Judge Threatens OPD Sanctions For ‘Military-Type Response’ To Occupy Protests

Yesterday, a federal judge ordered Oakland’s police department to submit a plan to address numerous unresolved complaints regarding their handling of the Occupy Oakland protests, warning that failure to comply within a week could lead to sanctions. District Judge Thelton Henderson’s mandate comes just a day after the release of a report by an outside monitor that concluded Oakland police used “an overwhelming military-type response” to Occupy’s demonstrations — the first official report to confirm Occupy Oakland’s struggles against police brutality.

The Oakland police department has received more than 1,000 misconduct complaints since the Occupy protests began, most have which have become backlogged. The department has been under court-ordered external monitoring and review since 2003, after four officers were accused of planting evidence, fabricating police reports and using excessive force. Henderson’s mandate sets strict deadlines for the department to clean up its act while continuing to comply with the reforms that stemmed from that 2003 case:

HENDERSON: It would be problematic enough if, as seems inevitable, [Oakland police’s] compliance levels were to backslide as a result of their failure to address the Occupy Oakland complaints in a timely fashion. Such failures would be further indication that, despite the changed leadership at the City of Oakland and its police department, [Oakland police] might still lack the will, capacity, or both to complete the reforms to which they so long ago agreed. The court will consider appropriate sanctions, including the imposition of daily or weekly monetary sanctions, until compliance is achieved.

On October 25, police attempted to subdue protesters with heavy-handed tactics such as rubber bullets, flash grenades, and smoke bombs — and ended up injuring an Iraq War veteran in the process. The Oakland police department later rejected an ACLU public records request to investigate the October events, and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s legal adviser resigned in outrage over the city’s treatment of the Occupy protesters.

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Riot police are present at the FTP march in Oakland. 

Occupy Oakland is having a FTP march. *Watch live*

From: Jordan, Howard
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2011 12:13 PM
To: Harmon, Reygan
Cc: Santana, Deanna; Orologas, Alexandra
Subject: FW: City of Oakland Weekly Crime Report: 24-30 Oct 2011

 

Fyi. Not sure how you want to share this GOOD news with MJQ. It may be counter to our statement that the Occupy Movement is negatively impacting crime in Oakland.

Howard A. Jordan
Interim Chief of Police
Oakland Police Department

This is the Oakland Police Chief’s now-infamous email to the mayor’s office regarding a large drop in the weekly crime rate, at the same time the city was claiming the Occupy encampment was causing a spike in crime. This email is damning in itself, because it implies the city knowingly invented a false excuse for its violent eviction of Occupy Oakland on October 25th.

But many within the movement have taken this email as evidence that the Occupy encampment was itself responsible for the drop in crime—while critics have suggested it was a statistical blip that had nothing to do with Occupy Oakland. To get a better view of the issue, we need to go beyond Jordan’s email—we need to look at the weekly crime rates before, during, and after the encampment, and how those rates compare to previous years. This can tell us whether the falling crime rate was a typical fluctuation or something more significant—but it can’t directly tell us the cause. For that I’ll add a few of my own observations as a longtime resident of downtown Oakland.

Source for crime data: oaklandnet.com

n this graph, the upper pink line tracks the previous three-year average crime rate for each week, while the lower blue line tracks the rate for 2011. As you can see, there’s quite a bit of fluctuation from week to week—but except for the duration of the encampment, the 2011 rate closely tracks the trend from previous years. Apart from the usual dip in September coming a week late, the up vs. down trend is a perfect match.

But the first four weeks of the Oakland Commune are a clear aberration. The normal trend in crime for October is virtually flat, but in 2011 those four weeks saw a cumulative 40% drop in crime. In fact, the fourth week—the week of the General Strike, with its notorious incidents of window-breaking and vandalism—was actually Oakland’s most crime-free week in all of 2011 (and possibly much longer—I only checked the stats through the beginning of the year).

But was Occupy Oakland really the cause of this precipitous drop in crime? Correlation doesn’t prove causation—but as a downtown resident, the cause was clear as night and day.

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via @OccupyOakland

Scott Olsen in the sequestered viewing room at Oakmtg. He was barred from speaking to Mayor Jean Quan.

FYI: Scott is the Iraqi veteran who was put into a coma by Oakland Police after firing tear gas at Occupy Oakland protesters.

Occupy Oakland Mass Arrest Leads to Only 12 Charges

The largest Alameda County mass arrest in 30 years has led to only 12 criminal charges.

A total of 409 people were arrested January 28th during an Occupy Oakland demonstration that devolved into clashes between police and protesters. Of those 409, only 12 were charged with crimes by Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.

That is a 3% success rate!

Eleven demonstrators were issued a stay away order, which means they face legal action if found within 300 feet of Oakland City Hall or the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, which was the focal point of Saturday’s protest.

Of the 12 charges, 4 were felonies and 8 were misdemeanors. None of the alleged felons are Oakland residents.

Credit

Alternative view on Occupy Oakland’s recent battle with police. What do you think, should Occupy Oakland reevaluate their tactics?

Must-see video of OPD using tear gas and/or smoke bombs against OO protestors on January 28th.

Unedited video footage of OPD firing tear gas, flash bangs, smoke grenades and rubber bullets at Occupy Oakland protesters.

OPD starts firing after the 14:20 mark.

OPD just declared the march an unlawful assembly and are threatening ‘use of force that may result in injury’.

*WATCH LIVE*

Approx. 150 protesters in zip ties.

Occupy Oakland protesters glitter bomb OPD.

KTVU obtained more than 1,000 internal emails between Oakland City Hall and police through a public records request.

After the October 25th raid on Frank Ogawa Plaza / Oscar Grant Park, and before the November 2nd General Strike, a campaign by all the powers that be in Oakland had started to discredit anyone and anything associated with Occupy Oakland.

When Jordan (police chief) received an update that crime was actually down 19 percent in the last week of October, he wrote an email to one of Mayor Jean Quan’s advisers.

“Not sure how you want to share this good news,” he wrote. “It may be counter to our statement that the Occupy movement is negatively impacting crime in Oakland.”

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