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/DOMA-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Sandra Stier, left, and Kris Perry, are married in San Francisco City Hall after June's U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (Darlene Bouchard/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandra Stier, left, and Kris Perry, are married in San Francisco City Hall after June’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (Darlene Bouchard/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Proposition 8 at the Supreme Court\u003c/strong>: In June, the Supreme Court issued \u003ca href=\"http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-144_8ok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 5-4 ruling\u003c/a> that had the effect of striking down \u003ca href=\"http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/past/2008/general/title-sum/prop8-title-sum.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proposition 8\u003c/a>, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. “Had the effect of striking down” because in the end, the high court didn’t address the constitutional issues of equal protection and due process raised in the original suit against the initiative. Instead, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/26/what-the-doma-and-prop-8-rulings-mean-and-what-we-still-need-to-know/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the justices found\u003c/a> that the authors of the 2008 initiative lacked standing to defend the measure in court. The tribunal’s ruling left standing\u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/09cv2292/files/09cv2292-ORDER.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> the 2010 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker\u003c/a> that struck down Prop. 8 as unconstitutional. The effect was immediate: Same-sex marriages resumed in San Francisco two days after the high court spoke, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.freedomtomarry.org/states/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">courts and legislatures in several other states\u003c/a>have cleared the way for gay and lesbian weddings since the June Supreme Court ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rim Fire\u003c/strong>: The \u003ca href=\"http://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/20LACRES.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third-biggest wildfire in California history\u003c/a> started in mid-August, reportedly by \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rim-fire-hunter-20131206,0,4531265.story#axzz2oj8fhRj5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a hunter who set an illegal campfire\u003c/a> in Stanislaus National Forest, near the northwestern corner of Yosemite National Park. The fire wasn’t fully contained until late October, and by that time it had burned well into Yosemite, threatened the San Francisco-owned Hetch Hetchy reservoir, destroyed power facilities and burned 257,314 acres — 452 square miles. The latest assessment of damage from the fire says \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rim-fire-damage-study-20131227,0,446155.story#axzz2oj8fhRj5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the total cost could be close to $2 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_112866\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/25/americas-cup-live/americas-cup-final-race/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-112866\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-112866\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/cupfinal-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Oracle Team USA celebrates after completing its successful defense of the America's Cup up. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oracle Team USA celebrates after completing its successful defense of the America’s Cup up. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>America’s Cup\u003c/strong>: We still haven’t decided whether \u003ca href=\"http://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry Ellison\u003c/a>, the Oracle software billionaire who captured the America’s Cup from \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/sports/global/12bertarelli.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">some other billionaire\u003c/a> a few years back and then decided to defend it in San Francisco, wears a white hat or a black hat. But villain/hero categorization aside, the 34th America’s Cup sailed on the bay over the summer is an event to be remembered. The regatta was marked by tragedy when \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/09/death-in-the-americas-cup-drowned-sailors-team-held-capsize-drill-last-fall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">British sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson, part of the Swedish-sponsored Artemis Racing team, was killed\u003c/a> in a May training accident. Simpson’s death prompted\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/23/safety-recommendations-released-for-americas-cup/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a new emphasis on safety\u003c/a> for the huge 72-foot catamarans that Ellison and his team had chosen for this year’s competition. The series of races among Artemis and two other challengers for the Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand and Italy’s Luna Rossa, were a nonevent, with the Kiwis easily winning the right to face the Oracle team. Before the finals could start,\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/03/oracle-americas-cup-penalty/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> an international jury imposed severe penalties against Oracle\u003c/a> for cheating in an earlier series of races. In the “first-to-nine-wins” format, New Zealand seemed to have the Cup locked up when it took an 8-1 lead in the series. Then \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/25/americas-cup-live/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this happened\u003c/a>— an incredible string of victories that allowed Ellison’s Oracle team to retain the Cup. We’ll get an idea in 2014 whether Ellison will defend the Cup again in San Francisco or take the event elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mustache Wars\u003c/strong>: Those funny “ride-sharing” companies that seemed like a novelty not so long ago — operations like \u003ca href=\"http://www.lyft.me/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lyft\u003c/a>, whose cars carry pink mustaches, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.side.cr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sidecar \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.uber.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uber\u003c/a> — are now entrenched in the local transportation scene. In September, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/19/cpuc-ridesharing/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Public Utilities Commission issued regulations\u003c/a> to govern the new companies, which the agency classifies as “transportation network companies,” or TNCs. In San Francisco, the closely regulated taxi industry has long fought attempts to expand the number of cabs on the street even as many would-be customers swear it’s next to impossible to find a cab when you really want one. Now, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/taxis-lyft-ride-service-war-on-streets-of-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the TNCs appear to have made deep inroads\u003c/a> into the traditional taxi companies’ business — cutting into the customer base and attracting drivers from the old-line cab firms. Among the questions facing the TNCs: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/14/who-pays-when-ride-share-driver-crashes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Whether drivers and their vehicles have adequate insurance coverage\u003c/a>. And among the questions facing the taxi companies: How will they adapt their operations, including \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/11/taxi-drivers-and-whos-taking-money-out-of-their-pockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the widespread practice of expecting drivers to tip other company employees\u003c/a>, to survive the challenge from the TNCs. Jon Brooks, the former full-time proprietor of News Fix, reported extensively on the story this year and produced three major reports on what’s going on in the industry:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/taxis-lyft-ride-service-war-on-streets-of-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will ‘Ride Sharing’ Kill San Francisco’s Taxi Industry? \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/01/08/how-to-get-a-cab-and-4-other-tips-from-san-francisco-cab-drivers/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Confusion Over Insurance for ‘Ride-Sharing’ Drivers\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/11/taxi-drivers-and-whos-taking-money-out-of-their-pockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tip or Bribe? Taxi Drivers Say Illegal Payments to Dispatchers Are Routine\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_122140\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/27/kqed-news-fix-top-news-stories-for-2013/rs7674_img_5067-lpr/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-122140\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-122140\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/RS7674_IMG_5067-lpr-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bear tracks on the dry bottom of Shasta Lake in Northern California. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bear tracks on the dry bottom of Shasta Lake in Northern California. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Weather: 2013, the Driest Year\u003c/strong>: And we’ll leave you with what could be the biggest story of 2014 if we don’t see a change in our winter weather: the Bay Area (and most of the state) is just completing its driest calendar year since the first weather observer set up the first rain gauge here during the Gold Rush. In San Francisco, where records go back to 1850, just 5.59 inches of rain has fallen this year. That compares to the 30-year average recorded between 1980 and 2010 of 23.06 inches and the current calendar-year low-rainfall record of 8.73 inches, set in 1976. Other signs we’re very, very dry: The official U.S. Drought Monitor categorizes \u003ca href=\"http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">94 percent of the state as in moderate to extreme drought\u003c/a>, and the California-Nevada River Forecast Center observes that Folsom Lake, the big reservoir just east of Sacramento, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=626426660749916&set=a.204261386299781.49442.156316434427610&type=1&theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has fallen below 200,000 acre feet\u003c/a> of storage for just the seventh time since it was created in the 1950s. Any serious California rain watcher will point out that what really matters for us is our seasonal precipitation — and by convention, our rain year runs from July 1 to June 30 to better reflect how much rain and snow comes our way during each wet season, which usually starts in October and ends by early May. We still have our historically wettest months ahead of us, January and February, so there’s hope we’ll see storms arrive to help replenish reservoirs and bulk up the mountain snowpack. But right now, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/fxus07.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">long-range outlook for January\u003c/a> calls for below-normal precipitation for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003cstrong>Stephanie Martin\u003c/strong> spoke with KQED News Fix Editor \u003cstrong>Dan Brekke\u003c/strong> about some of the year’s biggest Bay Area stories. Listen to the conversation below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/127152132&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Affordable housing, and the lack of it, turns into a cause. Meantime, where's our wet season?",
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"title": "Bay Area's Top Stories in 2013: Housing's Insane, Techies to Blame -- and Pray for Rain | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"single-video\">\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/GRaGYJkmDy0\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Time’s running out on 2013, and it’s time to paw through (or pore over, if you’re the dignified sort) the posts that have piled up over the past 12 months and name our picks for the most important stories of the year. For extra credit, we’ll try to say why we think the stories are important both now and in the future. And we welcome you to tell us where we’ve gone astray or where we’re short-sighted and ignorant. (And above, the view of the year that’s almost past from our colleagues at “KQED Newsroom.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here goes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eviction Crisis/Housing Affordability: A surging tech sector economy in San Francisco is spurring \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/18/total-value-san-francisco-metro-housing-stock-jumps-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new spike in home prices and rents in and around the city\u003c/a>. The hot rental market, in turn, has led to\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/117540/Priced-Out-Ellis-Act-San-Francisco-eviction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a surge in evictions\u003c/a>. That “\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/priced-out/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Priced Out\u003c/a>” phenomenon has gotten to the point where activist groups have organized to demand action from San Francisco officials to stop certain evictions and to speed up action on creating new affordable housing. The soaring rents and increase in evictions have also accentuated a culture clash between longer-term city residents and the growing number of mostly newly arrived young technology workers. Read on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_121543\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/20/on-the-google-bus-looking-out-at-the-protest/google-bus/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-121543\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-121543\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/Google-Bus-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"The view from a shuttle bus in West Oakland, headed for Google's Mountain View campus but halted by protesters. (@craigsfrost via Twitter).\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view from a shuttle bus in West Oakland, headed for Google’s Mountain View campus but halted by protesters. (\u003ca href=\"http://t.co/VGCyhBLgyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@craigsfrost via Twitter)\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“San Francisco” vs. “The Techies”\u003c/strong>: The leading symbol of the divide between those who fancy themselves the real residents of San Francisco (meaning: they’ve lived and worked here awhile) and recently arrived technology workers is the Google bus. The buses have appeared in increasing numbers throughout the city and East Bay, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n03/rebecca-solnit/diary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one serious cultural critic says\u003c/a>, “I think of them as the spaceships on which our alien overlords have landed to rule over us.” In addition to carrying people who can and do pay top dollar for housing, thus helping drive up rents, many in the city also complain that the buses are using stops reserved for Muni without paying a dime for the privilege. In the final weeks of 2013, the unease with the technology buses — they carry thousands of people to Google, Apple, Facebook and other tech firms — has gone beyond talk. \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/20/eviction-protesters-oakland-san-francisco-target-silicon-valley-buses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twice in the last few weeks\u003c/a>, anti-eviction protesters in the city have blocked the buses. A similar protest in Oakland resulted in vandalism to one of the Silicon Valley-bound motor coaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The BART Strikes: \u003c/strong>BART’s two biggest unions, SEIU Local 1021 and ATU Local 1555, had given up more than $100 million in concessions in 2009 and went into negotiations this year seeking significant wage increases and trying to hold the line on medical insurance and pension plans. They ran into a hard line from a management that sought to limit labor costs and plow as much money as possible into upgrading the aging BART system. The clash led to two four-day strikes, in \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/03/bart-strike-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/18/bart-strike-update-day-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October\u003c/a>, that forced BART’s 200,000 or so weekday riders to find alternative transit and sparked widespread public anger at union workers. Two workers inspecting tracks in Walnut Creek \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/20/ntsb-investigating-bart-train-accident-that-killed-two-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">died during the October walkout\u003c/a> when they were struck by a train operated by a management trainee. The strike exposed a deep and so far unhealed rift between management and workers and led to calls for a change in state law \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/19/bart-board-considers-ballot-measure-on-strikes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to ban strikes\u003c/a> by public transit workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Police/Oakland Crime: It has not been a good year for crime-weary of Oakland residents and the city’s beleaguered Police Department. The \u003ca href=\"http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/police/documents/webcontent/oak044723.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">latest city statistics\u003c/a> show robberies are up 16 percent over last year. Robberies committed with firearms are up 27 percent. A federal judge overseeing a civil rights settlement with the city and the Police Department installed \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/03/05/judge-appoints-director-to-oversee-oakland-police/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new outside “compliance director”\u003c/a> early this year. Shortly afterward, Police Chief Howard Jordan quit (\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/09/96633/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">for medical reasons, he insisted\u003c/a>). Outside consultant William Bratton issued a report finding that the department was poorly organized and ineffective at dealing with some of the most common crimes, with just one part-time investigator assigned to handle a backlog of 10,000 burglary cases. Just as that report came out, Jordan \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/10/96792/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was replaced by not one, but two interim chiefs\u003c/a>. The second of those stand-in leaders, Sean Whent, has overseen the implementation of new programs designed to build bridges to distrustful residents while more efficiently dealing with violent crime. It’s too early to say what the long-term outcome of those changes will be, but here’s something to note: The city suffered through a resurgence of deadly violence in 2012, with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/02/12/oaklands-other-homicide-crisis-unsolved-cases/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">131 homicides citywide\u003c/a>. With just a few days to go in 2013, Oakland has recorded 87 homicides for the year. That toll still gives Oakland one of the highest homicide rates in the United States, but it’s a dramatic improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_122144\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/27/kqed-news-fix-top-news-stories-for-2013/rs6229_img_5691-lpr/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-122144\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-122144\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/RS6229_IMG_5691-lpr-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"The new Bay Bridge eastern span, left, and the old span, right. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new Bay Bridge eastern span, left, and the old span, right. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bay Bridge Completed:\u003c/strong> Caltrans assured us that 2013 would be the year that, 24 years after the Loma Prieta earthquake that demonstrated the eastern span of the Bay Bridge was seismically unfit, we would finally have a new bridge to drive on. The agency delivered on its promise, years later than promised and at a price, $6.4 billion, that was several times the original estimate. However, the completion of the new eastern span, a self-anchored suspension bridge with a gleaming white tower, was not accomplished without some tense moments. When it came time to fasten two massive seismic stabilizers on the suspension span last March, the huge threaded rods that were supposed to hold them in place \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/03/27/bay-bridge-bolts-snap-repairs-could-cost-up-to-5-million/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">snapped\u003c/a>. That forced engineers to come up with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/26/bay-bridge-short-term-fix-a-go-but-no-word-on-open-date/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workarounds\u003c/a> to hold the stabilizers in place, and at one point bridge authorities scrapped plans for the long-planned Labor Day opening of the new span. But when repair work went better than expected and officials expressed concern about the risks of keeping the old span open, the Labor Day plan was reinstated. The new bridge, complete with traffic shoulders and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-admin/post.php?post=109958&action=edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a beautiful bike path\u003c/a>, opened late Labor Day evening. But the saga isn’t yet complete: East Bay state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier is leading \u003ca href=\"http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_24413224/state-sen-mark-desaulnier-launches-legislative-probe-into\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an investigation \u003c/a>into why the bridge took so long and cost so much to complete. And some in the engineering community still express \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/09/more-questions-about-durability-of-steel-parts-on-new-bay-bridge/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concerns about the long-term impact\u003c/a> of the project’s\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/20/97597/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> various construction problems\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_121326\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/19/news-pix-2013-in-photos/doma-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-121326\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-121326\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/DOMA-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Sandra Stier, left, and Kris Perry, are married in San Francisco City Hall after June's U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (Darlene Bouchard/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandra Stier, left, and Kris Perry, are married in San Francisco City Hall after June’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (Darlene Bouchard/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Proposition 8 at the Supreme Court\u003c/strong>: In June, the Supreme Court issued \u003ca href=\"http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-144_8ok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 5-4 ruling\u003c/a> that had the effect of striking down \u003ca href=\"http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/past/2008/general/title-sum/prop8-title-sum.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proposition 8\u003c/a>, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. “Had the effect of striking down” because in the end, the high court didn’t address the constitutional issues of equal protection and due process raised in the original suit against the initiative. Instead, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/26/what-the-doma-and-prop-8-rulings-mean-and-what-we-still-need-to-know/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the justices found\u003c/a> that the authors of the 2008 initiative lacked standing to defend the measure in court. The tribunal’s ruling left standing\u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/09cv2292/files/09cv2292-ORDER.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> the 2010 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker\u003c/a> that struck down Prop. 8 as unconstitutional. The effect was immediate: Same-sex marriages resumed in San Francisco two days after the high court spoke, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.freedomtomarry.org/states/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">courts and legislatures in several other states\u003c/a>have cleared the way for gay and lesbian weddings since the June Supreme Court ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rim Fire\u003c/strong>: The \u003ca href=\"http://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/20LACRES.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third-biggest wildfire in California history\u003c/a> started in mid-August, reportedly by \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rim-fire-hunter-20131206,0,4531265.story#axzz2oj8fhRj5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a hunter who set an illegal campfire\u003c/a> in Stanislaus National Forest, near the northwestern corner of Yosemite National Park. The fire wasn’t fully contained until late October, and by that time it had burned well into Yosemite, threatened the San Francisco-owned Hetch Hetchy reservoir, destroyed power facilities and burned 257,314 acres — 452 square miles. The latest assessment of damage from the fire says \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rim-fire-damage-study-20131227,0,446155.story#axzz2oj8fhRj5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the total cost could be close to $2 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_112866\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/25/americas-cup-live/americas-cup-final-race/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-112866\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-112866\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/cupfinal-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Oracle Team USA celebrates after completing its successful defense of the America's Cup up. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oracle Team USA celebrates after completing its successful defense of the America’s Cup up. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>America’s Cup\u003c/strong>: We still haven’t decided whether \u003ca href=\"http://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry Ellison\u003c/a>, the Oracle software billionaire who captured the America’s Cup from \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/sports/global/12bertarelli.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">some other billionaire\u003c/a> a few years back and then decided to defend it in San Francisco, wears a white hat or a black hat. But villain/hero categorization aside, the 34th America’s Cup sailed on the bay over the summer is an event to be remembered. The regatta was marked by tragedy when \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/09/death-in-the-americas-cup-drowned-sailors-team-held-capsize-drill-last-fall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">British sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson, part of the Swedish-sponsored Artemis Racing team, was killed\u003c/a> in a May training accident. Simpson’s death prompted\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/23/safety-recommendations-released-for-americas-cup/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a new emphasis on safety\u003c/a> for the huge 72-foot catamarans that Ellison and his team had chosen for this year’s competition. The series of races among Artemis and two other challengers for the Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand and Italy’s Luna Rossa, were a nonevent, with the Kiwis easily winning the right to face the Oracle team. Before the finals could start,\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/03/oracle-americas-cup-penalty/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> an international jury imposed severe penalties against Oracle\u003c/a> for cheating in an earlier series of races. In the “first-to-nine-wins” format, New Zealand seemed to have the Cup locked up when it took an 8-1 lead in the series. Then \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/25/americas-cup-live/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this happened\u003c/a>— an incredible string of victories that allowed Ellison’s Oracle team to retain the Cup. We’ll get an idea in 2014 whether Ellison will defend the Cup again in San Francisco or take the event elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mustache Wars\u003c/strong>: Those funny “ride-sharing” companies that seemed like a novelty not so long ago — operations like \u003ca href=\"http://www.lyft.me/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lyft\u003c/a>, whose cars carry pink mustaches, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.side.cr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sidecar \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.uber.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uber\u003c/a> — are now entrenched in the local transportation scene. In September, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/19/cpuc-ridesharing/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Public Utilities Commission issued regulations\u003c/a> to govern the new companies, which the agency classifies as “transportation network companies,” or TNCs. In San Francisco, the closely regulated taxi industry has long fought attempts to expand the number of cabs on the street even as many would-be customers swear it’s next to impossible to find a cab when you really want one. Now, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/taxis-lyft-ride-service-war-on-streets-of-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the TNCs appear to have made deep inroads\u003c/a> into the traditional taxi companies’ business — cutting into the customer base and attracting drivers from the old-line cab firms. Among the questions facing the TNCs: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/14/who-pays-when-ride-share-driver-crashes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Whether drivers and their vehicles have adequate insurance coverage\u003c/a>. And among the questions facing the taxi companies: How will they adapt their operations, including \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/11/taxi-drivers-and-whos-taking-money-out-of-their-pockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the widespread practice of expecting drivers to tip other company employees\u003c/a>, to survive the challenge from the TNCs. Jon Brooks, the former full-time proprietor of News Fix, reported extensively on the story this year and produced three major reports on what’s going on in the industry:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/11/07/taxis-lyft-ride-service-war-on-streets-of-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will ‘Ride Sharing’ Kill San Francisco’s Taxi Industry? \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/01/08/how-to-get-a-cab-and-4-other-tips-from-san-francisco-cab-drivers/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Confusion Over Insurance for ‘Ride-Sharing’ Drivers\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/11/taxi-drivers-and-whos-taking-money-out-of-their-pockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tip or Bribe? Taxi Drivers Say Illegal Payments to Dispatchers Are Routine\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_122140\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/27/kqed-news-fix-top-news-stories-for-2013/rs7674_img_5067-lpr/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-122140\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-122140\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/12/RS7674_IMG_5067-lpr-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bear tracks on the dry bottom of Shasta Lake in Northern California. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bear tracks on the dry bottom of Shasta Lake in Northern California. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Weather: 2013, the Driest Year\u003c/strong>: And we’ll leave you with what could be the biggest story of 2014 if we don’t see a change in our winter weather: the Bay Area (and most of the state) is just completing its driest calendar year since the first weather observer set up the first rain gauge here during the Gold Rush. In San Francisco, where records go back to 1850, just 5.59 inches of rain has fallen this year. That compares to the 30-year average recorded between 1980 and 2010 of 23.06 inches and the current calendar-year low-rainfall record of 8.73 inches, set in 1976. Other signs we’re very, very dry: The official U.S. Drought Monitor categorizes \u003ca href=\"http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">94 percent of the state as in moderate to extreme drought\u003c/a>, and the California-Nevada River Forecast Center observes that Folsom Lake, the big reservoir just east of Sacramento, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=626426660749916&set=a.204261386299781.49442.156316434427610&type=1&theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has fallen below 200,000 acre feet\u003c/a> of storage for just the seventh time since it was created in the 1950s. Any serious California rain watcher will point out that what really matters for us is our seasonal precipitation — and by convention, our rain year runs from July 1 to June 30 to better reflect how much rain and snow comes our way during each wet season, which usually starts in October and ends by early May. We still have our historically wettest months ahead of us, January and February, so there’s hope we’ll see storms arrive to help replenish reservoirs and bulk up the mountain snowpack. But right now, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/fxus07.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">long-range outlook for January\u003c/a> calls for below-normal precipitation for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003cstrong>Stephanie Martin\u003c/strong> spoke with KQED News Fix Editor \u003cstrong>Dan Brekke\u003c/strong> about some of the year’s biggest Bay Area stories. Listen to the conversation below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Ex-Officers Often Investigate Police-Involved Shootings",
"title": "Ex-Officers Often Investigate Police-Involved Shootings",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>by Shoshana Walter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shoo/\">The Bay Citizen\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/11/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shootings/baycitizenlogo-49/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-93946\">\u003cimg class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-93946\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/04/BayCitizenLogo.png\" alt=\"BayCitizenLogo\" width=\"218\" height=\"74\">\u003c/a>After Oakland police Officer Miguel Masso shot and killed 18-year-old Alan Blueford last May, prosecutors quickly released their investigator’s findings about the incident, amid a public outcry and a protest that shut down a City Council meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shooting was justified, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682616-oakland-police-department-blueford-press-release.html\">according to the evidence\u003c/a> collected by Michael Foster – a former Oakland police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a city seething with distrust of law enforcement, legal experts and residents are now questioning District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s wisdom in assigning former Oakland police officers to the task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_93945\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/11/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shootings/adam-and-jeralynn-blueford/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-93945\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-93945 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/04/Adam-and-Jeralynn-Blueford-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Adam and Jeralynn Blueford\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam and Jeralynn Blueford’s son Alan, an 18-year-old Hayward resident, was shot to death by an Oakland police officer last May. Noah Berger/The Bay Citizen\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would hope that they would look for somebody not for one side or the other – some impartial person that’s not the police and not a community activist,” said Blueford’s father, Adam Blueford. “The prosecutor just kind of rubber stamps what the police said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster’s assignment was described as routine. It turns out that the practice of using former police officers to conduct investigations into shootings at their previous departments is widespread, according to a review of police prosecution records by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cironline.org\">Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, parent organization of The Bay Citizen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue is all the more important now in Oakland, where the beleaguered police department is under court supervision. Last month, a federal judge appointed former Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas Frazier to oversee the completion of an almost decadelong civil rights reform effort.\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22998796/oakland-federal-judge-warns-city-hall-stop-standing\">Judge accuses city of impeding Frazier\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/find-out-who-investigates-police-involved-shooting/\">Find out who investigates police-involved shootings in your area\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/where-have-oakland-police-officer-involved-shootin/\">Map: Where have Oakland police officer-involved shootings occurred?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The city has seen two officer-involved shootings so far this month. After a witness mistakenly identified a 16-year-old boy as a robbery suspect, police said they perceived the boy as a threat and shot him in the jaw. Two days later, Oakland officers shot and wounded a burglary suspect who they said was brandishing a fake gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors said they use former police officers for the investigations because they are best suited for the job, coming with years of training and experience. Other prosecutors and investigators said prior police employment wouldn't necessarily bias the investigation or outcome of a case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley, Alameda County’s district attorney, said her office provides a separate but thorough investigation of each fatal officer-involved shooting and dispatches a team that includes an experienced attorney and investigator. The attorney, not the investigator, writes the final report, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the Blueford investigation, O’Malley said her office reviewed all available evidence and statements from more than 40 witnesses and determined that the case “did not exist to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer involved committed a criminal offense.” Foster declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But legal ethicists say the use of former police officers creates an appearance of a conflict of interest that can erode public trust. And those ethicists say many ex-officers still have ties to their former departments, including a sense of allegiance to the “thin blue line” that can influence the subjective process of an investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though he might not want to be a policeman again, he still has an allegiance to the brotherhood,” said Cornell University law professor Charles Wolfram. “If they’re from the same department, that could create obvious problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ten district attorney’s offices in California contacted by the Center for Investigative Reporting said they use former officers for their police shooting inquiries. W. Scott Thorpe, chief executive officer of the California District Attorneys Association, called the practice “very common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prosecutors, however, keep the identities of the investigators who work on police officer shootings secret – the public may never know about potential conflicts of interest in police shooting investigations, the CIR review found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Oakland residents, prosecutors’ reports are one of the few sources of information about officer-involved shootings. Federal court-appointed monitors, in connection with the civil rights reform, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682615-robert-warshaw-officer-involved-shootings.html\">criticized the department’s own investigations\u003c/a> as biased and unquestioning. The department seldom releases copies of investigations and police reports on officer-involved shootings, even to the families of the individuals killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, some officers have faced more shooting investigations than others. According to police records, in the past 12 years, more than half of the department’s officer-involved shootings involved the same 20 officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many cases, the investigations of some of the most shooting-prone officers showed potential conflicts of interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank Moschetti, a former Oakland police officer for 23 years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682621-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-fred.html\">investigated a shooting case\u003c/a> involving William Pappas, a SWAT team member responsible for three shootings, according to police records. In July 2010, he was among a group of officers who fatally shot a man wielding kitchen knives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also in 2010, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682622-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-derrick.html\">Moschetti investigated\u003c/a> Officers Omar Daza-Quiroz and Eriberto Perez-Angeles. The two officers, who were involved in the shooting death of a man in 2008, were responsible for the fatal shooting of Derrick Jones, an unarmed domestic violence suspect whose death spurred protests and an FBI investigation. He had led the two officers on a foot chase before ditching a marijuana scale that police mistook for a gun. His case is under review by the Department of Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 1, both officers involved in the case were cleared of any wrongdoing in a federal civil trial filed by Jones' widow. The city already had paid a $225,000 settlement in a separate civil suit filed by his parents and daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, three officers shot and killed a man wielding a fake firearm. After Foster completed his investigation, prosecutor John Creighton \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682623-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-matthew.html\">cleared the officers\u003c/a> in Matthew Cicelski’s death. Less than a year earlier, Creighton had \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/06/08/ca/alm/vote/creighton_j/endorse.html\">received an endorsement\u003c/a> from the Oakland Police Officers’ Association during his unsuccessful run for superior court judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick called Foster and the other investigators professional and unbiased. If there is bias, Drenick said, the prosecutors who work alongside the investigators would intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district attorney is there throughout the entire thing, everything,” Drenick said. “They go as a pair to all of the interviews. And then the ultimate report that is done is written by the deputy district attorney.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster also investigated the shooting deaths of two alleged gang members in May 2011, relying in part on investigative materials collected by the Oakland Police Department. The officers involved were Capt. Ersie Joyner, who has five officer-involved shootings on his record (the most of any member of the department), and Officer Cesar Garcia, who has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To complete his investigation, Foster relied on evidence collected by Oakland police Sgt. Jim Rullamas, according to the prosecutor’s report. Not mentioned was the fact that Joyner once oversaw Rullamas as head of the homicide division, praising the detective as hard working, according to one news report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the prosecutor’s office cleared the officers of wrongdoing, some of the cases resulted in hefty civil settlements. Robert Roche, a longtime member of the department’s SWAT team, has been involved in three shootings, including one that resulted in a $500,000 civil suit settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County prosecutors provided the Center for Investigative Reporting with records on Oakland police officer shootings since 2000 that were proved justified and closed. Out of 23 fatal shooting cases, 10 were investigated by former Oakland police officers, the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>'It's a Specialized Skill'\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Alameda County, not every prosecutor’s office in California releases records of shooting investigations involving police officers, which are protected by law from public disclosure. Many prosecutors’ offices declined to provide the names and employment histories of those they assign to investigate the shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some prosecutors acknowledged that their investigators are most often retired police officers. District attorneys in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Napa and San Mateo counties all said they employ former police officers and sheriff’s deputies to investigate officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s pretty common,” said Glenn McGovern, a senior investigator at the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office who leads the training committee for the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association. “In Santa Clara, we have a lot of San Jose police. It’s a specialized skill. You have to go through advanced training for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some counties in other states have decided against using ex-officers to investigate their former departments. In Miami-Dade County in Florida, for example, only prosecutors with special training investigate officer-involved shootings. The agency does not use former police officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, legal ethicists expressed concern that most prosecutors make no attempt to avoid the controversial assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It undermines the legitimacy of the investigation,” said Stanford Law School professor Deborah Rhode. “At the very least, they should try to find investigators hired by somebody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most counties in California follow the same procedure. When a police officer shoots and kills someone, the police department conducts two separate investigations. One determines whether the officer violated department policy; the other looks for evidence of criminal conduct. Then the county prosecutor’s office either monitors the department’s criminal investigation or conducts its own and decides whether to file charges. In Alameda County, investigators are assigned to officer-involved shootings on a rotating, on-call basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to 1985, most states legally allowed police officers to use their firearms to arrest anybody suspected of committing a felony, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report on police use of force. Some states even allowed police to shoot a fleeing suspect, including one suspected of a property crime such as forgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that changed the landscape of police shooting investigations: An officer may not use deadly force unless he or she “has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others” – in other words, self-defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the ruling, it is still extremely rare for a police officer to be charged. While police need only probable cause to make an arrest, prosecutors must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that an officer acted criminally. Most fatal officer-involved shootings are deemed justifiable homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, according to the FBI, law enforcement officers nationwide committed 393 justifiable homicides. A review of news articles about on-duty officer-involved shootings in California shows that since 2005, only three officers have been prosecuted in a fatal or near-fatal shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most prominent was the case of former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle. In 2010, a jury acquitted Mehserle of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter after he was captured on video shooting an unarmed man, Oscar Grant, in the back on a train platform in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009. The jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and he was sentenced to two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2007, a jury swiftly acquitted former San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Ivory Webb of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm. A cellphone video had shown Webb opening fire on Iraq War veteran Elio Carrion, a passenger in a car that had led Webb on a high-speed chase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in 2005, a San Jose jury acquitted state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent Mike Walker of voluntary manslaughter charges. He’d shot and killed Rudy Cardenas, a father of five whom he’d mistaken for a wanted parole violator, after Cardenas led him on a car and foot chase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if former police officers investigated the three cases that led to a prosecution – those records are kept secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Policies Vary Across Counties\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors are not legally required to conduct investigations into police shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After budget cuts in 2010, Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan halted her office’s investigations of officer-involved shootings, a practice that had been in place since 1984. After widespread complaints – including from the Fresno police chief – a Fresno County grand jury recommended Egan reverse her decision. She declined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully made a similar decision in 2011. A slew of shootings has since prompted furor over Scully’s decision, including urgent requests from Sacramento County law enforcement to resume the investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would like to do them, if we were given the resources,” said Assistant District Attorney Albert Locher, who once supervised the unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern County district attorney’s office investigates shootings at the county’s small police agencies but has never investigated officer-involved shootings at the county’s two largest agencies, the Bakersfield Police Department and Kern County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a high-profile police shooting several years ago, District Attorney Lisa Green said she saw no need to investigate because “the public might view the district attorney’s office as a rubber stamp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although I would never approach it that way, the community may view it otherwise,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in many cities, officials said, the investigations serve as assurance to the public that the death is being treated seriously. Police officials say the investigations can restore confidence in a department. Without them, only the police are left to investigate their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It allows the public to sleep better at night,” said former police officer Mike Donovan, chief investigator at the Napa County district attorney’s office and treasurer of the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association. “Knowing that if there is an officer-involved shooting, there’s some other level than just the agency itself that gets to make the decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, law enforcement agencies and the areas they cover are so large that the 256 former police officers at the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are unlikely to know anyone they are assigned to investigate, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some prosecutors have decided to avoid the appearance of a conflict by assigning others to the task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis assigned a single investigator to work on officer-involved shootings. Although a former police officer, the investigator has never worked for a San Diego County law enforcement agency, spokesman Steve Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oakland Shooting Sparks Protest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, several police shootings have galvanized the community. But instead of instilling confidence in the system, the report from the Alameda County district attorney’s office has provoked suspicion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Officer Miguel Masso fatally shot Alan Blueford in May, activists and residents shut down a City Council meeting in protest, and Blueford’s family filed a civil suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s office, several investigators, mainly former law enforcement officers from the Oakland Police Department and a few other county agencies, are assigned to a rotating on-call team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When an officer-involved shooting occurs, an on-call inspector and prosecutor report to the scene, sit in on witness and officer interviews, and review evidence collected by each police department and coroner’s office. In Blueford’s case, Foster and Senior District Attorney Ken Mifsud were on call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After O’Malley released a report on Foster’s investigation, Blueford’s supporters released their own, in which they said the prosecutor’s report lacked “professionalism and objectivity, and appears to be directed at swaying public opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report writer, Darrell Whitman, a regional investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor, analyzed the heavily redacted police and coroner’s reports released to the public. He said the evidence made it seem more likely that Blueford was unarmed on the ground when Masso shot him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Masso and his partner had stopped Blueford and two other teens just before midnight on suspicion that they were hiding a gun. Moments later, Blueford broke away. There was a brief foot chase before Masso said Blueford pointed a gun at him, and the officer reacted with gunfire, according to police reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Masso said Blueford had shot him. Police later determined that Masso had accidentally shot himself in the foot. The gun Masso said Blueford possessed was found 20 feet from Blueford’s body, and investigators determined it had not been fired. Investigators found one of Blueford’s fingerprints on the gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his report, Whitman pointed to discrepancies in the evidence that he said Foster and Mifsud should have examined. Instead, he said, they unquestioningly accepted Masso’s account. Mifsud declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, according to the redacted police reports, of the 16 people who witnessed the shooting, only three said they saw Blueford with a gun. Another witness said he had not seen a gun but had seen Blueford grabbing his waistband. A fifth witness said he had overheard another woman saying Blueford was armed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Masso told investigators that his first shot caused Blueford to fall into a gate and onto the ground, but according to the redacted reports, most witnesses said Blueford already was on the ground when he was shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eight witnesses said they heard Blueford say, “I didn’t do anything!” right before the gunfire. Mifsud and Foster’s report detailed Masso’s accidental shooting of his own foot but otherwise repeated Masso’s account of the shooting and did not mention Blueford’s alleged statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whitman also said Foster and Mifsud didn’t appear to question some of the police department’s actions. Although investigators found one of Blueford’s fingerprints on the gun, Whitman noted that at least two officers handled the gun before it was secured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time it was photographed, the magazine already had been removed, “possibly contaminating DNA and biological evidence,” he wrote. In addition, per department policy, Masso had never turned on his lapel camera. Whitman said the camera footage might have captured the entire incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have nothing else, you want to fight for your kid,” said Blueford’s father, Adam Blueford. “My son was on the ground screaming, pleading for his life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley declined to comment on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others said they would not be so quick to dismiss the activists’ concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From a public point of view, (using former officers) might not be the best course of action,” said Tony Monheim, a retired Miami-Dade police officer who now leads training on officer-involved shooting investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public has its own perception of what is going on,” Monheim said. “Maybe it’s a better thing to try to ease the tension a little bit and not have someone investigate themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by The Bay Citizen, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Learn more at www.baycitizen.org\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"description": "by Shoshana Walter, The Bay Citizen After Oakland police Officer Miguel Masso shot and killed 18-year-old Alan Blueford last May, prosecutors quickly released their investigator’s findings about the incident, amid a public outcry and a protest that shut down a City Council meeting. The shooting was justified, according to the evidence collected by Michael Foster",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>by Shoshana Walter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shoo/\">The Bay Citizen\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/11/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shootings/baycitizenlogo-49/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-93946\">\u003cimg class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-93946\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/04/BayCitizenLogo.png\" alt=\"BayCitizenLogo\" width=\"218\" height=\"74\">\u003c/a>After Oakland police Officer Miguel Masso shot and killed 18-year-old Alan Blueford last May, prosecutors quickly released their investigator’s findings about the incident, amid a public outcry and a protest that shut down a City Council meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shooting was justified, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682616-oakland-police-department-blueford-press-release.html\">according to the evidence\u003c/a> collected by Michael Foster – a former Oakland police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a city seething with distrust of law enforcement, legal experts and residents are now questioning District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s wisdom in assigning former Oakland police officers to the task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_93945\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/11/ex-officers-often-investigate-police-involved-shootings/adam-and-jeralynn-blueford/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-93945\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-93945 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/04/Adam-and-Jeralynn-Blueford-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Adam and Jeralynn Blueford\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam and Jeralynn Blueford’s son Alan, an 18-year-old Hayward resident, was shot to death by an Oakland police officer last May. Noah Berger/The Bay Citizen\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would hope that they would look for somebody not for one side or the other – some impartial person that’s not the police and not a community activist,” said Blueford’s father, Adam Blueford. “The prosecutor just kind of rubber stamps what the police said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster’s assignment was described as routine. It turns out that the practice of using former police officers to conduct investigations into shootings at their previous departments is widespread, according to a review of police prosecution records by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cironline.org\">Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, parent organization of The Bay Citizen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue is all the more important now in Oakland, where the beleaguered police department is under court supervision. Last month, a federal judge appointed former Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas Frazier to oversee the completion of an almost decadelong civil rights reform effort.\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22998796/oakland-federal-judge-warns-city-hall-stop-standing\">Judge accuses city of impeding Frazier\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/find-out-who-investigates-police-involved-shooting/\">Find out who investigates police-involved shootings in your area\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baycitizen.org/news/policing/where-have-oakland-police-officer-involved-shootin/\">Map: Where have Oakland police officer-involved shootings occurred?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The city has seen two officer-involved shootings so far this month. After a witness mistakenly identified a 16-year-old boy as a robbery suspect, police said they perceived the boy as a threat and shot him in the jaw. Two days later, Oakland officers shot and wounded a burglary suspect who they said was brandishing a fake gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors said they use former police officers for the investigations because they are best suited for the job, coming with years of training and experience. Other prosecutors and investigators said prior police employment wouldn't necessarily bias the investigation or outcome of a case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley, Alameda County’s district attorney, said her office provides a separate but thorough investigation of each fatal officer-involved shooting and dispatches a team that includes an experienced attorney and investigator. The attorney, not the investigator, writes the final report, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the Blueford investigation, O’Malley said her office reviewed all available evidence and statements from more than 40 witnesses and determined that the case “did not exist to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer involved committed a criminal offense.” Foster declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But legal ethicists say the use of former police officers creates an appearance of a conflict of interest that can erode public trust. And those ethicists say many ex-officers still have ties to their former departments, including a sense of allegiance to the “thin blue line” that can influence the subjective process of an investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though he might not want to be a policeman again, he still has an allegiance to the brotherhood,” said Cornell University law professor Charles Wolfram. “If they’re from the same department, that could create obvious problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ten district attorney’s offices in California contacted by the Center for Investigative Reporting said they use former officers for their police shooting inquiries. W. Scott Thorpe, chief executive officer of the California District Attorneys Association, called the practice “very common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prosecutors, however, keep the identities of the investigators who work on police officer shootings secret – the public may never know about potential conflicts of interest in police shooting investigations, the CIR review found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Oakland residents, prosecutors’ reports are one of the few sources of information about officer-involved shootings. Federal court-appointed monitors, in connection with the civil rights reform, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682615-robert-warshaw-officer-involved-shootings.html\">criticized the department’s own investigations\u003c/a> as biased and unquestioning. The department seldom releases copies of investigations and police reports on officer-involved shootings, even to the families of the individuals killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, some officers have faced more shooting investigations than others. According to police records, in the past 12 years, more than half of the department’s officer-involved shootings involved the same 20 officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many cases, the investigations of some of the most shooting-prone officers showed potential conflicts of interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank Moschetti, a former Oakland police officer for 23 years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682621-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-fred.html\">investigated a shooting case\u003c/a> involving William Pappas, a SWAT team member responsible for three shootings, according to police records. In July 2010, he was among a group of officers who fatally shot a man wielding kitchen knives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also in 2010, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682622-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-derrick.html\">Moschetti investigated\u003c/a> Officers Omar Daza-Quiroz and Eriberto Perez-Angeles. The two officers, who were involved in the shooting death of a man in 2008, were responsible for the fatal shooting of Derrick Jones, an unarmed domestic violence suspect whose death spurred protests and an FBI investigation. He had led the two officers on a foot chase before ditching a marijuana scale that police mistook for a gun. His case is under review by the Department of Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 1, both officers involved in the case were cleared of any wrongdoing in a federal civil trial filed by Jones' widow. The city already had paid a $225,000 settlement in a separate civil suit filed by his parents and daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, three officers shot and killed a man wielding a fake firearm. After Foster completed his investigation, prosecutor John Creighton \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/682623-alameda-county-district-attorney-report-matthew.html\">cleared the officers\u003c/a> in Matthew Cicelski’s death. Less than a year earlier, Creighton had \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/06/08/ca/alm/vote/creighton_j/endorse.html\">received an endorsement\u003c/a> from the Oakland Police Officers’ Association during his unsuccessful run for superior court judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick called Foster and the other investigators professional and unbiased. If there is bias, Drenick said, the prosecutors who work alongside the investigators would intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district attorney is there throughout the entire thing, everything,” Drenick said. “They go as a pair to all of the interviews. And then the ultimate report that is done is written by the deputy district attorney.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster also investigated the shooting deaths of two alleged gang members in May 2011, relying in part on investigative materials collected by the Oakland Police Department. The officers involved were Capt. Ersie Joyner, who has five officer-involved shootings on his record (the most of any member of the department), and Officer Cesar Garcia, who has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To complete his investigation, Foster relied on evidence collected by Oakland police Sgt. Jim Rullamas, according to the prosecutor’s report. Not mentioned was the fact that Joyner once oversaw Rullamas as head of the homicide division, praising the detective as hard working, according to one news report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the prosecutor’s office cleared the officers of wrongdoing, some of the cases resulted in hefty civil settlements. Robert Roche, a longtime member of the department’s SWAT team, has been involved in three shootings, including one that resulted in a $500,000 civil suit settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County prosecutors provided the Center for Investigative Reporting with records on Oakland police officer shootings since 2000 that were proved justified and closed. Out of 23 fatal shooting cases, 10 were investigated by former Oakland police officers, the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>'It's a Specialized Skill'\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Alameda County, not every prosecutor’s office in California releases records of shooting investigations involving police officers, which are protected by law from public disclosure. Many prosecutors’ offices declined to provide the names and employment histories of those they assign to investigate the shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some prosecutors acknowledged that their investigators are most often retired police officers. District attorneys in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Napa and San Mateo counties all said they employ former police officers and sheriff’s deputies to investigate officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s pretty common,” said Glenn McGovern, a senior investigator at the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office who leads the training committee for the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association. “In Santa Clara, we have a lot of San Jose police. It’s a specialized skill. You have to go through advanced training for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some counties in other states have decided against using ex-officers to investigate their former departments. In Miami-Dade County in Florida, for example, only prosecutors with special training investigate officer-involved shootings. The agency does not use former police officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, legal ethicists expressed concern that most prosecutors make no attempt to avoid the controversial assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It undermines the legitimacy of the investigation,” said Stanford Law School professor Deborah Rhode. “At the very least, they should try to find investigators hired by somebody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most counties in California follow the same procedure. When a police officer shoots and kills someone, the police department conducts two separate investigations. One determines whether the officer violated department policy; the other looks for evidence of criminal conduct. Then the county prosecutor’s office either monitors the department’s criminal investigation or conducts its own and decides whether to file charges. In Alameda County, investigators are assigned to officer-involved shootings on a rotating, on-call basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to 1985, most states legally allowed police officers to use their firearms to arrest anybody suspected of committing a felony, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report on police use of force. Some states even allowed police to shoot a fleeing suspect, including one suspected of a property crime such as forgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that changed the landscape of police shooting investigations: An officer may not use deadly force unless he or she “has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others” – in other words, self-defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the ruling, it is still extremely rare for a police officer to be charged. While police need only probable cause to make an arrest, prosecutors must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that an officer acted criminally. Most fatal officer-involved shootings are deemed justifiable homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, according to the FBI, law enforcement officers nationwide committed 393 justifiable homicides. A review of news articles about on-duty officer-involved shootings in California shows that since 2005, only three officers have been prosecuted in a fatal or near-fatal shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most prominent was the case of former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle. In 2010, a jury acquitted Mehserle of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter after he was captured on video shooting an unarmed man, Oscar Grant, in the back on a train platform in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009. The jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and he was sentenced to two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2007, a jury swiftly acquitted former San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Ivory Webb of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm. A cellphone video had shown Webb opening fire on Iraq War veteran Elio Carrion, a passenger in a car that had led Webb on a high-speed chase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in 2005, a San Jose jury acquitted state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent Mike Walker of voluntary manslaughter charges. He’d shot and killed Rudy Cardenas, a father of five whom he’d mistaken for a wanted parole violator, after Cardenas led him on a car and foot chase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if former police officers investigated the three cases that led to a prosecution – those records are kept secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Policies Vary Across Counties\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors are not legally required to conduct investigations into police shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After budget cuts in 2010, Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan halted her office’s investigations of officer-involved shootings, a practice that had been in place since 1984. After widespread complaints – including from the Fresno police chief – a Fresno County grand jury recommended Egan reverse her decision. She declined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully made a similar decision in 2011. A slew of shootings has since prompted furor over Scully’s decision, including urgent requests from Sacramento County law enforcement to resume the investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would like to do them, if we were given the resources,” said Assistant District Attorney Albert Locher, who once supervised the unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern County district attorney’s office investigates shootings at the county’s small police agencies but has never investigated officer-involved shootings at the county’s two largest agencies, the Bakersfield Police Department and Kern County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a high-profile police shooting several years ago, District Attorney Lisa Green said she saw no need to investigate because “the public might view the district attorney’s office as a rubber stamp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although I would never approach it that way, the community may view it otherwise,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in many cities, officials said, the investigations serve as assurance to the public that the death is being treated seriously. Police officials say the investigations can restore confidence in a department. Without them, only the police are left to investigate their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It allows the public to sleep better at night,” said former police officer Mike Donovan, chief investigator at the Napa County district attorney’s office and treasurer of the California District Attorney Investigators’ Association. “Knowing that if there is an officer-involved shooting, there’s some other level than just the agency itself that gets to make the decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, law enforcement agencies and the areas they cover are so large that the 256 former police officers at the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are unlikely to know anyone they are assigned to investigate, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some prosecutors have decided to avoid the appearance of a conflict by assigning others to the task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis assigned a single investigator to work on officer-involved shootings. Although a former police officer, the investigator has never worked for a San Diego County law enforcement agency, spokesman Steve Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oakland Shooting Sparks Protest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, several police shootings have galvanized the community. But instead of instilling confidence in the system, the report from the Alameda County district attorney’s office has provoked suspicion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Officer Miguel Masso fatally shot Alan Blueford in May, activists and residents shut down a City Council meeting in protest, and Blueford’s family filed a civil suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s office, several investigators, mainly former law enforcement officers from the Oakland Police Department and a few other county agencies, are assigned to a rotating on-call team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When an officer-involved shooting occurs, an on-call inspector and prosecutor report to the scene, sit in on witness and officer interviews, and review evidence collected by each police department and coroner’s office. In Blueford’s case, Foster and Senior District Attorney Ken Mifsud were on call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After O’Malley released a report on Foster’s investigation, Blueford’s supporters released their own, in which they said the prosecutor’s report lacked “professionalism and objectivity, and appears to be directed at swaying public opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report writer, Darrell Whitman, a regional investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor, analyzed the heavily redacted police and coroner’s reports released to the public. He said the evidence made it seem more likely that Blueford was unarmed on the ground when Masso shot him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Masso and his partner had stopped Blueford and two other teens just before midnight on suspicion that they were hiding a gun. Moments later, Blueford broke away. There was a brief foot chase before Masso said Blueford pointed a gun at him, and the officer reacted with gunfire, according to police reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Masso said Blueford had shot him. Police later determined that Masso had accidentally shot himself in the foot. The gun Masso said Blueford possessed was found 20 feet from Blueford’s body, and investigators determined it had not been fired. Investigators found one of Blueford’s fingerprints on the gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his report, Whitman pointed to discrepancies in the evidence that he said Foster and Mifsud should have examined. Instead, he said, they unquestioningly accepted Masso’s account. Mifsud declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, according to the redacted police reports, of the 16 people who witnessed the shooting, only three said they saw Blueford with a gun. Another witness said he had not seen a gun but had seen Blueford grabbing his waistband. A fifth witness said he had overheard another woman saying Blueford was armed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Masso told investigators that his first shot caused Blueford to fall into a gate and onto the ground, but according to the redacted reports, most witnesses said Blueford already was on the ground when he was shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eight witnesses said they heard Blueford say, “I didn’t do anything!” right before the gunfire. Mifsud and Foster’s report detailed Masso’s accidental shooting of his own foot but otherwise repeated Masso’s account of the shooting and did not mention Blueford’s alleged statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whitman also said Foster and Mifsud didn’t appear to question some of the police department’s actions. Although investigators found one of Blueford’s fingerprints on the gun, Whitman noted that at least two officers handled the gun before it was secured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time it was photographed, the magazine already had been removed, “possibly contaminating DNA and biological evidence,” he wrote. In addition, per department policy, Masso had never turned on his lapel camera. Whitman said the camera footage might have captured the entire incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have nothing else, you want to fight for your kid,” said Blueford’s father, Adam Blueford. “My son was on the ground screaming, pleading for his life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley declined to comment on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others said they would not be so quick to dismiss the activists’ concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From a public point of view, (using former officers) might not be the best course of action,” said Tony Monheim, a retired Miami-Dade police officer who now leads training on officer-involved shooting investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public has its own perception of what is going on,” Monheim said. “Maybe it’s a better thing to try to ease the tension a little bit and not have someone investigate themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"order": 11
},
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"on-the-media": {
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"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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"order": 14
},
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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