Oakland Tribune Outtakes

Wall Street Journal: Police layoffs have been particularly prevalent recently in California, which has the second-largest number of local police at about 40000 officers…http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726994463725775.html.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVhz4pstyGE
I don’t think the video reps everyone’s experience “living in Oakland.” But I think it’s good for people to share their life and thoughts with those who don’t share the reality, so I’m putting it up here. The video references the OPD-Mixon shootings, which provoked long-simmering complaints and opinions that were never resolved.  So be prepared.

An Oakland Citizen  blog has does some analyses about crime in Oakland that seem to tread beyond the normal rankings.

A new ranking of cities by homicide rates that, unlike FBI and other reports, “adjusts each city’s homicide figures by differences across the cities in poverty, median income, male unemployment, race composition, and female-headed families.” The researchers say that the model produces a more meaningful comparison of city homicide levels, especially for providing insight into the effectiveness of criminal justice policies and programs.

In one of the largest Ecstasy seizures ever in California, 45 kilograms of the drug with a minimum street value of almost $2 million were found at a West Oakland house Friday during a series of law enforcement raids from Willits to the East Bay, authorities said Tuesday.

Besides the powder form of the drug found in Oakland, a huge manufacturing lab was dismantled in Willits in Mendocino County, and at least nine people, including the ringleader suspect from El Cerrito, his brother and two Emeryville residents, were arrested.
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There’s a new member of the Berkeley Police Department and this new member comes with a six-year warranty.

On Tuesday night, the Berkeley  City Council authorized the city manager to spend about $214,500 to buy a remote controlled bomb disposal robot. A combination of grant and city money will cover the costs of the robot, a warranty and parts.
 
Police spokesman Officer Andrew Frankel said the department hasn’t settled on a name. But officers are happy to have him (her?) on board.

“It’s a cool because it’s a lot of money to be getting for the robot. It’s certainly a nice resource to have and any time we have a tool to help us and keep the public safe, it’s a good thing,” Frankel said.

In a time when police departments are strapped for cash, short staffed, overworked and under fire (for sure), the federal government is actually requiring that all civilian bomb squads have a remote controlled bomb disposal robot as part of their equipment inventory. Go figure.

Berkeley police have had their own bomb squad for more than 30 years and each year respond to a handful of calls for service involving suspicious packages, suspected explosive devices and recovered explosives, police officials said.

Six people will be trained on the robot, which is operated using a radio, tethered cable or fiber optic cable, police said.