Uncategorized

OP-ED: Police Who Kill Must Be Held Accountable

Published

10 years ago

August 7, 2015

Oakland Post

Cat Brooks

By Cat Brooks

In the early morning hours of June 6, Demouria Hogg, a Black man and father of three, was sleeping in his vehicle at the Lakeshore Avenue exit off the 580 Freeway.

Concerned that he may be injured, a community member called paramedics.

Upon arrival, paramedics saw a gun on the passenger seat and summoned police to the scene. Police spent over an hour attempting to wake Mr. Hogg. They shot beanbags at the car, deployed a loud speaker, shone bright lights into the windows; he never so much as flinched.

Under these circumstances, a reasonable presumption would have been that Mr. Hogg was seriously injured and needed help. Instead, police broke the car window and when Mr. Hogg woke with a start, they shot him.

He was awake less than a minute before being killed.

Two weeks ago, unarmed Richard Linyard was fleeing from police. He too wound up dead. OPD’s story is that he wedged himself between two “structures” and asphyxiated.

The family of Mr. Linyard is challenging OPD’s version of events and demanding an independent autopsy.

Recently, at national conferences covered by local news, the Oakland Police Department and Mayor Libby Schaaf lauded OPD’s officer training, claiming improvements in officers’ interactions with community members.

Prior to Demouria’s murder, they publicly celebrated the fact that OPD hadn’t killed anyone in two years. But they failed to mention that in the first six months of 2015, over 100 complaints of police harassment, misconduct and abuse were reported by Oak-land residents to the Citizens’ Police Review Board.

In addition, community members had been killed by other law enforcement agencies in Oakland while OPD officers stood by, such as in the cases of Jacorey Calhoun and Guadalupe Ochoa.

And the city leaders failed to mention their recent assault on Black women and children who were peacefully marching to demand an end to the war on the lives of Black women.

We were pushed, screamed at and snatched off the street. I personally had a police officers’ forearm in my throat until the third time I told him, “I can’t breathe.”

Following the murder of Demouria Hogg, the community demanded an independent investigation and release of the surveillance tapes to the family.

These demands continue to be ignored.

If OPD wants to inspire trust in the community, a good first step would be respond-ing to community demands. If OPD officers are positive they “followed procedure,” why are they afraid of an independent investigation?

Training is not enough.

The only way police officers will stop utilizing brute force and executions as a means to “enforce the law” with Black people is when they are held accountable through fair and transparent investigations by outside investigators.

Officers who profile, beat or murder citizens must be punished with terminations, suspensions without pay and imprisonment.

As it stands now, the officers of the Oakland Police Department, like officers in every police department across the country, know with certainty, that as long as their victim is Black or Brown, their bosses, elected officials and the courts still believe that those lives don’t matter very much at all.

Cat Brooks is an actress, activist and founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. She is co-chair of ONYX and a member of Black Lives Matter-Bay Area. She lives in West Oakland with her family. You can follower her on Twitter @CatsCommentary.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.