Weekly China Hill / Haddon Crime Report (9/19) - 15X_NCPC

15X PC148 (A)(1) OBSTRUCT/RESIST/ETC PUBLIC/PEACE
OFFICER/EMERGENCY MED TECH 11-Sep-07 23:21 301 E
18TH ST

15X PC242 BATTERY 13-Sep-07 17:05 745 CLEVELAND AV

15X PC243 (B) BATTERY ON PEACE OFFICER/EMERGENCY
PERSONNEL/ETC 11-Sep-07 23:21 301 E 18TH ST

15X PC243 (E)(1) BATTERY:SPOUSE/EX SPOUSE/DATE/ETC
10-Sep-07 02:26

15X PC243 (E)(1) BATTERY:SPOUSE/EX SPOUSE/DATE/ETC
15-Sep-07 02:00

15X PC243 (E)(1) BATTERY:SPOUSE/EX SPOUSE/DATE/ETC
16-Sep-07 23:29

15X PC459 BURGLARY-NO FORCE RESIDENTIAL 13-Sep-07
13:00 655 MACARTHUR BLVD

15X PC459 BURGLARY-FORCIBLE ENTRY RESIDENTIAL 14-Sep-07
07:00 47 EXCELSIOR CT

15X PC484 (A) THEFT SHOPLIFTING 11-Sep-07 23:21
301 E 18TH ST

15X PC484 (A) THEFT:PERSONAL PROPERTY OTHER 13-Sep-07
00:00 1023 MACARTHUR BLVD

15X PC487 E GRAND THEFT:DOG OTHER 11-Sep-07 23:30 709
MACARTHUR BLVD

15X PC594 (A) VANDALISM 11-Sep-07 13:10
1000 MACARTHUR BLVD

15X PC594 (B)(4) VANDALISM [UNDER $400] 16-Sep-07
12:00 627 MONTCLAIR AV

15X VC10851 (A) VEHICLE THEFT - AUTO OTHER 10-Sep-07
08:00 322 HANOVER AV

Oakland Resident's Letter To Mayor Ron Dellums

This is from a Yahoo! Message board for the Adams Point community.. It expresses the outrage and pain of many who have been assaulted for no reason in downtown Oakland and the surrounding area. For me, I walk from BART to a restaurant many times at night and nothing has happened, but that's no reason not to have feelings for those who seem to appear vulnerable to attackers.

Dear Mr. Mayor,

My co-worker was mugged last night in downtown Oakland last night as we were talking on the phone about commuting to work in the morning. She lives a couple blocks from the area that prosecutors call the Axis of Evil because so many crimes occur there.

Do you know where the Axis of Evil is? It is right outside of your office at City Hall.

A sex offender across the street from me is suspected of participating in the kidnapping and repeated rape of a 15-year-old girl last month -- but our two child endangerment investigators are each carrying a load of more than 200 active cases and they don't have time to look into these "allegations."

I don't blame the police investigators. They came back from a tour duty in Iraq and immediately started trying to save the children of Oakland. A frightening number of their active cases include children who were abused yesterday, are being abused today, and will be abused tomorrow thanks to your lack of action.

I don't blame the police. But I do blame you and every other member of the city council for repeatedly lying about the situation to me and other residents of our city.

You have allowed the daughter of the city administrator to continue to be carried on police payroll though she has proved unfit for police work. Meanwhile, you have stopped paying two officers because their deployment in Iraq was extended. You are supporting a 12-hour day for police officers when you yourself decline to work overtime for the residents of Oakland.

You encourage patronage and punish commitment.

You are a disgrace. Please resign so that we can make our city safe again.

A few weeks ago, my neighbor, as disabled woman, was attacked by a 14-year-old drug-dealing crack head because she asked him to stop throwing trash in her yard. It took more than three weeks of lobbying of top commanders at the police department to get an investigator on the case. They still haven't made an arrest, though we know exactly who is responsible. Indeed, a second man who participated in the attack was recently arrested on a traffic violation and is being held in the Santa Rita County Jail. He was on probation for another crime committed earlier this year in Solano County. How is it possible that the city lacks the resources to charge these cases?

It is possible because you have deliberately misrepresented Oakland's crisis.

A year ago, the boys in my neighborhood murdered one of their friends -- an 18-year-old retarded boy who made the mistake of having a romance with the girlfriend of a 19-year-old drug dealer. We know who ordered the killing, but no cell phone analysis was ever done to track down the killer because our police department does not have those kind of resources, because you and other city officials, including former officials like the current attorney general, have done their best to cripple law enforcement.

You might think I live in a bad area. I don't. I live near Lake Merritt, and I pay $900 a month in property taxes.As you can see, I am not afraid of speaking out. If this is happening in my neighborhood, I can only imagine the horror that residents are experiencing in Fruitvale, Dogtown and other areas, where people traditionally have suffered in silence.

These people deserve a mayor who cares enough to tell the truth. You were once known as a civil rights advocate. Civil rights includes the freedom to be safe from being attacked by thugs who are actively supported by city officials. African Americans and Latinos live in fear in Oakland because of your lies. Middle-class residents working two jobs live in fear because of your lies. Nurses, teachers and social workers live in fear because of your lies.

OPD does not submit fingerprints for testing because it does not have resources. It does not enter ballistic information into databases shared by law enforcement because there is only one technician, who quite, simply, has no time. This effects victims of crime all over the country.

Alameda County is the fourth richest county in California, and yet you plead poverty. I voted for you hoping you would be as effective as Mayor Anthony Williams was in DC. To my dismay, I have since discovered that I helped elect a man who had no qualms about publicly declaring his support for a criminal organization that had terrorized members of his own community. That's what the Black Muslim Bakery did, and you knew it when you signed the letter in support of them that was submitted to the bankruptcy court.

You are not effective, you are not honest, you have no integrity and you should step aside.

You complained that Chip Johnson's articles had a "personal tone."

Mr. Mayor, my friend held up at gun point is personal. The teenager who was repeatedly raped around the corner from me is personal. The woman attacked across the street is personal. And yes, I took your statements to Chip Johnson in today's article very personally.

This is between you and me and all the residents of Oakland. If you lack the stomach to truthfully represent us, you need to step aside.

Oakland Resident, an...
Oakland homeowner

Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) To Renovate 401 Fairmount - Meeting Monday 9/24

This has been a controversial issue in the Adams Point area. 401 Fairmount is currently a rather slumy dwelling not far from the new Whole Foods store still under construction. Apparently, AHA wants to obtain the City of Oakland's help in buying and then renovating this place. On the surface, it seems like a good idea. But for some reason, certain people don't want the City of Oakland to spend money on AHA to improve it.

Check out this email message from one concerned resident:

I just drove by the building the housing advocates want to buy. It is one of the two Pearl Street hell holes that have been repeatedly raided by OPD and the state bureau of narcotics. It's just up the block from where the man was murdered for his parking place.

This makes me so mad. The building is owned by a couple who lives on Skyline Boulevard and who has two other properties in our neighborhood, also run down, though not as badly as 401 Fairmount. Indeed, 401 Fairmount is the most dilapidated cash cow you ever saw, generating about $399,000 a year in revenue.

That's cash flow positive even at rock bottom rents, unlike the renovated duplexes in our community ,which are severely cash flow negative. The couple's total tax bill on the property is $26,182, though the problems created by their building are enough to keep 10 OPD officers employed full time.

Meanwhile, their 35-unit building is in such awful shape that just being in a unit whose rugs haven't been cleaned in 20 years can bring on an asthma attack. I'm told the entire building is seismically unsafe and that the balcony railings are rusted. And that's just the beginning of the code violations.

If the place is so bad, why not welcome AHA's involvement? What does the person want, for the problems she points out to remain? Confusing at best.

AHA Meeting

Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) invites the HarriOak community to discuss AHA's interest in purchasing and renovating a dilapidated apartment building located at 401 Fairmount Avenue. Please join AHA staff to share your ideas and concerns.



Monday Sept 24, 2007

7:15 pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland

2501 Harrison Street.



We will meet in the Pilgrim Fellowship Room. If you have questions in advance of the meeting, please contact Eve at 510-649-8500 x 21.

Realtor C.J. Walton: Good Lake Merritt Condo Is Needle In Haystack

C.J. Walton's a Richmond-based realtor who posted this at activerain.com

But beyond the tragedy of the sellers, there was the tragedy of the perfectly prepared, and perfectly priced condos that are not getting the traffic that they deserve. My client has found a wonderful deal, and yet there is one Lake Merritt Condo that is still out there, that I can't get out of my head.

Imagine coming home to an Italian spa every night. This condo had it all exquisite bathrooms, wonderful kitchen, smart use of light and space and it has sat on the market for over 2 weeks. This beautiful condo is the tragedy of a glut of inventory. It isn't that people don't want to buy, it is that there is so much inventory to get through that it is hard to find that needle in the haystack. By the way, this beautiful condo is not my listing. But if you want the address just email and I will give it to you.

My point is this, of the many condos I visited, this one had most of competition out distanced by a mile. Eventually someone will look at it and buy it. But that person, in the meanwhile is going to have keep sifting and the condo will have to keep waiting. And hoping that the buyer doesn't give up at condo number 7. So, CJ are you saying that I have to look at about 30 places before I find the right one? No!! I am not saying that at all. In fact, if you plan to view 30 places and find out the second one you viewed was the best, by the time you get back to the second one, another buyer may be moving his boxes off the truck into the dream home you could have had.

You can make you shop smarter.

1.Get a personal shopper--a realtor who looks at inventory weekly. Oh let me say that correctly, one who physically looks at inventory, not just browse the internet.

2 Be specific as possible with your Realtor. Tell her what you want in every room. You can save a lot of time by being specific.

3. Stay focused. If you want granite counters, great!! You can get them, but ask yourself if it came between a granite countertop and a view--which is priority one, and which is priority 2? Do you know? Once you know for sure, then tell your realtor your preferences in the order of preference and she can lead you to your best choices.

There are 7 more Tips just email me and I will send the rest, but meanwhile, be straightforward with your realtor and ask her, how many properties does she view per week. Email me and tell me what your real estate pros say.

Oakland's Ben Robinson Used Homeland Security To Track Ex-Girlfriend

Yikes! This is totally terrible news. The blogger -- mparent7777-2 -- is right; who else has been doing this and getting away with it?

This story represents a perfect example of why the government needs to be limited in its power and why our privacy as citizens needs to be protected. Benjamin Robinson, a 40-year old government agent from Oakland, CA within the Department of Commerce, has been charged

with illegally accessing a Homeland Security Database in order to stalk his ex-girlfriend and her family. His indictment by a federal grand jury in San Jose this week was in connection with allegations that he accessed the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS) over 163 times to track the woman’s movements.

Robinson is being charged with making false claims to a government agency and unlawfully accessing data from a protected computer (seems the computer wasn’t very secure at all). If found guilty, Robinson could face a $500,000 fine and a maximum of up to 10 years in prison.

The scariest thing about all of this is that if this individual got caught, imagine all of those who haven’t gotten caught and are spying on us. Everyone kind of expected in the back of their minds that this could happen, and it’s sobering to see it actually happening as perhaps this can actually incite some people to act. The only way to stop government spying on citizens is to limit the power of the government.

Chauncey Bailey Murder - Police Failed To Record Key Conversation - Oakland Post

Paul Rosynsky, who writes for the Oakland Tribune, wrote this blockbuster article for the Oakland Post. It reveals major errors in that the Oakland Police failed to record interviews between the murder suspect and Yusuf Bey 1V, leading to an observation that some kind of deal was made. Here's Paul.

By Paul T. Rosynsky
Oakland Tribune Staff Writer
Special to the Oakland Post

For a high-profile murder case, the slaying of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey was solved with lightning speed. Less than 48 hours after Bailey was killed Aug. 2 as he walked to work in downtown Oakland, police had a taped confession from a Your Black Muslim Bakery handyman claiming responsibility. It was a victorious moment. The police had solved a crime that had brought national scorn on Oakland and its growing crime problem.

Bailey was the first journalist since 1993 killed on U. S. soil for doing his job. But as the confessed killer, Devaughndre Broussard, 19, appeared in court Thursday to enter his plea, questions continue to swirl about the truthfulness of his confession. Shortly before Broussard confessed to the murder, police allowed bakery leader Yusuf Bey 1V, 21, to talk privately with Broussard. The conversation was not recorded and police were not present as Broussard and Bey whispered to each other in an interrogation room at the Eastmont Police Station.

Police said they heard Bey tell Broussard, "Tell the truth, tell them what you told me." Moments later, police turned on the tape recorder as Broussard confessed to the slaying. Broussard said he was being a "good soldier" and killed Bailey because the journalist was working on a story about the bakery's troubled finances and internal family feud. Police called the conversation between Broussard and Bey an investigative tactic frequently used to gain information about a crime. Broussard's attorney, LaRue Grim, called it coercion and said his client's confession was false.

Independent experts say allowing the two suspects to talk is not illegal, but not recording the conversation leaves the police open to criticism. "I don't think the cops did anything wrong except maybe being careless in not recording any of this," said Tom Nolan, a former detective with the Boston Police Department who is now associate professor of criminal justice at Boston University. "By not recording the conversation, they run the risk of this kind of exposure, they run the risk of having their tactics called into question." Grim did just that last month after he was hired by Broussard's family to defend the San Francisco native.

Grim put responsibility for the murder on Bey. Grim said the bakery leader told Broussard to "take the fall" for the murder. Broussard followed the order, Grim said, because the 19-year-old respected and feared the bakery leader. Bey's attorney, Ted Johnson, declined to comment on the conversation, but said his client had nothing to do with Bailey's murder.

While it might never be known what was said during the private conversation, convincing a jury that Broussard is not guilty of the murder will be a tough task, legal experts said. "The interrogation here is not coercion, the police were not coercing anyone," said Jeff Ingram, a law professor at Dayton University and author of three books about criminal procedure. "I don't see anything, as a general rule on criminal procedure, there is nothing here I can see that they have done improper." In fact, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that using such a tactic is not against the law, Ingram said.

However, without a recording in the Broussard case, the defense team can question the veracity of the confession: Did the police make a side deal with Bey to have him convince Broussard to confess? Did Bey make promises to Broussard that he would get out of jail sooner if he admitting committing the crime?

John Burris, an Oakland attorney who successfully sued the department in several cases for civil rights violations in the past, said the lack of recording raises questions about whether police made a deal with Bey. "Was Yusuf Bey promised anything?," Burris asked. "You always have concerns about informants coming in and eliciting confessions from suspects and they are usually trying to get a better deal for themselves." Other factors will also play a role.

When police finally caught up with Broussard at his apartment, they said he was throwing the murder weapon, a shotgun, out of his back window. Police also said Broussard told them details of the shooting during his confession that only the killer would know. Such specifics included how many shots were fired and where Bailey was hit. " That is very powerful, that is just a tough one to overcome," Ingram said. "The one way that he might be able to work this out is if he rolls over on other people."

Grim continued to deny Wednesday that his client was the gunman and said he believes his client knows who killed Bailey. "I think my guy knows who did it," Grim said. "But he does not want to say. They have a brotherhood there, a brotherhood that is very dangerous."

Contact Paul Rosynsky at
prosynsky@bayareanewsgr
oup.com or 510-208-6455.

Mayor Dellums Refusal To Add Police Has Some Angry

Mayor Ron Dellums made a decision to avoid adding more police to help deter the ever-present spectre of crime in Oakland. Not surprisingly, some people are up in arms about this. Here's what I found on the Topix site:

Oakland Dimond...

ya gotta be kidding me! he says he wants to form a community policing program. WTF is that? so, on top of me paying $13,000/year in property taxes, i have to be a guardian angle for Oakland. fine, PAY ME THEN!

excerpt:

Dellums says he has no plans to significantly increase the number of Oakland police officers, despite the reality that Oakland's under-sized force of nearly 740 officers is roughly half the size of cities of comparable size.

"I don't believe the (Oakland) residents support the idea of a huge increase in the police force," he said. "Measure Y was passed to accommodate those needs.

"In lieu of more police, we think community policing is the answer."

On this point the mayor and I agreed to disagree, because I live in Oakland and believe we need a police force at least one-third larger than its current size.

Rockridge Community Planning Council Has Kitchen Tour Oct 7th

From the RCPC website at Rockridge.org

The Rockridge Kitchen Tour, a fundraiser for the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC), debuted in 1995 and has continued to be a sterling biennial fall event ever since. This year’s tour is our seventh and it features, as always, nine remodeled or renovated kitchens in the Rockridge neighborhood.

The 2005 tour attracted over 750 guests who were treated to unique kitchens such as the Hudson Street kitchen, personalized for easy accessibility for its wheelchair-bound owner, and the owner-renovated 1914-inspired kitchen on Taft Avenue.

This year, the selection committee considered a record number of exquisite kitchens—twice as many as ever before. The final selections are remarkable not only for their spectacular designs, but for their innovative use of materials and clever tailoring to suit homes small and large, Craftsman and contemporary.

This year’s tour proudly includes a resident artist’s kitchen with its owner’s paintings adding brilliant color to the kitchen’s luminescent glass accoutrements; the owner’s studio will be open to the public. Tour guests will also be treated to a panoramic view of the city and the bay from the breakfast nook of an expansive, bright kitchen in the hills, where a European-style glass floor illuminates the stairwell below.

Join us on Sunday, October 7, to admire some of Rockridge’s finest kitchens. Chat with the home owners and their designers, contractors and architects. Enjoy refreshments in three of the homes, as our volunteer docents, many of whom return year after year, provide details about the kitchens, their history and their interesting remodeling processes. Whatever your budget and style, the 2007 Rockridge Kitchen Tour has something to inspire you!