City Government

OP-ED: Ferguson Is a Wake-Up Call for America and Oakland

Published

11 years ago

August 29, 2014

In 2013, police killed 400 people in the United States. Most died with barely a blip on the world’s screen.

Michael Brown’s death was not unique. He was African American, young, male – and unarmed.

Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot him six times in broad daylight – apparently for running away when Officer Wilson tried to arrest him for jay walking.

The rage of a community sick and tired of poverty, unemployment, bad schools, bad housing and hopelessness exploded.

It happens all over. In Oakland, Alameda County sheriffs recently shot, and killed, apparently unarmed 23-year-old African-American Jacorey Calhoun. Calhoun was allegedly a suspect in a crime that had occurred almost a month earlier, but no one is explaining why he was killed.

Deputy Derek Thomas, who killed Mr. Calhoun, has a history of misconduct complaints.

The police play contradictory roles – people want them to safeguard our lives and property. Society employs them for social control.

Oakland’s police are not members of the community. The vast majority do not live in Oakland. And they do not solve the majority of violent crimes that afflict our neighborhoods.

Being a member of the Oakland community would mean a level of mutual accountability between officers and residents – with a zero tolerance for rogue officers who run roughshod over vulnerable community members.

Oakland is infamous for the police violence that led to 541 police abuse lawsuits from Jan. 1, 2000, to Aug. 21, 2012. According to the City Attorney, Oakland paid out $11,466,868 to resolve 20 of these cases.

This does not include the $10.9 million spent to settle the Riders case and millions more spent to monitor and continue to argue about OPD’s compliance with it. Or the $7 million spent to resolve the Occupy Oakland cases.

Oakland’s police, like those in Ferguson, were transformed by the military hardware that began to arrive with the “war on drugs” in 1980 – tanks, helicopters and assault rifles.

Like Ferguson, this equipment is used to suppress protests – as it did against the Oscar Grant movement in 2009-2010 and the Occupy movement in 2011

What about the social contract, the unwritten agreement between individuals and the government under which people accept the government’s authority over aspects of their lives in exchange for the security and other benefits the government is supposed to provide?

When tens of millions of people are excluded from the benefits provided to the privileged and the wealthy – social decay and disorder are inevitable.

In the U.S., the richest one percent control more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. In Oakland, the top 20 percent of households receives 49 percent of the total income; the bottom 20 percent receives three percent. Unemployment in Alameda County is 11 percent; for African Americans the number is doubled.

Three-quarters of our Oakland students qualify for free-or-reduced lunches; 42 percent are Hispanic, 29 percent are African American. Only 50 percent of African-American and Latino students graduate from Oakland high schools within four years of starting.

The state average is 80 percent.

This situation is a recipe for disaster. The health of American society will depend upon its ability to close the income and privilege gaps that divide the rich and the poor, particularly people of color clutched in the devastating grip of poverty.

We can make the changes we need. We can re-focus the police department on serving our communities and protecting us from violent crime. We can return the military hardware to the federal government and adopt a zero tolerance policy for police misconduct.

We can improve our schools and insist on the right of every child to learn. We can raise the minimum wage to $15 and create good jobs for working people in our new hotels and restaurants, installing solar power, and providing other 21^st Century services.

We can protect tenants’ rights against evictions and build affordable housing for working people with contributions from the developers who want to create high-end housing.

Changing the world is tough. But so are Oaklanders. Together, we can create an Oakland grounded in principles of social and economic justice. And we can start on Nov. 4.

Dan Siegel

Dan Siegel is a civil rights attorney in Oakland and a candidate for mayor.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

1 week ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

2 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.