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.

OAKLAND — A sister of Lovelle Mixon who was inside the East Oakland apartment where Mixon killed two Oakland SWAT sergeants March 21 is claiming the city should pay her and her grandmother more than $10,000 after she was wounded by a stun grenade and, she says, subjected to hours of subsequent mistreatment by police. The tort claim, which could be a precursor to a lawsuit against Oakland, was ripped by an attorney whose firm represents nearly all the SWAT officers on scene when police stormed the apartment where Mixon was hiding after he fatally shot two motorcycle officers earlier...

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...

There have been 2,783 burglaries, 2,712 car thefts and 28 homicides so far this year in Oakland -- but when it comes to investigations, it turns out the biggest unit in the embattled Police Department is the one investigating the cops themselves. "It's ironic, isn't it?" said acting Chief Wayne Tucker. Indeed it is. There are 700 cops in the city. The homicide unit has 10 officers, burglary has 11, robbery 13 and sex crimes 22. And internal affairs? Twenty-three full-time investigators and brass. By comparison, San Francisco, with nearly triple the number of cops -- 2,152 -- has an...

<p>Oakland -- At the Port of Oakland, some 300 to 400 protesters are picketing in front of two shipping companies that they say are linked to the war on Iraq and are blocking five company entrances.</p> <p>So far, there has been no confrontation between Oakland police and the demonstrators, in contrast to a April 7 rally that turned violent.</p>

When antiwar speech turns seditious They've trashed 9-11 memorials. Blocked streets. Burned flags. Shut down bridges. Marched on Broadway. And trampled across the National Mall. They've thrown stones at a uniformed female member of the Vermont National Guard, and hurled pie at a Bay Area television reporter deemed too pro-war. They've carried signs that read "We support our troops when they shoot their own officers" and "Don't impeach Bush . . . execute him." They've publicly wished for "a million Mogadishus" and privately hoped for 100 new bin Ladens. They've issued manifestos calling for sabotage of military establishments in the...