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Chris is a 10-year-old boy who is currently paralyzed from the waist down after being hit by a stray bullet while attending a piano lesson on January 10th, 2008. Chris and his family face a difficult road ahead. A fraternal motorcycle club of local law-enforcement officers is donating some of the proceeds from its fifth annual open house and poker run Sunday to Christopher Rodriguez and his family. Click here for the story

So I read this article tonight, and I myself am starting to think they are passing officers through too quickly. The full story by SF Gate Below: Oakland officer hit with second wrongful-death lawsuit Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, September 15, 2008 09-15) 18:39 PDT OAKLAND -- The family of an unarmed man who was shot and killed by two Oakland police officers on New Year's Eve 2007 filed a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the city Monday. Officers Hector Jimenez, who shot another unarmed man to death this past July, and Jessica Borello killed 20-year-old Andrew Moppin-Buckskin at 47th Avenue and International Boulevard after he ran from his car following a traffic stop, police said. Moppin-Buckskin was not armed, but the officers believed he had been reaching for his waistband, police have said. The officers shot him numerous times "while he was unarmed and was not posing and threat of deadly force or serious bodily harm," said the wrongful-

I quite literally stumbled over this video just a few seconds ago before I viewed it, and was shocked. You've got to see it. It charges -- via the words of Oakland Post Publisher and long-time Oaklander Paul Cobb that in late 2007, The Oakland Police were less concerned with investigating the murder of Chancey Bailey, than "getting" Your Black Muslim Bakery. There are other comments by Cobb, who stated that "We know what happened to Chauncey. He was stalked and targeted." Cobb also informs that the organization Bailey was investigating at the time was not Your Black Muslim Bakery, but The Oakland Police. Here's the video:

Catholic Charities' Crisis Response and Support Network (CRSN) is in urgent need of volunteers to serve as First Responder Crisis Counselors - providing compassionate support to the families and friends of homicide victims in Oakland. These volunteers are the heart and soul of their support system for homicide survivors. They respond to calls from the Oakland Police Department and CRSN First Responder Team Leaders and go the scene of homicides, hospitals and the homes of survivors to provide immediate support in the first hours following the traumatic death of a loved one. They are part of what we call a "ministry of presence" and are trained to provide information that helps families understand what is going in, but most of all they function as a compassionate friend offering practical support. First Responders are "on-call" during hours they identify but must be prepared to respond to a call-out and arrive at the designated location within 30-45 minutes. Volun

According to ResistRacism and SF Gate , the City of Oakland will pay $2 million to settle a case where Oakland Police Officer Richard Valerga sexually harrassed 16 Asian American women under the color of his role as police officer. Hopefully, the officer spends six-months in jail at least. But here's his lawyer's argument against that: When Valerga entered his no contest plea, his criminal defense attorney, Paul Brennan, said he could ask that Valerga not receive any jail time because he has no criminal history and had distinguished records as a police officer for six years and as a member of the U.S. Navy. The problem with this argument is the officer's admission of "no contest" is that it throws open to question just what he was doing during his six years of police work, and how many other women were harrassed -- I don't mean comments, but GROPING -- over that time? Come to think of it. What was he doing in the U.S. Navy?

Yesterday, I was tipped off by an Oakland Resident that the Oakland Police have been wiretapping now-former Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Edgerly and say that the resulting evidence is incrminating. Now, I can't, as of this writing confirm this. It may be a couple of police officers trying to score points with an influential person, but I'm taking the claim seriously. Why? Well because it comes from people -- Oakland Police -- who can do it. I found this analysis of current California law, which reads: Both federal and California law enforcement officials may eavesdrop on and record telephone conversations without a court order under the so-called "one party consent provision" (18 USC 2511(2)(s); California Penal Code 633). In other words, if state or federal authorities have the consent of one party to a conversation (such as a government informant), the conversation may be monitored. This provision applies only to eavesdropping by law enforcement official

I appreciate that you are friends with Deborah Edgerly , and take your comments with that grain of salt. I also agree that there is no doubt more to this story, and it may play out in her favor. We will all have to see what happens, and I for one await further insights and will suspend judgment. However, 2 thinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifgs regarding her being a scapegoat for nepotism: 1. Just because it happens a lot doesn't make it right. You know this, as does everyone who's made it out of the 3rd grade. 2. I'm trying to think of anyone else who could or WOULD call the OPD repeatedly to make sure that their child gets preferential treatment. Can't think of anyone. Certainly no elected official would risk that - assuming that they carried that much political weight. And certainly only a few appointed individuals have the clout to force something like that. So to suggest that everyone does it strikes me as a bit of a mis-characterization. At least you're

What I find so "funny" -- and by that I mean strange -- about the entire rush to oust Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly , is that she not only does have the City Charter-endowed right to impact what City staff -- including the police department -- but she'e being scapegoated for an action that certain City Council members have been known for: calling city staff to have them act on something. The difference is that Miss E can do that, but City Councilmembers can't do that. But it happens on a regular basis. I think this is a real flaw in the City Charter in that Councilmembers should be able to have some sway over what is done by City Staff, but only to a certain extent. But the fact is that at least one Councilmember was known to call city staffers and push through contracts for relatives. That's a fact. The East Bay Express , and some other bloggers just don't know Oakland at all.

UPDATE: Deborah Edgerly Protected By Oakland City Charter UPDATE: Chip Johnson's Right About Favoritism in Oakland UPDATE: Delums Fires Edgerly UPDATE: Rumor: Oakland Police Wiretapped Deborah Edgerly UPDATE: John Russo and Courtney Ruby present reform package There's a bit too much desire to throw Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly under the bus regarding her alledged interference with a police investigation of an Oakland Gang. Knowing "Miss E" as I have since 1993, I'm going to come to her defense. In 15 years I'm never known Miss E to do anything but play by the book. Sometimes that's frustrated my efforts, particularly when I worked to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland, but even in my worst moments during that time between 1999 and 2001, I understood her position. But I've always respected and regarded her as a custodian of the City's budget and procedures. So this new story sound like just that -- I don't believe for

East Bay Blog reports... Over 100 gathered in front of Oakland City Hall for a demonstration and march in Oakland on October 22, joining with people in cities across the country on the “National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation." The largest group of participants were the families and friends of those who had been murdered by the police, who marched behind a banner which read “Stolen Lives: Killed by Law Enforcement." There were many family and friends of of Gary King, Jr., a 20-year-old youth who was murdered by police on September 20. Gary King was grabbed by the dreadlocks, brutalized, tasered and shot in the back by officer Patrick Gonzales, who had mistaken King for someone else. Gonzeles, who has been responsible for shooting several other young Black men in the last few years, stood with his foot in Gary’s back as he lay dying on the ground.

Over at Tagami Vision, Phil's got a great video interview with Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker. In this series on crime, Chief Tucker gives us a view on how the Oakland Police work to fight crime in Oakland.