Police
Their tent encampment still intact despite a city eviction order, hundreds from the Occupy Oakland protest marched through Oakland on Saturday afternoon, stopping traffic as they waved flags, danced and chanted. The march began at Frank Ogawa Plaza, where protesters have been camping since October 11 to protest economic inequality.
Occupy Oakland protesters received their second wave of eviction notices from the City Administrator’s Office on Friday night. Despite the threat that police could force them to leave at any time, protesters continued their daily routines, which included a night of revelry at the amphitheater outside of City Hall.
It’s been 11 days since Occupy Oakland took over Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza, and now the tent city is bigger than ever and facing eviction. Over 550 people occupy Oakland’s plaza, even after they received an evacuation notice from the City Administrator’s Office on Thursday evening. Among the concerns listed on the notice are graffiti, vandalism to plaza infrastructure and “the historic tree,” and the disruption of the plaza for public use by groups who had to relocate events which had previously been scheduled at the plaza.
Amidst accusations of electioneering, the Oakland City Council approved legislation that would determine how funds from a proposed $80 parcel tax would be spent if Measure I passes next month. The legislation, authored by Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan, Councilmember Pat Kernighan (District 2) and Council President Larry Reid (District 7), determines how the $60 million collected from the tax under Measure I would be spent over the next five years, and allocates a majority of the funds toward public safety items.
More than 700 people filled the gymnasium at Laney College on Saturday for the Neighborhood Safety Summit, a day of discussions about crime and violence in Oakland hosted by Mayor Jean Quan, who presented a new crime reduction plan that she said will focus on the city’s most violent streets.
The Oakland Police Department has a new chief—at least for the next several months. Howard Jordan, formerly the department’s assistant chief, was sworn in as interim police chief at City Hall on Thursday afternoon. Jordan wore a dark gray suit and stood with his right hand raised as Mayor Jean Quan swore him in in front of an audience of about twenty officers. The ceremony ended with loud applause from the officers and a hug from Quan.
Despite the controversial nature of gang injunctions, the City of Oakland is considering implementing additional injunctions throughout the city.
At a tense press conference at City Hall shortly after delivering his letter of resignation to the City Council, Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts criticized a bureaucracy that he said failed to “let the Chief be the Chief.”
Oakland Chief of Police Anthony Batts announced his resignation Tuesday afternoon. Batts was appointed to lead the Oakland police department in 2009 and came close to leaving early this year when he was a finalist for the San Jose police chief job. Mayor Jean Quan, City Administrator Deanna Santana and Batts have scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. at at City Hall. Here is the letter released Tuesday by Oakland city officials: Dear Oakland Residents, It is with…