Arrest of former Oakland councilmember sparks outrage at committee meeting

Tuesday night’s Oakland Public Safety Committee meeting’s main agenda item—reviewing a report about holding a special election to amend the regulations that govern the Oakland Police Commission—was initially upstaged by jarring testimony from former Councilmember Wilson Riles Jr. about his arrest last week.  Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan introduced the issue for the committee to address.…

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Oakland municipal ID, debit card program expected to roll out in January

A mock-up of the Oakland Muni ID card.

Many undocumented immigrants in Oakland, and nationally, do not have official identification that is accepted by police, banks or even some healthcare centers. But under a program expected to get underway this winter, Oakland has joined a handful of cities in creating a municipal ID—with one apparently unprecedented new component. Oakland’s Muni ID, if all goes according to plan, will also be usable as a debit card.

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