All I can say is, it's about time. I guess Jerry's got his mind on the AG race. But that's no reason to turn his back on this. After all, he's running to office to...fight crime, right? This may backfire for Jerry.
Perata gathers forces to fight street killings
Senator moved to act after Oakland boy was gunned down
Jim Herron Zamora, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, said he has wanted for months to do something about Oakland's spiraling number of street killings.
But it took reading a Chronicle story about the July 2 death of 14-year-old Jaee Logan -- who was shot from behind three times as he ran for his life -- to prod the senator into action. Jaee, a Pop Warner League football star, may have been killed in a case of mistaken identity as he waited for a friend in an unfamiliar neighborhood, police and his family said.
"It made me sick to read about that kid dying that way," said Perata, who represents Oakland and Richmond. "I decided I want to do whatever I can to make sure no more Jaee Logans get killed."
Perata, one of California's most powerful elected officials, will host a private meeting today of 40 public officials and community leaders in which he hopes to produce a to-do list for the state to help combat recent violence in Richmond and Oakland. Seventy-three people have been killed this year in Oakland, compared to 40 at this time in 2005, police said Tuesday. At least 19 people have been killed in Richmond this year.
"We will mobilize existing state and local resources and have a focused agenda," Perata wrote in a letter to invitees. "This is not a study committee, town meeting or therapy group. Nor another task force. I did that already in the '80s. We will have an agenda. We will listen. We will decide. We will act."
The list of invitees includes a wide range of elected officials and top administrators from Oakland, Richmond and Alameda and Contra Costa counties, including the police chiefs of both cities, the sheriffs and district attorneys of both counties as well as judges, probation officials and public health officials.
Perata said Tuesday that his goal is to determine what the state can do to help cities and counties on the Interstate 80 "homicide corridor" to prevent more killing. He said he has no "grand new programs" but perhaps can offer to expedite money into the hands of local governments and nonprofits that can help prevent crime. The senator said he is willing to devote his entire local staff in Oakland with help from his Sacramento office to help local government in the next few months.
Perata noted that he was elected to represent a district that included East Oakland on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 1986 -- the same year that crack cocaine began to make national news. He said it is frustrating that 20 years later drug-related violence still plagues the city.
"There are kids getting killed now who weren't even born when we started working on these issues," Perata said.
"I would never pass up an opportunity to sit with Don Perata and brainstorm about ways to solve these issues," said Donald Blevins, chief probation officer in Alameda County. "I see probation as an agency that could really make an impact maybe if we could work a little closer with other agencies."
The list of invitees is missing two prominent names: current Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who is running for state attorney general, and mayor-elect Ron Dellums, who takes office in January. City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente is scheduled to be the highest-ranking representative of the city there.
"Jerry is gone soon and he's running for a higher office -- I didn't want this to be seen by anyone as a political event," Perata said. "I'm not gaining anything politically from this. I want it totally work focused. As for Ron, he doesn't start the job for six months, I want to move on things right now. I look forward to working with him next year."
Perata also invited several nonprofit groups that work helping ex-convicts to avoid returning to crime or are trying to steer young people away from gangs.
Olis Simmons, executive director of Youth Uprising community center in East Oakland, said she looks forward to talking with Perata about preventing youth violence.
"There's an opportunity to align what the city, the county and the state are doing with the nonprofits that are on the ground," Simmons said. "It's not the violence itself. It's what the violence tells you about the needs of children. If these kids don't have hope, don't have education and skills to compete in the global marketplace, you're going to keep seeing (murder) shrines all over Oakland and Richmond."
Bob Jackson, pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church in East Oakland, said that after 33 years of ministering to the grieving families of homicide victims he has little patience for meetings. Jackson, who formerly ran a program to help ex-convicts, wants action.
"I hope that it's not just another meeting where we have tea and crumpets while people are dying in Oakland," Jackson said.
Jay Logan, the father of Jaee Logan, was not invited to the meeting. But Logan, who started a group called Stop All Violence of Our Youth after his son's unsolved killing in the 800 block of 45th Street, said Tuesday he has a practical suggestion for encouraging young witnesses to communicate with police.
Noting that few witnesses to his son's death wanted to be seen talking to investigators, Logan said: "There should be a way that you can text message to police if you see a crime or to a principal if you see a fight at school. That's how all these kids talk to each other and they can do it on the sly so no one will say they are snitching.
"I pray that some good may come of Jaee's death, and maybe some will. I can't bring my son back. But everybody else's son is still alive. We need to save those kids."
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