Opponents of the Oakland Police Department routinely cite the so-called “Riders” case as justification for (a) keeping OPD under federal monitorship and (b) their accusations that the department is a cesspool of racism and police misconduct.

Yesterday I wrote about the Coalition for Police Accountability. Today, it’s the Office of the Inspector General here in Oakland. You might have thought the official overseer of the Oakland Police Department was the Police Commission, or, perhaps, Mr. Warshaw, the federal monitor who corruptly prolongs his $1 million salary year after year with no challenge or obstruction from the city. But no! Why have just two or three police overseers when you can have four, five or more?

I want to acquaint you with two official Oakland bureaucracies that were created to hassle and stymie the Oakland Police Department by defunding cops and coddling criminals and in general making public safety harder to achieve.

From the various comments I get concerning this blog, I have to conclude that we all have different opinions about what to do to fix Oakland. People mostly agree with me, but now and then there are criticisms. That’s fine. Never bothers me, and I rather enjoy reading them. But I do want to take the opportunity to explain something about my blogging.

On weekdays there are tables selling goods at the northeast corner of Lakeside Park, where Grand Avenue meets The Pergola. On weekends, the number of tables explodes. Vendors hawk everything from hats and shirts to electronic devices. And all the items, to my eye, appear to be stolen.