City Government
Judge Blasts Oakland for Mishandling Police Discipline
Federal Judge Thelton Henderson issued a court order this week criticizing the City of Oakland for failing to consult the court-appointed federal overseer when the City Administrator reduced the punishment for a police captain accused of striking a suspect during an arrest.
After the police chief and the federal compliance director had agreed upon a level of discipline, “The City Administrator subsequently imposed a different level of discipline without consulting the compliance director … (which) violated the orders of this court,” Henderson wrote in the order dated July 22.
Henderson said he had issued the order as a “stern reminder” to follow the terms of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA). “The court hopes this order will serve its intended prophylactic effect and that this situation will not recur,” he wrote.
“If the defendants fail to heed the court’s warning, they should expect a show cause order for future violations, which would also undermine any confidence in the sustainability of the reforms that have been and continue to be achieved,” according to Henderson.
Though Henderson did not mention details of the police discipline case, he was referring to the handling of the discipline of Capt. Ersie Joyner III for striking a suspect during an arrest in March 2013, according to reports.
In that case, Joyner was accused of inappropriate use of force when he struck Dantjuan McElroy twice in the face with his hand during the suspect’s arrest, the reports said. McElroy was charged with possessing an automatic weapon.
The department at first wanted to demote Joyner to lieutenant, according to reports. However, officials reduced the punishment to a 10-day suspension after outside experts wrote reports that cleared the officer of wrongdoing, the reports said.
When the case went to then City Administrator Fred Blackwell, he further reduced the punishment to counseling after he heard that the suspension would be reversed on appeal, without consulting the federal compliance director, the reports said.
Over the years, Capt. Joyner, a longtime high-ranking OPD officer, has been the subject of a number of internal police investigations and civil lawsuits.
City Rights Attorney John Burris is currently suing the city, Joyner and another officer for shooting and killing two men in 2011. Prosecutors have already cleared police of any wrongdoing in that case.
He was also under investigation for misconduct for approving the use of beanbag projectiles against Occupy Oakland protesters in November 2011.
In addition, Joyner faced an internal probe on how he handled the investigation into the death of Chauncey Bailey in 2007. In early 2009, Sgt. Derwin Longmire and Joyner, who was Longmire’s immediate supervisor in the Bailey case, were reassigned from the homicide detail to patrol duties in the wake of that investigation, which involved internal affairs detectives and investigators from the California Department of Justice.
Howard Jordan, then assistant police chief, told the Oakland Tribune at the time that neither move had anything to do with the Bailey case or subsequent investigations.
One of the City of Oakland’s highest paid employees, Joyner had a total compensation in 2011 of $252,286. In March 2014, he received a President’s Award for his work with Ceasefire and gang case management at a Neighborhood Champions Award ceremony.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of September 4 – 10, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 4 – 10, 2024
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 28 – September 4, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 28 – September 4, 2024
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Activism
A New Coalition Says: ‘Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!’
Opposing the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and labeling the efforts as a new form of voter suppression, the coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!” kicked off its organizing efforts last Saturday, Aug. 17, with a mass, public meeting, attended by over 100 people in East Oakland at At Thy Word Ministries Church, 8915 International Blvd. in East Oakland.
![Jess Inson, Rev. B.K. Woodson, Sr., Stewart Chen, and Mariano Contreras answer questions at the kickoff meeting of “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!,” Saturday, Aug. 17, at At Thy Word Ministries Church, 8915 International Blvd. in East Oakland. Photo by Ken Epstein.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/respect-our-vote-featured-web-1.jpg)
By Ken Epstein
A broad, diverse coalition has come together to mobilize local communities to vote against the recalls of two East Bay reform-minded leaders, who could potentially be thrown out of office in November after serving less than two years in office.
The recall effort is a result of multi-million-dollar campaigns that the coalition says are fueled by fearmongering with funding from a Piedmont financier and promoted by a public relations campaign in the corporate media.
Opposing the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and labeling the efforts as a new form of voter suppression, the coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!” kicked off its organizing efforts last Saturday, Aug. 17, with a mass, public meeting, attended by over 100 people in East Oakland at At Thy Word Ministries Church, 8915 International Blvd. in East Oakland.
Servant B.K. Woodson, Sr., pastor of the Bay Area Christian Connection in Oakland and chair of the coalition, links the surging national movement to reject the fearmongering and hateful agenda advocated by Donald Trump and the rightwing authoritarian proposals of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 to their own battle against the efforts to unseat progressive leaders in Oakland and Alameda County.
“This is a powerful moment, (and) across the nation you can feel it,” he said. “There’s joy, there’s hope, there’s expectation. We Oaklanders are at the center of the universe right now because the joy that’s bubbling up against the antipathy and the anger and the mindlessness, the battle for hope is being waged right here (against those) who profit by our poverty.”
“This is the inaugural event of ‘Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!’ because we want all people’s votes to be respected,” Pastor Woodson continued. “We are a diverse coalition, and we are open to more.”
The coalition already has the participation of the Wellstone and John George Democratic clubs, the Latino Task Force, and the Asian Americans for a Progressive Alameda, as well as active involvement of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, whites, and others, he said.
“(Together), we want to expose what’s happening,” Woodson said. “The vehicle of recall (was intended to be) a people’s device against entrenched power (but) has been co-opted by billionaires,” who have funded these campaigns.
Those attending the meeting raised concerns about Foundational Oakland Unites, a political action committee that received $605,000 from Piedmont financier Philip Dreyfuss, which contributed $480,000 to back the Sheng Thao recall.
Dreyfuss also contributed to recall Price. A political action committee, Supporters of Recall Pamela Price, which Dreyfuss helped create, received about $400,000 to pay for signature-gathering, as well as a $200,000 loan.
Other speakers at the rally included Stewart Chen, president of the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council; Carmen Peng of Asian Americans for Progressive Alameda; Jess Inson, lead organizing fellow for Oakland Rising Action; Chaney Turner, chair of the City of Oakland’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission; and Mariano Contreras, member of the Latino Task Force and co-chair of the African American Latino Action Alliance.
Contreras said in past decades, voter suppression was mostly designed to keep African Americans, immigrants, and poor people from being able to vote.
“(But) now we’re seeing a new type of voter suppression, the denial of our vote after we cast it,” he said.
“The recall process was (originally) designed to ensure that elected officials would represent the interests of their constituents. But the recall process has been hijacked by shadowy, conservative money that finds defeated candidates (and others) who are willing to deny you and me our vote as we originally cast it,” he said.
“This is a new, dangerous voter suppression that exists right here in our city,” he said, adding that: “We are seeing the use of fear and misinformation to attract spokespeople to promote attacks and charges that are nothing more than smokescreens to roll back progressive alliances that have been built in our local government.”
Chen said that there has been a “false narrative” about rampant crime, which is a “bunch of baloney.”
There have long been problems with crime in Oakland, and the recalls against Price and Thao began shortly after they were elected and before they had a chance to do much, he said. “Unequivocally, the people who lost wanted their candidates to win. These are sour grapes.”
“This is undemocratic. We have to stand together, unite together,” Chen said. “That’s why I’m here.”
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