“The most regulated police department in the U.S.” – that’s how insiders describe the Oakland Police Department. “Nowhere else, not even close” says one highly-placed OPD officer of the myriad of agencies and individuals who get paid to keep a close eye on the department. And every year, it seems, another layer of watchful bureaucracy is added by the City Council or others convinced that OPD is a rogue organization that needs to be reined in.
A Day Off
It’s my birthday, thank you, and I’m taking the day off. Back tomorrow with details on all the different ways the that OPD is regulated. The amount of aggressive, often hostile scrutiny of our Oakland cops is unprecedented in America, and undermines the cause of public safety.
Bas continues to undermine OPD, refuses to call for more funding
Nikki Bas, the City Council president, has challenged Sheng Thao’s proposed budget, demanding “more support for the vital services residents rely on, including fire services, public safety, violence prevention, housing and economic development.”
Violence Prevention programs: A joke
“Violence prevention” has become almost a religious mantra in Oakland. Politicians speak of it as a holy grail that will solve all our problems, if only it is properly funded. In fact, for professional pols such as Nikki Bas, Carroll Fife and Sheng Thao, talking about “violence prevention” has become their standard excuse for weakening the Oakland Police Department, while still pretending to care about the crime wave that is killing our city.
Breed vs. Thao: Responsibility vs. Failure
I’m so proud of San Francisco Mayor London Breed for her sane response to rampant public drug use in her city. She’s heeded the pleas of the people and vowed to arrest drug users, who are ruining wide stretches of the city. The good citizens of San Francisco want these lowlifes off the streets. Any normal city would long ago have scooped them up and thrown them in jail. But San Francisco, like Oakland, isn’t a normal city. The wokes, or “progressives,” with their Utopian fantasies, have far too much influence. For once, a Mayor is standing up to them.