Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — In the wake of the shooting deaths of four police officers, African-American leaders from around the city gathered Wednesday morning for a closed-door meeting to discuss issues facing the black community. They said the killing by Lovelle Mixon, a 26-year-old fugitive parolee, was the tipping point for black clergy, civic leaders and police to air their concerns and create an action plan to address youth violence. The slayings also provide a lens to look more closely at existing rehabilitation and re-entry programs for ex-offenders and parolees, they said. "We are saddened and in shock," said Raymond Lankford, a pastor and founder of Healthy Oakland, a community organization that promotes nonviolence. "Words can't express what we feel."”

Oakland Police Officers  Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, and Sgts. Ervin Romans, 43, and Daniel Sakai, 35, members of the SWAT team and motorcycle officer, John Hege, 41, who is in grave condition, were all shot in the line of duty Saturday.  Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai are dead.  This is what Oakland Police talk about.   This is why police take the precausions they do.  It's the heart of what we all fear, both the officers and the people of Oakland.  My heart and tears go out to the slain officers who were serving all of us.  And it's a stark reminder of what I said just two days ago on Christina Marie's show "CrossTalk San Francisco": our society is more dangerous now than ever.   It's not just the police shooting.  It's the muggings and threats that impact employees at the University of California Office of The President in downtown Oakland.  These incidents are so frequent of late, that U.C.  officials are strongly considering lea...

I thought there wasn't going to be a bail set, but now I'm interested in why this turned to a bail hearing. OAKLAND TRIBUNE - OAKLAND— Bail for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, accused of murdering a 22-year-old Hayward man while on duty early New Year's Day, was set at $3 million Friday by an Alameda County judge who said Mehserle was both a danger to society and a flight risk. Noting that the crime Mehserle is accused of is serious and the officer's account of the events that led to Oscar Grant's death seems to contain contradictions, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said he was forced to set bail according to state law. However, Jacobson ruled that the bail amount is high enough to ensure that Mehserle will not skip town if his parents are somehow able to find $3 million to free their son

In a shocking turn of events, it was reported by KTVU that BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, who was the central focus as the cop who shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back on New Year's Day morning, was arrested in Nevada.   This is a dramatically fast development, since it was reported that Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff wasn't expect to take action until this Friday at the earliest and BART spokesperson Linton Johnson asked for everyone to let the process move forward.   Here's my video report with more below: Whatever the case, the incident has attracted every law enforcement official from California Attorney General Jerry Brown, to the Department of Justice on Monday.   My bet is the investigative report BART Chief Gary Gee turned in to Orloff had something to do with this lightening fast action.  But also Officer Mehserle himself essentially wrote this ending when he refused to give a statement, "taking the fifth" regarding why he s...

On Monday, Oakland Developer and friend Phil Tagami, who you can find out more about with a click here or to the right where his photo is, was on KQED's Forum on Monday.  It was an outstanding peformance, although Phil can be a bit combative at times, but that's Phil. What's most important is he was able to talk about how Oakland can achieve a possible future as a great city, and how people can and should get involved in the process.  You can hear the show below:

More at SFGate.com : “A man was found stabbed to death in downtown Oakland, police said today. Nemekhbayer Gaitav, 42, was found inside an apartment on the 1400 block of Jackson Street near Lake Merritt about 10 p.m. Monday, authorities said. He had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests have been made.”

More at Inside Bay Area and at Piedmont USD : “Three 12-year-old Piedmont boys are waiting to learn their punishment for spray-painting the "N" word across a Havens Elementary School wall. Police are calling it a hate crime targeting teacher Marjorie Lawson, since it was scrawled outside her office. Lawson is one of two African-American educators in the Piedmont Unified School District. It's still not clear why the young suspects came forward on Dec. 4, but Piedmont Police Department Capt. John Hunt said the boys voluntarily gave statements to both school officials and a detective about the crime. "We then contacted the victim (Lawson) again, to let her know what we learned," he said. "She already had some information from Havens, but we wanted her to know we notified the juvenile probation department and it's up to them how they proceed legally," explained Hunt, who couldn't give too many details since the suspects are underage. "I can te...

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Skeletal remains found Nov. 7 behind Skyline High School have been identified as those of an 18-year-old woman who was a former student at the school, authorities and relatives said Friday. But how Johnikka Jackson died has not yet been determined, and homicide Sgt. Lou Cruz said police are still "trying to determine if foul play was an element of her death." Her remains were found in a canyon behind the school by students who took some of the bones to the principal's office before police were called. The bones were found near a crude shelter made of wood and sheets. Personal items found at the scene and dental records led to Jackson's positive identification last week.”

Visit Spot.us : “What's really wrong with OPD? The reported failings of the Oakland Police Department are serious and well-known. Cops lie to obtain search warrants. Brass assign detectives with known ties to the suspects they are investigating. On any given day, the department has an absentee rate of 30 percent. Morale is in the cellar. The current chief has taken a leave of absence, and from the outside, it's not clear who's running things at 445 7th Street. By interviewing current and former Oakland police officers I hope to arrive at a deeper understanding of what ails OPD, what internal culture gives rise to the failings described above. This is not the sort of reporting that is likely to turn up evidence of concealed wrongdoing, but rather it seeks to shine a light on problems that are hiding in plain sight.” -- Only $31.73 to go to raise money for Alex Gronke and The Oakbook to cover this story. It's part of a new website company called "Spot.us" where...

During dinner with a good friend, I had a chance conversation with Oakland Police beat officers in the Lake Merritt area. After a lively talk, they told me to share with you this message: do not walk by yourself at night. Even as the area is safer after the arrest of the "Takeover Robbers" the terrible economy leaves many vulnerable. There's an increased police presence around Central Oakland, but the police totally do not want you to walk anywhere by yourself at night. Period.

Bakery leader embraced guns long before editor's killing - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Yusuf Bey IV was heavily involved in guns and gun violence well before the killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey last year — a killing he is suspected of ordering — despite his claims to police that he didn't allow weapons at Your Black Muslim Bakery and disavowed their use. Recorded jailhouse telephone calls and three statements given to police before and after Bailey's Aug. 2, 2007, killing implicate Bey IV in a 2006 shooting of a car belonging to the former boyfriend of a woman with whom he was involved and a June 2007 shootout at a San Francisco nightclub. He was not charged in either incident.”

SFist: Oakland Man Convicted in Remote Control Murder : “23-year-old Patrick Allen was found guilty today of murdering 18-year-old Laney College football player Robert Atkins Jr. Over the use of a remote control. It seems Allen shot Atkins "multiple times at point-blank range" over a dispute between him and his sister over the TV clicker, if you will.”

Violence is why Oaklanders forsake the city The irony of this column by Chip Johnson of the SF Chronicle is that he and I were talking on Lakeshore the other day and he introduced me to someone he's acquainted with who was complaining to us about how vandals destroy locks on the news stands to get papers to then resell. This person confronted one of the vandals and got into a fight with him. The point is the essense of Oakland's crime problem is it's terrible economic development. Housing was never the way to go.

East Bay Express | News | Arrests Are Down, and Crime Is Up

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The main question for me is "What the hell's on the mind of a person who would even think of doing something like that?"  Why would  Anthony Frazier think to do this, let alone do it?   What's the point?  Can't he create his own legitimate business without taking advantage of a young woman?  Well, here's KTVU's account  : SAN FRANCISCO -- An East Bay man was in custody Thursday for allegedly kidnapping a young woman off an Oakland street and bringing her to San Francisco to work as a prostitute. Anthony Frazier, 29, pleaded not guilty Thursday morning in San Francisco Superior Court to charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, human trafficking and abduction for prostitution, authorities said. If convicted, he could face several years in prison. Frazier was arrested in the area of Bush and Larkin streets at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka. Tomioka said that earlier that night, Frazier had forced the...

With all of the crime problems Oakland faces it's almost funny to think that cutting police overtime charged would actually cause the city's $42 million deficit to decrease. It will not over a period of time because the workload that is attached to police overtime will not magically go away. Indeed, the move could result in more work not done or crimes not solved or criminals not apprehended, which means that the problems that exist will not go away. I have another solution: merge ALL of the City of Oakland Redevelopment Project areas and release some of that money reserved for projects to pay for police overtime. Between the Coliseum Redevelopment Area, the Downtown Redevelopment Area, and the West Oakland Redevelopment Area most of Oakland's flatlands are under the view of the Redevelopment Agency. Before someone says "you can't use Redevelopment revenue for services" that's simply not true; such can be done if the money is declared for such ...

This video posted today features a news story on a growing contributor to Oakland's homicide rate: the emergence of Latino gangs.

This League of Women Voters video gives two views on the proposed parcel tax for the City of Oakland Called Measure NN. The basic argument is that this pays for much needed more police officers. The measure on the ballot reads: To provide more police services to neighborhoods and businesses for the purpose of preventing crime and enhancing resources for investigation of crimes, shall the City of Oakland authorize a parcel tax to fund the cost of (1) adding a total of 105 police officers and 75 police services technicians; (2) a crime data management system for crime analysis; and (3) mandatory independent annual audits and evaluations with performance standards?