For months we’ve seen glowing reports about how crime in Oakland has gone down. The latest was from over the weekend: “SF, Oakland see fewest homicides since Cold War era”

Thanks to the redoubtable Rajni Mandal and her wonderful reporting, we now know exactly what excuses the grifting “special monitor,” Robert Warshaw, is using to extend his control—now in its second decade—over the Oakland Police Department, and to continue getting his $1 million annual salary.

Every time I read about the latest murder, the killer’s lawyer, usually accompanied by the killer’s family, gets up in front of the cameras and claims that the killer was suffering a “mental health crisis.” “He was a good boy,” they allege. “He didn’t deserve to get murdered by the police in this way.”

We made it through another one. Here are a dozen of my wishes for the new year:

Sarah Ravani is a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. She writes a lot about the Oakland Police Department, and none of it is complimentary. In fact, every time Sarah writes about OPD it’s with a nasty, negative tone.