Another Safety Blow To Adams Point / Lake Merritt - City Takes Away Mounted Police: Peggy Stinett in Oakland Tribune
Again, this is under the watch of two Oakland City Councilmembers who are running for Mayor: Ignacio De La Fuente and Nancy Nadel, who's our Adams Point (District Three) representative, but nothing's being done about it.
City quietly reins in police force's mounted patrol
Peggy Stinnett - Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 05/06/2006 05:09:27 AM PDT
'Oh, no, not again!"
Those anguished words were exactly the ones in my mind when I read the small sign posted on the Oakland Police Department's mounted patrol stables on the shores of Lake Merritt, discreetly tucked behind Children's Fairyland.
I read on: "Our Oakland leaders are once again trying to close our mounted units," the sign said. It was undated, so perhaps there was still time for the city to change its collective mind.
But it had done the dastardly deed already.
Last week, when I visited the old wooden shack where the stables used to be, they were oddly silent and padlocked. The chain-link fence stood tall and tough, protecting what wasn't there anymore.
No whinnies or snorts greeted me. Not a whiff of the distinctive fragrance of hay, sweat and manure that tells you horses live here. Shuttered tight, there was no sign of life.
The little sign told me a little more, as if I hadn't lived through 2005.
"Last year, they (city officials) halted the attempt to shut down the unit after Oakland citizens were heard clearly saying, 'No, don't do it.'"
Oh, no! What short memories. Especially after citizens spoke clearly.
Even so, there's hope the city will correct this course because it appears the City Council is responding to the demands of the Grand Lake community by assigning walking officers after two homicides and a frightening increase in crime.
The action demonstrates the power people have to control their elected officials, if only at election time. If that's putting it strongly, so be it.
In this case, the council completely bypassed the people with the obvious intent of keeping it quiet. Absolutely no public discussion.
Instead, they negotiated with the Oakland Police Officers Union and made a deal to end the mounted unit and reassign its one remaining officer to night patrol, according to Karen Boyd, the city administrator's official spokeswoman. Boyd told me she spoke to City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, who was in a meeting. A call to Chief Wayne Tucker was not returned.
Boyd also said City Council members had been informed of the deal that ended the popular mounted police, who delighted children and adults alike with their neighborhood visits.
But that's not what Councilmember Nancy Nadel said. "The council was not told, actually. This is important, and I am going to look into it," she told me. Councilmember Pat Kernighan had not returned my call by deadline. The two council members represent people who live around the lake.
So what promises were made in February 2005? Edgerly said then the total cost of the mounted patrol was $370,000, including police salaries and keep of the horses. The horse patrol was a calming influence, one that humanized the Oakland police, whose public image needs a lift.
"This sent me looking for alternatives," Edgerly told me back then, when I wrote about the public protest against ending the unit. She found that the mounted officers spent only about two to three hours a day on the patrols around town and the rest of the time at the stables, where they took care of the horses.
Edgerly said then the department had 10 officers trained to ride and more could be trained. She also proposed having stable hands take care of the horses, because that was a poor use of a sworn officer's time. No one could disagree with that. Hurray, we thought, the mounted patrol is secure.
Cost savings would be made by housing the horses at a hills stable, where now there are two remaining horses waiting to be sold.
As for the officers, there were only two a year ago. Then one was seriously injured in a fall from her horse. After surgery she had to take a desk job.
This left Chris Saunders, who went on paternity leave when his wife had a baby. When he returned he was assigned to night patrolman. Saunders told me he phoned council members, but none returned his call.
Although 10 officers could have taken over the unit, they were not assigned.
The popular police on horseback have gone away quietly — too quietly.
But it's never too late to correct a wrong. When the council adopts its new budget, flush with a surplus, the mounted police should be put back on the street. In every neighborhood. We all want to hear the friendly clip clop on our streets.
Then the people can shout out, "Oh, yes, they've heard us again."
City quietly reins in police force's mounted patrol
Peggy Stinnett - Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 05/06/2006 05:09:27 AM PDT
'Oh, no, not again!"
Those anguished words were exactly the ones in my mind when I read the small sign posted on the Oakland Police Department's mounted patrol stables on the shores of Lake Merritt, discreetly tucked behind Children's Fairyland.
I read on: "Our Oakland leaders are once again trying to close our mounted units," the sign said. It was undated, so perhaps there was still time for the city to change its collective mind.
But it had done the dastardly deed already.
Last week, when I visited the old wooden shack where the stables used to be, they were oddly silent and padlocked. The chain-link fence stood tall and tough, protecting what wasn't there anymore.
No whinnies or snorts greeted me. Not a whiff of the distinctive fragrance of hay, sweat and manure that tells you horses live here. Shuttered tight, there was no sign of life.
The little sign told me a little more, as if I hadn't lived through 2005.
"Last year, they (city officials) halted the attempt to shut down the unit after Oakland citizens were heard clearly saying, 'No, don't do it.'"
Oh, no! What short memories. Especially after citizens spoke clearly.
Even so, there's hope the city will correct this course because it appears the City Council is responding to the demands of the Grand Lake community by assigning walking officers after two homicides and a frightening increase in crime.
The action demonstrates the power people have to control their elected officials, if only at election time. If that's putting it strongly, so be it.
In this case, the council completely bypassed the people with the obvious intent of keeping it quiet. Absolutely no public discussion.
Instead, they negotiated with the Oakland Police Officers Union and made a deal to end the mounted unit and reassign its one remaining officer to night patrol, according to Karen Boyd, the city administrator's official spokeswoman. Boyd told me she spoke to City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, who was in a meeting. A call to Chief Wayne Tucker was not returned.
Boyd also said City Council members had been informed of the deal that ended the popular mounted police, who delighted children and adults alike with their neighborhood visits.
But that's not what Councilmember Nancy Nadel said. "The council was not told, actually. This is important, and I am going to look into it," she told me. Councilmember Pat Kernighan had not returned my call by deadline. The two council members represent people who live around the lake.
So what promises were made in February 2005? Edgerly said then the total cost of the mounted patrol was $370,000, including police salaries and keep of the horses. The horse patrol was a calming influence, one that humanized the Oakland police, whose public image needs a lift.
"This sent me looking for alternatives," Edgerly told me back then, when I wrote about the public protest against ending the unit. She found that the mounted officers spent only about two to three hours a day on the patrols around town and the rest of the time at the stables, where they took care of the horses.
Edgerly said then the department had 10 officers trained to ride and more could be trained. She also proposed having stable hands take care of the horses, because that was a poor use of a sworn officer's time. No one could disagree with that. Hurray, we thought, the mounted patrol is secure.
Cost savings would be made by housing the horses at a hills stable, where now there are two remaining horses waiting to be sold.
As for the officers, there were only two a year ago. Then one was seriously injured in a fall from her horse. After surgery she had to take a desk job.
This left Chris Saunders, who went on paternity leave when his wife had a baby. When he returned he was assigned to night patrolman. Saunders told me he phoned council members, but none returned his call.
Although 10 officers could have taken over the unit, they were not assigned.
The popular police on horseback have gone away quietly — too quietly.
But it's never too late to correct a wrong. When the council adopts its new budget, flush with a surplus, the mounted police should be put back on the street. In every neighborhood. We all want to hear the friendly clip clop on our streets.
Then the people can shout out, "Oh, yes, they've heard us again."
Comments
As nice as horses are, I honestly have to say that having police cars circling the neighborhood in the evening and at night, when I'm likely to be walking around, makes me feel much safer.
Given our limited resources, I think that shuttering the mounted division and reassigning those officers to patrolling the neighborhoods on cars and on foot is absolutely the right thing to do.
The mounted police are also more effective than patrolling on foot. They were perfect for the area and the closest example to community policing we've had.
Thank you for responding to me. I can see how having mounted officers around the lake would be an asset to the park, although I'm personally more concerned about the streets, since that's where I'm more likely to be.
But I'm wondering something - Peggy Stinnet's article says that the mounted police only patrol for 2 or 3 hours a day because they have to spend most of their time at the stables taking care of the horses. Do you really think it's better to have an officer on a horse for 2-3 hours than have an officer in a car for an entire shift? The difference in the amount of time spent on the streets seems important to me.
In other words, I don't think of it as "either / or" but both.
Also, various areas of the park and the neighborhood are poorly lighted. I also think some kind of set of public night vision cameras would be the best addition to this solution.