Police

Oakland reacts to grand jury decision in Ferguson shooting with protests, freeway shutdown

A crowd of protesters filled downtown Oakland Monday night in reaction to the decision by a grand jury in St. Louis, Missouri, not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. By 5:50 pm, a crowd of several hundred had gathered in the intersection of Broadway and 14th Street in downtown Oakland. A group of people briefly tried to enter the 880 freeway at the Jackson Street entrance, but were turned away by police officers without incident. The crowd…

OPD squad car of fallen officer revamped into Oakland’s first police low rider

“This is Jose,” said Captain Steven Tull of Oakland’s Police Department (OPD) District 4. “He doesn’t think about himself — he thinks about others.” Jose Ortiz, a longtime community organizer in the Fruitvale district, smiled humbly as he was honored in many testimonies delivered by attendees at his appreciation event last Saturday evening inside the gym of the Manzanita Recreation Center. Ortiz’s business partner Big Lou Feliciano and members of his Street Inspiration Low Rider Car Club were joined by…