City Government

Residents Say City Must Keep an Eye on Police Surveillance

Published

10 years ago

May 29, 2015

Oakland residents are strongly advocating for a citywide privacy policy that would monitor the use of a surveillance system used to collect and monitor data, respond to emergencies and crime in the City of Oakland, unanimously passed by the Public Safety Committee this week.

The Port Doman Awareness Center (DAC) is currently limited to use at the Port of Oakland and applies technology systems to respond to emergencies, crime and maritime related operations.

This new privacy policy would expand the DAC to monitor and respond to emergency and criminal activity citywide with oversight and reporting requirements.

Strongly supported by community members, the recommendation from the city’s Ad Hoc Privacy Committee calls for the City Council to create a permanent Privacy Policy Advisory Committee that would oversee citywide use of the DAC.

Speakers at Tuesday’s Public Safety meeting urged the council to make sure the policy has teeth.

“This has to be an enforceable policy – a policy or resolution (by itself) is useless,” said Brian Hofer, chair of the Ad Hoc Privacy Committee, noting that the city in the past did not comply with approved policies.

“We built the audits and compliance reporting so that it must happen and that trust will be established over the use of this equipment,” he said.

Allowable uses of the DAC would include situations such as: active shooter, bomb or explosion, hostage situation, major emergency, missing or abducted person, power outage, street racing/side show, and a list of many others.

The Oakland Police Department (OPD) recommended adding protests and special events to the list.

Referring to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, OPD’s Captain David Downing said, “Nationwide, as far as what has happened out there, we want the ability to monitor events, and if nothing happens, the video is destroyed.”

Also at Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, councilmembers approved a joint workspace with the FBI’s Violent Criminal Threat Section in OPD’s administration building.

FBI personnel would partner with OPD on a Safe Streets Taskforce, dedicating 10 FBI agents to work with the department’s Criminal Investigation Division. OPD would allocate $63,000 to cover costs of equipment, furniture, and network security.

The privacy policy goes to the City Council on June 2.

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

3 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.