Community

Ward 8 Residents Demand Greater Police Presence, Respect

WASHINGTON INFORMER — As Ward 8 residents continue to fall victim to violent crime, questions about the nature of police-community relations — particularly the police’s level of involvement in curbing illegal activity — continue to weigh heavy on the minds of community leaders.

Published

7 years ago

July 29, 2019

Oakland Post

Sam P. K. Collins

As Ward 8 residents continue to fall victim to violent crime, questions about the nature of police-community relations — particularly the police’s level of involvement in curbing illegal activity — continue to weigh heavy on the minds of community leaders.

While no quick fix exists for Robbie Woodland, a Congress Heights resident and advisory neighborhood commissioner, expressed a desire for officers who quickly and effectively respond to residents’ calls and proactively crack down on illegal activity known to occur in front of business establishments and other public areas.

“You have a group of us who don’t want policing. At the same time, you don’t want the shooting. I don’t know if there’s a healthy medium,” Woodland told The Washington Informer.

Woodland, commissioner of Single Member District 8C03, which includes parts of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Wheeler Road, and Trenton Place, mentioned a private meeting, that took place on the evening of July 18 in the community room of the Metropolitan Police Department’s 7^thDistrict Police Station on Alabama Avenue.

Participants included three parents, 7^thDistrict Commander Andre Wright, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, members of the Gang Task Force and Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services — all of whom Woodland said she contacted to address the recent spates of mob attacks allegedly orchestrated by youth attending local public and public charter schools.

Woodland, sworn into office at the beginning of the year, recounted seeing transit officials stand after a large group, referred to as the Swag Boys and Swag Girls, jumped a woman and her three children at Anacostia Metro Station in April. She said police officers didn’t arrive until she called for assistance.

Weeks after that incident, Woodland endeavored to identify teens filmed in other assaults of their peers on the street and visits to their apartments.

She said those videos along with a growing list of complaints from constituents, compelled her to pressure 7^thDistrict and other partners for solutions that showed that they prioritized residents’ safety. She made clear that she couldn’t accept crime reduction alternatives, particularly those that placed that responsibility in the hands of people with no law enforcement experience.

“I think policing is needed to a degree. I’m not saying for them to harass people, but we as a community can’t do the policing ourselves,” Woodland said. “The violence interrupters don’t interrupt violence. They’re only in a small area of Southeast, and they have to get approval before they get into another area. They’re not licensed carriers so they’ll be running with the rest of us when there’s shooting.”

Addressing an Ongoing Problem

As of July 23, MPD reported 94 homicides citywide, including that of 11-year-old Karon Brown, allegedly murdered on July 18 by an adult male in the aftermath of a fight between adults and youngsters. Other violent crimes of prominence in the District include assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, though instances of the former decreased by four percent over the last year.

11-year old Karon Brown was fatally shot by an adult male in the aftermath of a fight. (Courtesy photo/NBC4)

To proactively tackle crime, the Bowser administration has relied on MPD officers and violence interrupters, people with community rapport who help settle disputes.

In her Fiscal Year 2020 budget, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) allocated $2.5 million to the Office of Neighborhood Engagement and Safety for the expansion of the program, currently in its second year of operation. That infusion of funds provided seven additional full-time violence interrupters, case managers, and community activities in places with the greatest need.

At its inception, ONSE’s full-time and part-time violence interrupters lived and maintained a presence in 20 District neighborhoods.

The violence interrupters and Pathways Program, through which 50 of what’s considered the District’s most likely violent offenders gain resources for self-sustainability, came out of the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Act, legislation passed in 2016 to explore community-based solutions to the underlying causes of violent crime.

In a victory for Black Lives Matter DC activists, a District Court judge ruled last month that MPD must record detailed stop-and-frisk data, including the race of the person stopped, the reason for the stop, and whether the stop resulted in the discovery of criminal activity.

This happened weeks after the off-duty MPD officer who allegedly killed D’Quan Young last year, escaped both federal and District charges in the 24-year-old’s death.

Last Saturday, after Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White (D) gave his annual address at Martha’s Table at the Commons in Southeast, Black Lives Matter DC Core Organizer April Goggans led a community dialogue intended to explore alternatives to what had been described as over-policing.

White said that officers need to respect Ward 8 residents more and show more initiative in quelling violent crime. “We need more police who value their jobs and understand the residents,” he told The Informer, acknowledging what he described as MPD’s marketing strategy pushing for more amicable community relationships.

“The behavior I have personally witnessed lately is in the spirit of apathy and disrespect,” White continued. “In one instance, it was in front of [MPD] Chief Peter Newsham. I can’t understand how people are getting shot on the same streets, and there’s no police chase, no suspect, no nothing every 2 to 3 days”

In response to an inquiry about a perception among some Ward 8 residents that police officers stationed throughout that part of the District could do more to proactively tackle violent crime, and address residents’ other concerns, an MPD spokesperson said the following:

“A core part of policing is building and maintaining strong relationships with the community, to not just be present when a crime has occurred but to be engaged and responsive all the time,” the public affairs officer wrote in an email on Monday. “Our officers actively respond to calls for service every day and are trained to have empathy and compassion for all residents.”

This post originally appeared in the Washington Informer.

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

7 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

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Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

7 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

7 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.