Crime
Emergency responders say they need to practice real-world scenarios in order to be prepared for whatever comes their way. However, the community is on edge about some of the tactics police use and want the exercises to end.
A new study released this month suggests that Ceasefire, Oakland’s primary violent crime reduction strategy, is working.
Oakland woman accusing Lyft driver of attempted kidnapping petitions for changes to ride-sharing app
Bay Area women make a strong case for ride-sharing app changes, informed by harrowing personal experience.
Last year in June, East Bay-resident Dieudonné Brou graduated from UCLA in African American studies. During his commencement speech, he revealed himself as formerly incarcerated. Even though higher education offers a chance to break the cycle of recidivism, barriers like financial difficulties and social stigma are high for formerly incarcerated people.
Notary fraud is a common set-up in which notaries unlawfully give legal advice to immigrants, and in many cases, pretend to be immigration attorneys. The scam often involves the notary reviewing a victim’s case, choosing which legal documents are appropriate for their case, helping complete these documents, and submitting them to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Office—all acts only lawyers have the authority to do.
Immigration experts and advocates say that notary fraud is one of the biggest issues facing the undocumented community. “It is also a big problem in the East Bay and surrounding areas in Northern California,” said Barbara Pinto, an immigration senior staff attorney at the Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal service agency for immigrants’ rights, located in Oakland.
On February 27, the Supreme Court overturned a 2013 ruling that allowed immigrants who have been detained for at least six months the right to periodic bond hearings. The decision is concerning for many immigrant advocates, including Oakland-based nonprofit Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC). The organization provides “culturally competent” support and services to Asian Pacific Islander prisoners and the formerly incarcerated population. They’re worried that without the right to a bond hearing, many will remain detained indefinitely, including those seeking…
Every sunny weekend since mid-January, volunteers have been building houses for the unsheltered residents of a local homeless encampment called The Village. Despite construction being pushed back due to rain, they are almost ready to move their first resident into a home. The Village is an activist-led group that’s been working to provide transitional housing to the homeless by building tiny homes on a plot of land at East 12th Street and 23rd Avenue, under a highway overpass in Oakland….
Monday night local and international support groups gathered to discuss decriminalizing sex work and protecting workers’ rights.