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OP-ED: “We’ve Let The Dogs Out!”

Published

9 years ago

August 28, 2015

By Jesse Douglas Allen Taylor

If you live in or visit Oakland neighborhoods like the Elmhurst District—what folks refer to as “Deep East Oakland”—you’re used to police helicopters hovering in the general airspace above you for periods of time.

Mostly they appear during police chases, swinging around in wide circles, searching the ground below for suspects.

It’s become such a common flatlands occurrence that—like triggered car alarms—you hardly notice them any more.

I’m not certain exactly when they began, but his summer I’ve begun noticing that OPD’s helicopter corps have added a new “service” that has certainly gotten our attention.

I don’t know the official name, but you can call them “Public Beware Notices From The Air.”

Instead of simply silently circling, observing, and communicating to officers involved in the chase, where, now, under certain circumstances, the helicopter police have begun blaring out warning announcements to the public below through some sort of loudspeaker or bullhorn system.

As far as I can guess, the warning/announcements are repeated over and over, and go something like: “Stay in your house!” “We’ve set police dogs loose!” “Stand still if you see them! Do not run from the dogs or they will bite you!”

Anyway, there are certainly more disturbing things that could be shouted at you from out of the sky on a summer afternoon, but I can’t think of many more disconcerting than “Watch out! We’ve let the dogs out!”, since there is an implicit message that regular residents, not just the suspects, are in danger of a dog attack.

The police helicopters—or OPD’s regular on-the-ground forces, rarely bother to tell residents to stay inside when a “regular” non-dog search is going on.

Therefore, the assumption has to be made that the dogs pose a danger to civilians and suspects alike, and that the dogs have a difficulty in differentiating between the running suspect that the police are seeking and a running resident who is simply scared as hell of a loosed police dog.

And if that’s not true, why make the helicopter announcements in the first place?

You have to understand that these warning/announcements don’t come at you from the kind of state-of-the-art sound system like you see at a Coliseum concert.

The sound is somewhat garbled and inarticulate, even during the time when it’s coming from directly above. And, of course, the police helicopters, during a chase, are rarely simply hanging in the air in one place.

Instead, they generally travel in a wide circle around a designated collection of city blocks, so that sometimes the warning/announcements are directed towards you, sometimes away.

You can’t hear it clearly at all while you’re inside, so you have to go out in the yard to get a good listen, and even then it’s difficult to translate.

Before I finally figured what the police were trying to tell us, it took several passes and repeats, some careful listening, and consultation with neighbors and passersby to figure out what was being broadcast.

And that doesn’t account for residents who don’t hear the messages at all because they’re watching television inside or listening to music outside, or they’re hard of hearing, and, therefore, wander out into the “danger zone” uninformed.

Meantime, the Elmhurst District—like most Oakland neighborhoods—has a high number of people who are non-English speakers. In Elmhurst’s case, it’s folks whose native language is Spanish.

The helicopter dog warnings are given in English-only, and, as I’ve explained above, not in the type of English you’d be subject to in an ESL class or on a Rosetta Stone disk.

It appears, therefore, that anyone within the dogs-turned-loose area who is not sufficiently proficient in understanding spoken (or, more particularly, bullhorn-shouted) English is pretty much shit-out-of-luck.

A second thought. When I was growing up in the Cold War era of the 1950’s, we had periodic air raid simulations at school to prepare us for what to do in a possible nuclear bomb attack.

An air horn would blare out from somewhere, and we would all duck under our desks and cover our heads.

After a certain period of time, the horn would give out an “all clear” blast, by which we knew that the test was over, and we could all get out from under our desks and resume our schoolwork.

The OPD helicopter dog-warnings, on the other hand, come with no “all clear” announcement.

After a time, the warnings simply stop. You’re left to figure out for yourself if that means the police dogs are gone and its safe to go outside again.

The OPD helicopter police dog-warnings tell residents to stay in our homes because police dogs have been loosed, but what about those residents who are out and about in the street when the announcements come?

Presumably, if you happen to be on International Boulevard or certain portions of Bancroft or MacArthur, you can duck into a store or restaurant for the time being.

But what if you’re out on one of the side streets, far from your house, when you hear the dog-warning?

The Elmhurst is not the sort of place these days where you can simply run up to a stranger’s house, knock on the door, and get safety inside because police dogs are running around in the street.

That leads directly into a final set of questions.

First, who in their right mind thought it was good idea in the first place to let police dogs off their leashes in any Oakland residential neighborhood or commercial district, dogs that, presumably, have difficulty seeing the difference between residents and suspects, but are a danger to chase anyone who runs?

Second—and you knew this one was coming—we know that suspects rob and shoot in the hills as well as the flats.

Does that mean that the loosed police dogs—and the accompanying helicopter warnings—are carried out in the Grand Avenue-Lakeshore district and the Laurel and along Broadway in the uptown or College Avenue, for example, or is this simply a Lower Bottoms and Fruitvale District and Deep East Oakland affair?

I suppose we can assume that Oakland police have been using loosed police dogs in their chases and searches for some time.

Perhaps police officials think that adding the helicopter announcements is a step forward, constituting “fair warning” to non-suspect residents. It’s a warning, yes. But hardly fair.

Courtesy of CounterPoints- http://www.safero.org/counterpoints/counterpoints056.html

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Arts and Culture

Rise East Project: Part 3

Between 1990 and 2020, Oakland lost nearly half of its Black population due to economic and social forces. East Oakland, once a middle-class community, is now home to mostly Black families living in poverty.

Published

11 months ago

October 12, 2023

Oakland Post

CEO of Black Culture Zone Carolyn Johnson, a native from Deep East Oakland is making the change she wishes to see in her community and in her people. Black Culture Zone has created a power base of Black folks making a difference in Deep East Oakland. Photo by Kumi Rauf.

The Black Cultural Zone’s Pivotal Role in Rebuilding Oakland’s Black Community

By Tanya Dennis

In 2021, 314 Oakland residents died from COVID-19. More than 100 of them, or about 33.8%, were Black, a high rate of death as Blacks constitute only 22.8% of Oakland’s population.

This troubling fact did not go unnoticed by City and County agencies, and the public-at-large, ultimately leading to the development of several community organizations determined to combat what many deemed an existential threat to Oakland’s African American residents.

Eastside Arts Alliance had already proposed that a Black Cultural Zone be established in Deep East Oakland in 2010, but 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic galvanized the community.

Demanding Black legacy preservation, the Black Cultural Zone (BCZ) called for East Oakland to be made an “unapologetically Black” business, commercial, economic development community.

Established initially as a welcoming space for Black art and culture, BCZ emerged into a a community development collective, and acquired the Eastmont police substation in Eastmont Town Center from the City of Oakland in 2020.

Once there, BCZ immediately began combating the COVID-19 pandemic with drive-thru PPE distribution and food giveaways. BCZ’s Akoma Market program allowed businesses to sell their products and wares safely in a COVID-compliant space during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Currently, Akoma Market is operated twice a month at 73^rd and Foothill Boulevard and Akoma vendors ‘pop up’ throughout the state at festivals and community-centered events like health fairs.

“Before BCZ existed, East Oakland was a very depressing place to live,” said Ari Curry, BCZ’s chief experience officer and a resident of East Oakland. “There was a sense of hopelessness and not being seen. BCZ allows us to be seen by bringing in the best of our culture and positive change into some of our most depressed areas.”

The culture zone innovates, incubates, informs, and elevates the Black community and centers it in arts and culture, Curry went on.

“With the mission to center ourselves unapologetically in arts, culture, and economics, BCZ allows us to design, resource, and build on collective power within our community for transformation,” Curry concluded.

As a part of Oakland Thrives, another community collective, BCZ began working to secure $100 million to develop a ‘40 by 40’ block area that runs from Seminary Avenue to the Oakland-San Leandro border and from MacArthur Boulevard to the Bay.

The project would come to be known as Rise East.

Carolyn Johnson, CEO of BCZ says, “Our mission is to build a vibrant legacy where we thrive economically, anchored in Black art and commerce. The power to do this is being realized with the Rise East Project.

“With collective power, we are pushing for good health and self-determination, which is true freedom,” Johnson says. “BCZ’s purpose is to innovate, to change something already established; to incubate, optimizing growth and development, and boost businesses’ economic growth with our programs; we inform as we serve as a trusted source of information for resources to help people; and most important, we elevate, promoting and boosting Black folks up higher with the services we deliver with excellence.

“Rise East powers our work in economics, Black health, education, and power building. Rise East is the way to get people to focus on what BCZ has been doing. The funding for the 40 by 40 Rise East project is funding the Black Culture Zone,” Johnson said.

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Alameda County

Help Protect D.A. Pamela Price’s Victory

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is asking supporters of the justice reform agenda that led her to victory last November to come to a Town Hall on public safety at Montclair Presbyterian Church on July 27.

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2023

Oakland Post

D.A. Pamela Price

By Post Staff

Price is facing a possible recall election just six months into her term by civic and business interests, some of whom will be at the in-person meeting from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at 5701 Thornhill Dr. in Oakland.

“We know that opponents of criminal justice reform plan to attend this meeting and use it as a forum against the policies that Alameda County voters mandated DA Price to deliver. We cannot let them succeed,” her campaign team’s email appeal said.

“That’s why I’m asking you to join us at the town hall,” the email continued. “We need to show up in force and make sure that our voices are heard.”

Price’s campaign is also seeking donations to fight the effort to have her recalled.

Her history-making election as the first African American woman to hold the office had been a surprise to insiders who had expected that Terry Wiley, who served as assistant district attorney under outgoing D.A. Nancy O’Malley, would win.

Price campaigned as a progressive, making it clear to voters that she wanted to curb both pretrial detention and life-without-parole sentences among other things. She won, taking 53% of the vote.

Almost immediately, Price was challenged by some media outlets as well as business and civic groups who alleged, as she began to fulfill those campaign promises, that she was soft on crime.

On July 11, the recall committee called Save Alameda for Everyone (S.A.F.E.) filed paperwork with the county elections office to begin raising money for the next step toward Price’s ouster: gathering signatures of at least 10% of the electorate.

S.A.F.E. has its work cut out for them, but Price needs to be prepared to fight them to keep her office.

In a separate sponsored letter to voters, Price supporters wrote:

“We know that you supported DA Price because you believe in her vision for a more just and equitable Alameda County. We hope you share our belief that our criminal justice system has to be fair to everyone, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status.

“The Republican-endorsed effort is a blatant attempt to overturn the will of the voters and a waste of time and money. It is an attempt to silence the voices of those who want real justice. We cannot let these election deniers succeed.

“Will you make a donation today to help us protect the win?

“Please watch this video and share it with your friends and family. We need to stand up to the sore losers and protect the win. Together, we can continue to make Alameda County a more just, safe and equitable place for everyone.”

For more information, go to the website: pamelaprice4da.com
or send an e-mail to info@pamelaprice4da.com

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Bay Area

Oakland Teachers Walk Out

After negotiating late into the night and months of fruitless bargaining with the Oakland Unified School District, Oakland teachers went out on strike Thursday morning. “Our (50-member) bargaining team has been working for seven months working, making meaningful proposals that will strengthen our schools for our students,” said Oakland Education Association (OEA) Interim President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz, speaking at press conference Monday afternoon.

Published

1 year ago

May 12, 2023

Oakland Post

Gearing up for this week's strike, Oakland parents, students, educators and families at United for Success Academy held a press conference April 28 to explain why they are standing together for a safer building and stable and racially justified schools. Photo courtesy of Oakland Education Association.

OEA calls unfair labor practices strike after 7 months of negotiations.

By Ken Epstein

After negotiating late into the night and months of fruitless bargaining with the Oakland Unified School District, Oakland teachers went out on strike Thursday morning.

“Our (50-member) bargaining team has been working for seven months working, making meaningful proposals that will strengthen our schools for our students,” said Oakland Education Association (OEA) Interim President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz, speaking at press conference Monday afternoon.

“OUSD has repeatedly canceled bargaining sessions, has failed to offer meaningful proposals or counterproposals at a majority of the bargaining sessions and has repeatedly failed to discuss certain items,” Armendariz said.

“The days (of bargaining) have been long, and after hours of waiting, the superintendent finally showed up on Sunday night at 11:00 p.m.to meet with our team (for the first time),” he said. “(But) the district continues to come to the table unprepared, and this is unacceptable.”

“This is illegal, and OEA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Under California law, OEA has a right to strike over unfair labor practices,” he said.

OEA represents 3,000 teachers, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, early childhood educators, nurses, adult education instructors and substitute teachers, serving 35,000 Oakland public school students. Other labor groups representing school employees include SEIU 1021 and construction unions.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, OUSD said it has been trying to avert a strike.

“The district will remain ready to meet with the teachers’ union at any time and looks forward to continuing our efforts to reach an agreement with OEA … We will continue to do everything possible to avoid a work stoppage.”

“Our children’s education does not need to be interrupted by negotiations with our union, especially given the major offer the District made on Monday,” other district press statements said. “We are committed to continuing to work with our labor leaders to discuss their salaries and support services for our students without the need for a strike.”

OUSD’s latest salary proposal, released this week, includes a 10% raise retroactive to Nov. 1, 2022, and a $5,000, one-time payment to all members.

OEA’s recent salary proposal asked for a 10% retroactive raise to all members, a one-time $10,000 payment to members who return for the 2023-2024 school year, and increases from $7,500 to $10,000 to salaries, based on years of experience.

In addition to pay demands, OEA is making “common good” proposals that serve families and the community, including protecting and enhancing special education programs, putting the brakes on closing schools in flatland neighborhoods, shared school leadership, safety, and support for students.