Safety

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s plans to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for law enforcement, for the collection of photographic evidence at crime scenes, and for aerial support of emergency response operations in the county have provoked debate and raised privacy concerns among residents. The sheriff’s plan, which is currently awaiting a decision from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Public Protection Committee, continues to be a divisive subject in Oakland and Berkeley. “Traditional forms of aerial surveillance are very expensive…

A coalition of federal, state, county and Oakland law enforcement officers served over 20 search warrants and arrested at least 16 people connected to the East Oakland “Case Gang” Friday morning, as part of the city’s Operation Ceasefire.

At a special meeting of the Community Policing Advisory Board Wednesday night at Oakland City Hall, Robert Wasserman called for residents to support the crime reduction strategies being suggested by the consultants, insisting that the plan would only work if everyone in the city took part.

Affordable housing advocates gathered at Tuesday night’s Oakland City Council meeting to urge elected officials to prioritize building and funding affordable housing citywide, saying that for vulnerable groups, new projects are the difference between living on the streets or living in a home.

Federal Judge Thelton Henderson named former Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier as the new compliance director of the Oakland Police Department on Monday.

One month after a homicide forced city leaders and event organizers to question the future of Oakland’s First Friday art festival, the event returned this weekend—smaller and more low-key than past versions, but turnout was strong. The themes of the March 1 were peace and unity. People gave peace signs all night, some wore neon green t-shirts that read “Respect Our City,” and organizers held two moments of silence in honor of Kiante Campell, the 18-year-old who was shot and…

The women sat in a circle, pressing their folding chairs closely together as they laughed, clapped and listened to each other’s stories.

In January, about a month after the massacre that left 27 people dead in Newtown, Connecticut, Vice President Joe Biden met with a group of 12 religious leaders to discuss national strategies to combat gun violence. President Barack Obama, who supports background checks as well as a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazine, had tasked Biden with heading a commission to come up with recommendations on gun policy. One of the leaders present at Biden’s meeting was Pastor…

Oakland residents have a lot to say about the new Oakland Police Department crime consultant group.