Judging from the many messages I got after yesterday’s post, I should have made it crystal clear that I will continue to write this blog. Nothing will change. I’ll write it as long as God gives me the strength to write.
I’m humiliated, to tell the truth. For someone who considers himself a pretty good writer, I really blew it. Repeat: The blog is not going away. It will be there in the future, just as it has been in the past. I’m so sorry to have given you the impression I’m ending it—even though it was inadvertent.
My issue is simply that the Facebook people have taken their Coalition page in a different direction than I have, a direction I don’t like. So last word: This blog ain’t going anywhere!
And now, on to a related issue: how Carroll Fife once again is trying to seize control of the Oakland Police Department and defund it.
Nearly a year ago, in May, 2025, Fife first introduced her plan to “civilianize” OPD to the City Council. A hearing was to be held, followed by a vote, but Fife withdrew the agenda item and it was rescheduled for Jan. 13, 2026. That is today.
Fife never explained why she pulled the item, but I think we’re justified in conjecturing that she knew it wouldn’t come close to passing. Attitudes among the public, and a majority of City Council members, were fast switching from anti-police to pro-police. Fife, who does her best (i.e. most insidious work) in the dark, decided to work secretly, behind the scenes, to convince a majority of her Council colleagues to support “civilianizing.”
Today, she apparently feels that her work has paid off; the vote is scheduled to happen this afternoon. But what precisely does “civilianizing OPD” mean? From the Council’s agenda for today:
FROM CM FIFE
Adopt A Resolution Directing The City Administrator To Implement Approved Processes For Civilianizing Certain Sworn Positions Within The Oakland Police Department (OPD) To Improve Public Safety Services To Our Communities And Create Millions In Cost Savings By Reducing Overtime Hours
Let’s be clear: This is not about saving money, as Fife claims. The unions she’s working with, who love her bill, couldn’t care less about a balanced budget. What this is about is the progressive, anti-police camel getting its nose inside OPD’s tent. Their plan is nothing less than to take over as many of OPD’s functions as they can, and to make sure the “civilians” who take the jobs are their hand-picked, anti-cop, defund-the-police goons that are approved by Fife, the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA, which is among the most anti-cop cults in town), and their radical friends.
These people will never stop trying to undermine public safety until we stop them!
Steve Heimoff