Safety

Night shift workers speak out against sexual assault

Leticia Soto—single mother, undocumented worker and rape survivor—stood in the auditorium at the Oakland State Building and addressed the crowd. In one hand, Soto clasped a placard reading: “When you’re alone at night, no one can hear you.” In the other, she gripped the microphone. “Just because I’m an immigrant or just because I’m a janitor does not mean I need to live in fear of being raped,” she said. Soto, along with sexual assault support groups and a union…

Anti-violence organization serves deaf community survivors

Any deaf visitors will be directed to DeafHope, which focuses specifically on providing services to victims of domestic violence in that community. “We just feel like there really is a need,” says Aracelia Aguilar, an empowerment director with DeafHope, speaking through a relay interpreter via phone. “And we can see how people are trying to survive. There’s such limited communication.”

DeafHope was founded in 2003 by Julie Rems-Smario along with eight other women, who recognized there was a need for specialized services. Previously, says Rems-Smario, also speaking through a relay interpreter, in domestic violence cases, it was often easier for survivors to stay in an abusive home where the abuser knew sign language than to access services available for sexual assault or domestic violence victims, which were designed for the hearing community.

Men Creating Peace works to reduce domestic violence in Alameda County

Men Creating Peace (MCP) is one of the few domestic violence organizations in Alameda County specifically geared towards men. Founded in 2009, the organization aims to help men who’ve been involved in violent acts adopt coping mechanisms so that they can develop healthier relationships with partners, family and their community.

OPD chief points to reduction in police uses of force

At a meeting of the Oakland City Council’s public safety committee Tuesday night, Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent pointed to a “very significant” reduction in uses of force by police. He said new policies, training and body cameras all contributed to the reduction.

Will a controversial FEMA plan to cut eucalyptus reduce the danger of another hills firestorm?

In over 40 years working at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Mike Martin, now Alameda County battalion chief, has never seen anything like October 20, 1991 in the hills east of Oakland and Berkeley. “Extreme fire conditions, high-velocity wind,” Martin recalls. The 20 to 30 miles per hour winds, with gusts of up to 40, blew west through narrow East Bay canyons stricken by drought and a heavy frost the previous winter that killed thousands of non-native…