Free Republic

Oakland’s elected leaders said Tuesday the city’s police should provide no assistance to federal immigration agents - even if the agents are working on a case that centers on violent crime. They said so much as allowing officers to block off a street creates the perception that Oakland is anything but a sanctuary city. The new red line came after a controversial operation by officers with Homeland Security Investigations — the criminal division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — at which Oakland police provided traffic enforcement.

Despite this guy being serious, here's a hilarious video message to the Oakland PD on their arrests made on #OccupyOakland protesters. He has a pair of handcuffs, and he knows how to use them.

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OAKLAND -- Bay area longshoremen were up in arms Friday night when they were denied work at one of Oakland's cargo terminals. The cargo ship, the Zhen Hua 19, pulled into Oakland's Pier Seven and on board was tons of steel slated to be used for the new Bay Bridge. Caltrans decided not to hire the ILWU Local 10 longshoremen to unload the vessel, a decision that angered some local union members.

OAKLAND — Police internal affairs detectives investigating the handling of journalist Chauncey Bailey's slaying will have state investigators present when they interview members of their department's command staff. Investigators from the attorney general's office will be there to monitor the interviews, according to a letter the Department of Justice sent to Mayor Ron Dellums in November. But the Justice Department won't take over the whole investigation — which is apparently what Oakland internal affairs investigators wanted, the letter stated. "We do not believe, as has been suggested by the Police Department's Internal Affairs investigator, that the Police Department investigation be...

Shhhh. What's the big secret? When it comes to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' deliberations on matters of grave importance - they are cloaked in more secrecy than an illegal CIA counterterrorist operation. When Dellums ran for mayor in 2006, he pledged to run a transparent government. Yet at a time when Oakland needs a strong leader to deal with budget cuts and lack of leadership in several key departments, Dellums is missing in action and his decision- making process is one of the best kept secrets in Oakland City Hall. I don't think even the mayor knows what's going on...

Eight months ago, a Media News series detailed in shocking fashion how Oakland has become a booming hub for child prostitution. The Oakland Police Department found that during a 36-month period alone, 293 children under age 18 were being prostituted by at least 155 pimps. Of course, the trafficking of children isn't just an Oakland problem. A recent nationwide FBI sting targeting child prostitution ensnared 642 suspects in 29 cities. Forty-seven children were rescued, ranging in age from 13 to 17. It is a stomach-churning example of the law of supply and demand. Adults are willing to pay hundreds of...

The leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery expressed satisfaction on the morning Chauncey Bailey was killed, saying the journalist got what he deserved for taking on the troubled organization in his reporting, a bakery member told Oakland police in a recently discovered account given the day after the slaying. Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV summoned the woman to watch a TV news story about three hours after Bailey, 57, was gunned down on his way to work on Aug. 2, 2007, she told homicide investigators. As they watched the report on the Oakland Post editor's slaying, Bey told her, "That...

Susan Gluss may be one of the most recent Oakland residents to move on to safer, saner confines in the Bay Area, but she is by no means alone in her decision to call it quits. Gluss, and countless others like her, are the collateral damage - the civilian fallout - from the city's timid efforts to stem a series of crimes that have terrorized residents much of this year. The steady increase in crime since 2006 has raised residents' concern about personal safety and security to the level where that now vies with the city's underperforming school system as...

Oakland, in the Jerry Brown years, practiced an unofficial policy of what might be called “community cleansing.” This is not to be confused with “ethnic cleansing,” the horrific activity in parts of, say, Eastern Europe or Central Africa where whole ethnic populations are violently and bloodily removed, either through exile or actual genocide. No, Mr. Brown’s “community cleansing” policies were far more genteel, involving little violence (though some—that’s what the whole Oakland Riders police scandal was about) and targeting not whole ethnic groups, but rather portions of the population that were considered as being “undesirables.” Part of this involved harassment,...

Armed robbers terrorized Oakland restaurants and small businesses in three separate crime sprees over the past year. The first wave targeted Asian eateries and struck during the 2007 holiday season. The second arrived last spring and was more indiscriminate. The third struck in July and August. All three made newspaper headlines and led television newscasts, shining a spotlight on the city's out-of-control crime problem and the Oakland Police Department's apparent inability to cope with it. In fact, the department's public response to the takeover robberies was both odd and illuminating. The department's mantra for dealing with the city's crime spike...

OAKLAND — She was a familiar sight in the upper Fruitvale neighborhood: a quiet, tiny, 80-year-old Chinese woman who wore a straw hat while collecting cans and other recyclables to earn spending money for her grandchildren. She would smile when residents would try to talk to her, but her lack of English made conversation impossible. The woman, who never bothered anyone, was fighting for her life Friday, the day after three men beat her unconscious with fists and feet and the broomstick she used to carry the plastic bags filled with her haul, then stood over her and laughed, police...

OAKLAND — Oakland had the fifth-highest crime rate among U.S. cities in 2007, according to a widely followed but controversial report released Monday by the publishing company CQ Press. Richmond ranked No. 9. Oakland dropped one spot in the rankings after finishing No. 4 in last year's report. That was of little consolation for Oakland officials, even as they said they believe the city is on the right track with its public safety programs. "We are obviously disappointed that we're not the fifth-safest city in the nation," police Chief Wayne Tucker said. "To explain why we're (No. 5), I think...

Oakland, Calif. (KCBS) -- Oakland is affiliating with the national OK Mentorship Program, which fosters guidance and support for kids at risk for incarceration and homicide. OK, which is short for “Our Kids,” offers one-on-one mentoring and puts value on education, health and positive associations. The African-American community is disproportionately affected by homicides and incarceration and Oakland’s Mayor Ron Dellums says it’s time for that to change. “The police cannot solve this problem alone, [and] the community cannot solve this problem alone. We need a multifaceted strategy,” said Dellums. The program seeks to reduce gun violence and gang affiliation, and...

OAKLAND — Mayor Ron Dellums detailed his decision to postpone the 166th Oakland Police Academy in a letter to City Council members Friday, saying the city does not have the money to put more recruits through training at this time.The academy was originally scheduled to begin Dec. 8 and will be postponed until spring or summer of next year."Given the harsh fiscal realities that we face today — which are more severe than expected even a few months ago — delaying the December police academy is the only responsible decision we can make," Dellums wrote.Police officials told 44 recruits Nov....