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Remember our blog post featuring a chilling video showing how Oakland Unified School District Police Chief Art Michel verbally abused and detained Oakland Tribune photographer Jane Tyska? To refresh, Chief Michel claims that Tyska hit his police cruiser with her camera, where Tyska says she did not and indeed, the video shows that she was making a video of a protest. Michel used his claim to launch a verbally abusive tirade against Tyska, an event that he's reportedly very remorseful about.   (If you've not seen the video, it's here: Well, I just talked with a good friend of mine who will not be revealed, and who reports that this episode was not the first time Tyska has had a "run-in" -- as my friend put it -- with Art Michel. My source is not clear regarding the reasons for Michel's dislike for Tyska, but it's clear he's got something against her. My source also personally has known Police Chief Michel for some time but has n

Oakland Tribune photographer Jane Tyska was just doing her job when an Oakland Police Officer named Art Michel alledgedly hit Tyska as she was filming.  It's too bad Jane didn't get a shot of the car as it went by -- I'd have done that right off.  But it's clear the Oakland Police are developing a kind of track record of hostility to the press.  First there's the matter of Chauncey Bailey, then there's this issue of the way Jane was treated and detained. Police should consider journalists as off-limits to their treatment.  To treat someone the way Michel handled Jane, who I know, is not only terrible, it should be grounds for dismissal.  I view it as interfering with a journalist's job, just as a police officer has the right to charge a person who keeps them from doing their job.  It's obvious Officer Michel was being unnecessarily harsh with Tyska.  He should be forced to at the very least apologize to Jane.  Michel was out of line.  He

In the matter of determining just really who murdered Chauncey Bailey last year and why, I just talked with another source who personally w as ups et 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

Van Jones is an Oakland-based author, activist, and spokesperghts who's known for his work in civil rights and against violence in Oakland. But I went to talk with him about his newest work: a book he wrote called The Green Collar Economy.

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?

I agree that we need more police, but will people vote for a new tax in this economic climate?  I guess is "yes."   Here's the Tribune  ... Oakland chamber backs tax to boost city police force By Kelly Rayburn Oakland Tribune Article Last Updated: 10/02/2008 11:00:57 PM PDT OAKLAND — Measure NN, the city's ballot measure to impose a parcel tax in exchange for more police officers, will have the support this fall of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, whose CEO called it key to attracting business and changing the perception of Oakland as an unsafe city. The ballot measure would add 105 police officers and 75 police services technicians over a three-year period. It would also mandate use of a new crime-data management system. "The chamber has been a vocal and consistent advocate for improving public safety," chamber Chief Executive Officer Joe Haraburda said in a statement. "Getting more cops on the street will help reduce crime, increase inc

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