[sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable

[Eddan]

The fact of the matter is that the police department does not have enough
officers to police the city - they're something like 200 short by
conventional wisdom, I've read. The most recent stories have been about how
they're now paying the California Highway Patrol for several people to do
some law enforcement. A large chunk of the police forces used during Occupy
rally were from other Alameda County police forces.

The Uptown section of Oakland is for most purposes policed by the
privatized enforcement of the Security Ambassadors of the Uptown/Lake
Merritt Oakland community benefit district association. I've heard from
business people around Sudo Square that if there's ever a theft or
relatively minor crime - your best bet is to call them. They keep an eye on
the streets and communicate within their own network and often piece
together all the information that the police needs once they show up. The
Security Ambassadors and the neighborhood business association are paid for
by local businesses, though there is some account that is within the city
coffers through which it travels along the way.

Their flyers are around in Sudo Room as reference - people should take it
as an important resource regarding security. A few of the ambassadors have
actually stopped by, as members of the public, and are super-nice folks who
wanted to learn 3D printing. As a practical matter - it's as best a deal as
we can get given the situation of the Oakland police. But ... I've noticed
the Blue Ambassadors going beyond their authority, as far as I understand
it, especially during First Friday weekends. I saw one of these guys ask
someone playing his guitar at Sudo Square to stop and to move somewhere
else. I've also seen a person with a sign asking for help at the divider on
Harrison near the Whole Foods - who was forcibly removed from there by a
Blue Ambassador.

It's somewhat complicated having a world-renowned incompetent police force.
Not sure that bringing in a consultant with a reputation for implementing
excessive measures is the best way to go about improving the policing in
Oakland. After protesters showed up at several meetings, they decided that
he should play a more behind-the-scenes role.

I wouldn't be throwing around the word Unconscionable lightly if I were in
Jordan's shoes. To quote Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride in response
to Vizzini: "I do not think it means what you think it means."





On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 4:56 PM, Marina Kukso <marina.kukso at gmail.com>wrote:

> ftfy!: THIS is unconscionable.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 4:50 PM, Eddan <eddan at clear.net> wrote:
>
>> Now, this requires a response. Has anybody started drafting something? If
>> not, I will.
>>
>>
>> ...
>>
>> Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Howard+Jordan%22> was
>> not pleased.
>>
>>
>> "I'm in shock that people would provide a class to teach people a skill
>> to violate the law," Jordan said. "It's unconscionable."
>>
>>
>> Lock-pick instructor Michael Fitzhugh<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Michael+Fitzhugh%22> is
>> a member of TOOOL (The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Open+Organisation+Of+Lockpickers%22>),
>> a Netherlands-based outfit that teaches and holds national and
>> international lock-picking events annually. In their world, lock picking is
>> done for sport and bragging rights. But, he says, it's also a useful tool
>> if you lock yourself out of your home.
>>
>>
>> Jordan has a more conventional solution to that problem: "Call
>> a locksmith!"
>>
>>
>> http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Quan-s-wrong-note-on-lock-picking-class-4318130.php
>>
>>
>> Even worse than Quan, this guy's so desperate to change the subject about
>> the incompetence of the OPD in news story after news story.
>>
>>
>> Unconscionable!?! This coming from a police department that was about to
>> go into an unprecedented federal receivership for its failure to reform;
>> not to mention a police department seared with a global reputation for
>> brutality, racism, and excessive means; and whose fundamental
>> miscalculations and mismanagement of the response to Occupy cost the city
>> millions of dollars.
>>
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>>
>
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