Oakland City Councilmembers push for Curfews, more Gang Injunctions (Montclair: low crime, neighborhood)
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I grew up in in a California city where they had curfew as well, but I think you failed to make the connection between curfews being something you grew up with and being something that SHOULD be enforced
I'm not entirely familiar with things like "soaping" or "corning" houses, but it sounds like what you were doing falls under "vandalism." Now let me point out two things:
1) There are already rules in place for vandalism. You were doing more than just being outside at night. If minors are caught vandalizing property in Oakland, I'm sure they get in trouble, curfew laws or no.
2) Merely being outside hurts no one, corning or tick tacking or whatever probably does. So if you guys were just outside having fun or taking a walk or minding your own business or whatever, would there have been any reason for you to be approached, harassed, questioned, ticketed, etc by an older man with a gun?
Soaping windows is taking a bar of soap and writing on a window with it. Usually just make an "X". Corning a house -- you have to have friends who have a field of field corn -- like the stuff you buy at the grocery as decoration in the fall. You strip the hard kernels off the cob into a bag, sneak up to a house and toss handfulls of corn at the windows -- makes an AWFUL racket -- but does no harm. Various wildlife eat the corn.
And tick tacking -- I think every area has a different name for ringing a doorbell and running...
We were HARDLY master criminals.... and as for calling it vandalism -- today soaping windows would be, but back then it was called harmless fun, but if you were caught you had to be taught a lesson. It took a hose to clean soap off the windows. No big deal at all.
And my point is this -- a curfew is for EVERYONE -- not just troublemakers. But it keeps the troublemakers off the streets, too.
Yet all too often, we see in the media people blaming the police from crimes and I don't see the logic in that at all.
At the end of the day, I believe its up to neighborhoods and families to take ownership of the actions of their children and family members.
By ownership, I mean they are ultimately responsible to teach them to abide by the law and try and be as productive and self sufficient as possible. I think when people are raised that way, they don't feel the need to turn to crime to support themselves.
Now I realize that this statement is extremely simplistic consdering history and generations of people who have been shunned by the powers that be.
I get all that.
But I do think at some point, we need to remove ourselves from the cycle of crime that grips many cultures.
My own Tongan American community has a HUGE problem with high school drop outs, kids involved in gangs and drugs and what not. Its a issue that has no easy answer.
But I think the answer begins with us.
All I'm saying is that a lot of the ground that the OPD would have covered by now into curbing crime becomes muddier every time they get into the thick of it. The "pig" image also comes from the idea that many police don't just get their hands muddied, they roll in it... specifically, they roll over a lot of these communities and as a consequence roll over their own public relations. There are many, many non-criminal kids in Oakland who have received treatment at the hands of the police that would not be fit for a criminal, let alone impressionable adolescents. There are some kids who have a PTSD-esque reaction whenever they see a cop and they've never been to jail in their lives, but they believe that every encounter with a cop represents an opportunity for the cops to destroy their futures permanently.
A family friend's nephew from Pomona was on the road to a 4 year scholarship at UCLA... he was a fairly strong student and had a passion for filming. He also lived in a gang dominated neighborhood (I think it was Bloods). A couple years before his Senior year in high school he had been at a park known for Blood activity when a rival gang did a driveby... he survived the incident but was one of the first people hounded by the police. Despite not being in the gang they tried to get him to name names (a big no-no in that neighborhood) but he refused as he did not want to get involved. Two years later, in a different part of Pomona he was waiting for the bus when a drunk older guy asked him if he could borrow his cell phone. He let him borrow it but when the guy was done he pocketed the cell phone. The nephew reached into the guy's pocket to get his phone back but some cops had been watching at that moment and charged him with aggravated assault. Fast forward a couple months as his case was being processed, and it turns out that the ridiculous charges were not dropped/reduced despite having testimony of the guy that it was in fact the nephew's phone that this was "payback" of sorts for the nephew not cooperating with the police two years earlier. While he didn't end up going to jail, he lost his scholarship and has no clear future in the cards, especially since his dad has since lost his job.
While this was a somewhat unusual situation, I've heard worse happen to kids in Oakland. Kids who grow up in these neighborhoods - and sadly, especially blacks and hispanics - have a very justified fear of what the police are capable of... in some of these cases, being "accidentally shot" would have actually been a preferable alternative. And the sick irony of it of course is that jail is the #1 criminal producer... many of these kids who go in to jail or YA come out jaded and emotionally dead, the majority of which do not have families with the money or the foresight to get them help (i.e.e a shrink). There are many emotionally broken kids and adults walking the streets of Oakland... they literally don't care what happens to themselves, let alone what happens to you lest you happen to cross their path at the wrong time.
For a lot of these communities, the police are nothing but legal antagonizers. If the OPD wants to change this image, they have a lot of work to do, starting with apologizing for misdeeds of the past that were never addressed (The Riders, the dozens of shootings and kilings of unarmed civilians, etc).
All I'm saying is that a lot of the ground that the OPD would have covered by now into curbing crime becomes muddier every time they get into the thick of it. The "pig" image also comes from the idea that many police don't just get their hands muddied, they roll in it... specifically, they roll over a lot of these communities and as a consequence roll over their own public relations. There are many, many non-criminal kids in Oakland who have received treatment at the hands of the police that would not be fit for a criminal, let alone impressionable adolescents. There are some kids who have a PTSD-esque reaction whenever they see a cop and they've never been to jail in their lives, but they believe that every encounter with a cop represents an opportunity for the cops to destroy their futures permanently.
A family friend's nephew from Pomona was on the road to a 4 year scholarship at UCLA... he was a fairly strong student and had a passion for filming. He also lived in a gang dominated neighborhood (I think it was Bloods). A couple years before his Senior year in high school he had been at a park known for Blood activity when a rival gang did a driveby... he survived the incident but was one of the first people hounded by the police. Despite not being in the gang they tried to get him to name names (a big no-no in that neighborhood) but he refused as he did not want to get involved. Two years later, in a different part of Pomona he was waiting for the bus when a drunk older guy asked him if he could borrow his cell phone. He let him borrow it but when the guy was done he pocketed the cell phone. The nephew reached into the guy's pocket to get his phone back but some cops had been watching at that moment and charged him with aggravated assault. Fast forward a couple months as his case was being processed, and it turns out that the ridiculous charges were not dropped/reduced despite having testimony of the guy that it was in fact the nephew's phone that this was "payback" of sorts for the nephew not cooperating with the police two years earlier. While he didn't end up going to jail, he lost his scholarship and has no clear future in the cards, especially since his dad has since lost his job.
While this was a somewhat unusual situation, I've heard worse happen to kids in Oakland. Kids who grow up in these neighborhoods - and sadly, especially blacks and hispanics - have a very justified fear of what the police are capable of... in some of these cases, being "accidentally shot" would have actually been a preferable alternative. And the sick irony of it of course is that jail is the #1 criminal producer... many of these kids who go in to jail or YA come out jaded and emotionally dead, the majority of which do not have families with the money or the foresight to get them help (i.e.e a shrink). There are many emotionally broken kids and adults walking the streets of Oakland... they literally don't care what happens to themselves, let alone what happens to you lest you happen to cross their path at the wrong time.
For a lot of these communities, the police are nothing but legal antagonizers. If the OPD wants to change this image, they have a lot of work to do, starting with apologizing for misdeeds of the past that were never addressed (The Riders, the dozens of shootings and kilings of unarmed civilians, etc).
I understand all your points and can think of many examples even in my own family that back up everything your saying.
Especially about the OPD. My cousin was involved in an accident on Fruitvale and E.28th(?) like 6 months ago---her car was hit by a car that ran a red light.
Well she was visibly pregnant but when the police and paramedics got there, they totally focused on caring for the White lady(who was just fine btw) that hit her and when it came to my cousin they were rude and impatient as they verified if her license was valid, they made sure the car's registration was current and that she was insured, even after they verified all that they were suspicious that she was intoxicated(which she wasnt since she's never drank or smoked anything in her entire life). And she was the one who was hit.
And that is just one of countless examples of what clearly looks like racial discrimination.
I guess my answer to that is if we want to correct those wrongs, one sure fire way is to beat them at their own game by going to college and/or becoming a skilled individual who doesnt have to flinch when people in positions of power try to do that to us.
Obviously there are many other solutions, like we should require all OPD officers to be Oakland residents. The make up of the force should reflect the diversity of Oakland itself and so forth.
But for our part, in the meantime, I say give haters a black eye by earning a college degree and making money.
Soaping windows is taking a bar of soap and writing on a window with it. Usually just make an "X". Corning a house -- you have to have friends who have a field of field corn -- like the stuff you buy at the grocery as decoration in the fall. You strip the hard kernels off the cob into a bag, sneak up to a house and toss handfulls of corn at the windows -- makes an AWFUL racket -- but does no harm. Various wildlife eat the corn.
And tick tacking -- I think every area has a different name for ringing a doorbell and running...
We were HARDLY master criminals.... and as for calling it vandalism -- today soaping windows would be, but back then it was called harmless fun, but if you were caught you had to be taught a lesson. It took a hose to clean soap off the windows. No big deal at all.
And my point is this -- a curfew is for EVERYONE -- not just troublemakers. But it keeps the troublemakers off the streets, too.
And it's only fair to have rules for everyone...
I'm sure you weren't master criminals, but you have to understand that being taken home to your parents by your friendly neighborhood cops who you go to church with is an entirely different from dealing with hostile police officers in a big city.
If I had kids, I certianly wouldn't want them to have to deal with the police (many of whom are unstable and more power/excuses for messing with people is the last thing they need) just for being outside minding their own business.
I'm sure you weren't master criminals, but you have to understand that being taken home to your parents by your friendly neighborhood cops who you go to church with is an entirely different from dealing with hostile police officers in a big city.
If I had kids, I certianly wouldn't want them to have to deal with the police (many of whom are unstable and more power/excuses for messing with people is the last thing they need) just for being outside minding their own business.
To be fair, it's not as if Oakland PD is dealing with a bunch of bored kids whose idea of living on the wild side is throwing kernels of corn and drawing on windows with a bar of soap. It's a little different when "kids being kids" is boosting cars, armed robbery, drugs and prostitution, and spray and pray drive by shootings. You're friendly neighborhood cop wouldn't last in Oakland.
To be fair, it's not as if Oakland PD is dealing with a bunch of bored kids whose idea of living on the wild side is throwing kernels of corn and drawing on windows with a bar of soap. It's a little different when "kids being kids" is boosting cars, armed robbery, drugs and prostitution, and spray and pray drive by shootings. You're friendly neighborhood cop wouldn't last in Oakland.
Your "friendly neighborhood cop" wouldn't last in any big city... there are PDs that are far less violent than the OPD though that manage to get the job done more effectively.
The utopian Jean Quan and her cronies will oppose a curfew, injunction or anything else which doesn't fit their "all crime is tied to employment" philosophy.
The ESO gang injunction was set forth by Chief Batts (who is black), but former DA John Russo (who is white) was made the poster boy for it by Quan and her "lawyer" (who just happened to be the Nortenos' gang council), giving overtones of racial oppression in color-conscious Oakland.
Your "friendly neighborhood cop" wouldn't last in any big city... there are PDs that are far less violent than the OPD though that manage to get the job done more effectively.
Much of that would be changed if the OPD was staffed well enough for officers to be more than respondents from call to call. That kind of environment breeds a lack of trust and relationship on both sides of the equation. More officers means more regular beats, where residents get to know their neighborhood police department.
Much of that would be changed if the OPD was staffed well enough for officers to be more than respondents from call to call. That kind of environment breeds a lack of trust and relationship on both sides of the equation. More officers means more regular beats, where residents get to know their neighborhood police department.
Much of that would be changed if the OPD was staffed well enough for officers to be more than respondents from call to call. That kind of environment breeds a lack of trust and relationship on both sides of the equation. More officers means more regular beats, where residents get to know their neighborhood police department.
Boots on the ground. Oakland has one the lowest number of police officers and one of the highest rates of crime. Bad combination for fostering a "part of the community" image. The problem is that requires money, which is something Oakland doesn't have. Two-thirds of Oakland's budget is spent on police and fire, meaning to solve the budget problem more police officers will be laid off and benefits will be cut. Fact is, there will be less boots on the ground, not more.
Or we could have the respondent officers going around with a policy of interrogating all groups of more than three black men on sight (gang injunction policy). I'm sure that'd foster a strong sense of cohesion on both sides.
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