Oakland Tribune Outtakes

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f30_1249529724

Footage of an  A’s game at the Coliseum where a man was tasered for his very unruly behavior. Then a foul ball lands nearby. And people say the Raiders fans are bad. Evidently, OPD is not messing around…Two recent officer-involved shooting and a tase. Or maybe people are just getting crazier.

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.

For those who haven’t visited the Oakland Police Department website lately, the Online Citizen Reporting System has been up and running for several months now to report certain property crimes. For more information, call OPD General Information/ Patrol Desk at 238-3455

A bomb scare caused the evacuation of several floors of the 7677 Oakport St. building – including the law offices of John Burris (who is representing the family of Oscar Grant III) and The Oakland Tribune — about 11 a.m. today. Several dozen employees who work in the building stood in groups around the parking lot while police arrived on the scene to assess the situation. The Alameda County Sheriff Office bomb squad was called to investigate.  No word yet on what, if anything, was found. Bomb threats have closed down county, state, city and now business buildings in the past two years — about one every couple months. The last scare was near 7th and Washington streets, when an abandoned bag was sighted. None of the threats turned out to be credible. But no one is taking any chances.

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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OAKLAND _ A stabbing Sunday night in East Oakland left a woman in the hospital and a suspect on the run, police said.
Just after 6 p.m. police responded to a call in the 3500 block of 35th Avenue, near MacArthur Boulevard, to find a woman suffering from multiple knife wounds. She was taken to a local hospital where she is in stable condition, police said.
Police are searching for an adult male suspect but did not have anyone in custody as of 7:30 a.m. Monday.

- By Sean Maher, Oakland Tribune, Jan. 26, 2009

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.