Crime
Fifteen years ago, Dan McNevin and two other men sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, alleging that a priest at a church in Niles had abused them as children. At first, McNevin felt validated. It seemed like he might finally get justice and hold the diocese accountable. As he told the press at the time, going public and confronting what had happened seemed like the only way to move forward. Then the backlash followed. “I was ridiculed. I was…
About two years ago, when Xochtil Larios was in Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro, she decided to do more than just participate in classes and programs. “I didn’t feel like it was enough for me. I felt like the girls in there deserved better,” she said. During a session on vision boarding, Larios met staff members from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), an Oakland nonprofit that works to empower young people affected by the criminal justice…
After more than five hours of public comment and heated debate, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to approve nearly all of an ad hoc committee’s recommendations to demilitarize the county’s controversial Urban Shield annual training program. They voted 4-0 to eliminate SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) deployment exercises and the event’s weaponry and military gadget show, shifting the focus of the training event to natural disaster preparedness. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office launched the annual Urban…
Oakland activists Lead to Life melt guns into shovels and use them to plant trees.
In the September, 2017, death of Marcellus Toney, there is one thing that is undeniable: He died in police custody after he was hit by a Taser. But exactly why he died and who is liable for his death is still unclear.
Incarceration doesn’t just affect the incarcerated, it alters the lives of their loved ones as well. Families struggle to maintain these relationships because of the financial and emotional burdens that the prison system places on them.
Community Works is a nonprofit organization in Oakland that provides services for formerly incarcerated people. These include parenting classes and groups that help men discuss ways they can overcome “toxic” masculine behaviors. For the past year, Community Works has hosted a weekly “restorative justice circle,” also known as a “citizens’ circle,” in their office for people who have been paroled after initially being sentenced to life in prison. There are two separate groups that meet on Tuesday and Wednesday nights to…
Fresh Lifelines for Youth’s Law Program offers Oakland high school students a unique opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system and how it might affect them in their own lives.
Captain Tony Jones of the Oakland Police Department spoke at a city council meeting in September about the number of abandoned cars in East Oakland. A large number of the homeless people who live in their cars have complained that their cars, which serve as their shelters, are being towed.