Community

Community, Rebecca Kaplan Call for OPD to Stop the Criminalization of Oakland Youth

Published

5 years ago

December 23, 2020

Kiki

On December 15, the Oakland Police Media Unit sent out a press release using inflammatory language to spread what the chief said she “hoped” would be “alarm” about “juveniles committing violent crimes in Oakland.”

The release says that there has been a recent spate of carjackings and robberies by children who range in age from 11 to 16 years old who are armed. The stolen vehicles are then used to commit further crimes. Readers are then advised to be aware of their surroundings, be aware when entering and exiting their vehicles and avoid distractions like their cell phones.

Calling it an active investigation, Interim Police Chief Susan E. Manheimer said “it is my hope that everyone is alarmed by the fact that it appears these violent acts are being committed by middle-school-age youth.”

The release contained no data, information or recommendations regarding their claims. It included language that has been associated with the criminalization of youth, especially Black and Brown youth.

This has caused serious concerns among community members and advocates, who have sent a letter to Oakland leaders (link) stating:

“This type of language exemplifies the well-documented ‘adultification’ of youth of color, and Black youth in particular… it is not difficult to hear the dog whistle that was so prevalent at the height of the “super-predator” era, which has long-been debunked.”

Council President Rebecca Kaplan supports the community letter, and is urging a more productive response towards our youth, and seeks answers to key questions and unsubstantiated claims from the OPD press release.

In addition to OPD’s criminalizing language towards children, the press release states OPD is collaborating “with the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP)… getting juveniles(sic) much-needed resources.” However, the release contains no information about any resources they are providing for youth. It also says that OPD is collaborating with the Alameda County Probation Dept.

When Kaplan sought more information, the Dept. of Violence Prevention was unable to identify any resources that have been or are being provided for youth violence prevention as OPD claimed.

In fact, the Administration recently proposed to fully eliminate all youth violence prevention program funding, without any funding sources for it, and defended the cuts by claiming that youth crime was quite low (link). Thus far, no one has been able to substantiate the claim that OPD is getting youth “much-needed resources” as stated in OPD’s press release.

Kaplan stated, “We need to make sure not to stereotype and harm struggling young people, but instead to make sure we are providing, rather than eliminating, vitally needed violence-prevention and jobs programs for Oakland’s youth.” There are additional questions (Kaplan’s office is) asking the OPD Chief, city administrator, and mayor that they should have to answer: – If the Chief is worried about a crime trend and wants to propose solutions, why wasn’t this release, or any proposals regarding it, sent to the Council? Was it sent to the mayor? The Police Commission?

-What are the specific resources they are providing for youth, as they claim they are doing?

– Who, specifically, was involved in writing and approving of this release?

– What was the purpose and intention of sending it?

– What specific crime data is it based on?

– Who approved the quote from the chief? Why is it appropriate for a city public safety leader to say that they “hope everyone is alarmed” about “juvenile crime” while not proposing any strategies nor providing any data? Was the intent simply to inflame the public?”

Kimberly Jones is chief of staff to Oakland City Council President Kaplan.

Kiki

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

19 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke