Police
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…
Oakland drivers on Interstate 580 had a scary encounter with a police pursuit of a stolen Honda Accord Saturday morning, as the driver sped down the wrong side of the highway. The suspect and a police officer, whose names have not yet been released, were injured in the high-speed chase. Both received medical attention. Two Oakland North reporters, en route to Lakeview Elementary for a school closures community gathering, narrowly missed a head-on collision with the wrong-way Honda on Interstate…
Dozens of Oakland residents approached the podium at the city council meeting Tuesday night to voice their displeasure with three items on the agenda intended to curb violence in the city – an anti-loitering law, a teen curfew, and more gang injunctions. However, the council deferred voting on these measures by sending them to the public safety committee for more in-depth review. Proponents of these hotly-debated items argue they would be valuable tools for the Oakland Police Department to clamp…
In Oakland, the city attorney represents the city government, advising its departments on legal matters and ensuring that city officials are constitutionally sound in their practices. When former City Attorney John Russo left his position in June before completing his third term to become the city manager of Alameda, Barbara Parker became the woman for the job. Parker had worked in the city attorney’s office for 20 years, serving as chief assistant city attorney for 10. She is a graduate…
City Council’s Public Safety Committee approved a contract renewal during a meeting on Tuesday to install a new version of the sound monitors that would help police pinpoint gunshots in Oakland. With the Shotspotter technology, the Oakland Police Department will receive notifications of gunshots and explosives through devices installed on rooftops across the city.
Carrying signs that read, “Execute Justice not People,” and hoisting a large peace sign embellished with yellow, pink, and white flowers, about 40 people gathered Friday at Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland to protest the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia.
Mayor Jean Quan and Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts joined forces Thursday to respond publicly to a federal judge’s warnings about possible unjustified use of force of Oakland police officers.
Kindergarten and first grade students gathered in the auditorium of Horace Mann Elementary Wednesday afternoon cheered as Oakland Police officers handed teachers a special community policing accessory—four brown teddy bears, with blue bows tied around their necks.