Derwin Longmire Said To Be "Good, Upstanding Police Investigator", But What Is Role In Chauncey Bailey Case?

In the matter of determining just really who murdered Chauncey Bailey last year and why, I just talked with another source who personally was upset that Sargent Derwin Longmire was being accused of wrong doing.  "Longmire was interfering with the case of another investigator who was over the Yusuf Bey case (where Bey is the CEO of Your Black Muslim Bakery), and who was very upset with him because of his actions.  This other investigator told Longmire that it was not his case to be involved with" said my source, who talked on condition of anonyimity.   


The question is why did Longmire get involved with the Yusuf Bey case?  The Oakland Tribune reported that the persons involved would not talk with them.  But what they mean is they would not speak on the record.  


My source contends with vigor that Longmire "is a good, upstanding police investigator.  A good man".   The source says that the entire matter has been turned over to Oakland Police's Internal Affairs Division and that if I had any tips, I should inform them.  


I also talked to my source about the possibility tainted relationship between Bailey and now - California Attorney General Jerry Brown.  According to Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb, who was Bailey's last boss and who talked to me for my video interview , Attorney General Brown took files from Bailey when he was Mayor of Oakland and did not return them prior to Bailey's passing, although Cobb did not disclose what files were taken. My source just wondered why the matter was so complicated and what was really going on.


That's what we'd all like to know. 


CHAUNCEY BAILEY PROJECT: NO MORE AWARD CHASING!!


As a follow-up, I would offer that the Chauncey Bailey Project should spend zero time applying for journalist awards even when this matter is resolved.  There's over 100 people listed on the website of the CPB, and with all of that "old media" firepower -- no blogs are listed -- all we have to show for it is this story and little else.  Then the CPB pats itself on the back with a job well done.   


But what peeves me is ths behavior of CBP staffers like Thomas Poole, who reacted weirdly and nastily when I sent an email of my interview with Paul Cobb.  I've never met Thomas Poole, and I told him that he needs to pick up the sprit of my friend Bailey, who would not be nasty with someone essentially helping him on the case. I don't think my words sank in; maybe this blog post would help.  


That's a joke.  The job's done when we know what happened and why.  

Alameda County Courthouse Early Voting From 10 AM to 5 PM Sunday and 8:30 AM to 5 PM Monday

You can vote early in the 2008 General Election with a visit to the Alameda County Courthouse at 12225 Fallon Street in Oakland from 10 am to 5 pm Sunday and 8:30 am to 5 PM Monday.  Click for the map here :

RUMOR: Robert Bobb Resigns DC Job, May Be Oakland City Adminstrator

I've not yet confirmed this with Robert Bobb himself, but two sources have explained to me today that former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb has resigned from his position as a consultant with Public Financial Management Inc. -- the assertion from one source is that he did so to become Oakland's next City Administrator, replacing former City Adminstrator Debra Edgerly, who was fired in July of this year.  


Bobb has been going back and forth, in and out of Oakland as part of a consulting engagement that saw the public service veteran analyze various aspects of Oakland management and operations in an effort to determine why the government's not working as it should and why service delivery has been so poor.  


The possibility of Bobb's return was a focus on a recent debate between the two At Large City Council candidates Rebecca Kaplan and Kerry Hamill.  Both were rather lukewarm to the idea of his possible return, with Hamill more along the commentary of "I think we need to spread the net" and see what's out there, where Kaplan seemed more interested in the idea of Bobb's return as long as it's not for just one year.


Here's the video by Vsmoothe, which is about to get more than the 20 views to date.  It will get that (or more) in just one day after the posting of this article:





But back to the matter of Bobb. If he does return it will be a great shot in the arm to a City that needs it and for once Bobb will not have Jerry Brown to worry about.


Plus, Bobb comes back to an Oakland with a more vibrant private sector than when he left. It should be easier to marshall financial support for initiatives that involve promoting the city and bringing large events to Oakland. But we've got to confirm that rumor, first.

Chauncey Bailey Project Points Finger At Sgt. Derwin Longmire of Oakland Police

In the ongoing, but not well-progressing process of determining who killed Chauncey Bailey (see my conversation with Paul Cobb of the Oakland Post ) and why, The Chauncey Bailey Project has uncovered a problem: the alledged actions of Oakland Police Sargent  Derwin Longmire that are related to Yusuf Bey, the former CEO of Your Black Muslim Bakery.  The Oakland Tribune Reports:

OAKLAND - Well before the August 2007 killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey, detective Sgt. Derwin Longmire twice interfered in felony investigations of former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV, according to police documents obtained and interviews conducted during a yearlong investigation by the Chauncey Bailey Project.

In both cases, Bey IV was charged with crimes despite Longmire's actions.

In one, he continued to talk to Bey IV about one case after an investigator told him not to, according to police documents. In the other case, he tried to get evidence returned to the Bey family before it could be analyzed, said law enforcement sources familiar with the situation.

Police internal affairs detectives are now investigating Longmire's relationship with Bey IV and his work on the Bailey slaying case.

Longmire did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Police Chief Wayne Tucker and Assistant Chief Howard Jordan rejected interview requests. Jordan and homicide unit commander Lt. Ersie Joyner have both praised Longmire in past interviews, calling him professional and ethical.

A janitor and dishwasher at the former bakery, Devaughndre Broussard, is the only person charged in Bailey's Aug. 2, 2007, killing. Longmire case notes seemingly ignore evidence linking Bey IV to a role in the killing, including data from a tracking device and cell phone records, according to a copy of those case notes that the Bailey Project obtained.

Paul Cobb On Chauncey Bailey's Murder, Mayor Ron Dellums & Oakland

 

Paul Cobb is a long-time Oakland, California writer, activist, community organizer and now publisher of the Oakand Post. I met Paul at his office in Downtown Oakland to talk about a wide range of subjects, but the two I was most interested in talking about were who killed Chauncey Bailey and what Paul thought about the current Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums.  

Bailey was an Oakland journalist who was supposedly murdered by people associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) on August 2, 2007.  But Cobb and others believe that the chain of events that led to someone, perhaps Devaughndre Broussard of YBMB,  murdering a journalist in the line of duty is more complicated and may lead to people and institutions one would not expect.

Cobb's assertions regarding the relationship between Bailey and members of the Oakland Police Department would seem to match the concerns expressed in this website article by the Chauncey Bailey Project.  The person who shot Bailey was wearing a ski mask so true identification was never done.  Broussard confessed to the killing, but this to may be a coverup.

Related blog post on Bailey's passing:

http://zennie2005.blogspot.com/2007/08/oakland-journalist-chauncey-bailey-in.html

In our talk for this video, Paul got in some interesting information.  Without coming out and saying it directly, Cobb believes that an Oakland Police officer had some role in Bailey's eventual death.  He says this twice in the video.   In this video, Cobb also said that California Attorney General Jerry Brown destroyed Bailey's research files  and never gave an explaination.  A view that's controversial, considering that Mayor Dellums has asked Brown to investigate the matter of Bailey's murder. 

Cobb talks about Barack Obama and what his friend the late Dr. Martin Luther King, would think about Barack's historic success in becoming as of this writing the first African American presidential nominee of either party.  What Cobb says is not just that he would be proud, but it is the culmination of his dream.

Those are some of the highlights of a man who's life goes back to his personal relationship with Martin Luther King.