Comments for Fragmentary Evidence

Comment on Watch Out by dc

dc — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:39:32 +0000

No surprise that it’s number one on Google—the dead bodies do tend to pile up around here.

Comment on Doing More With Less: OPD’s Plans to Bring Down Crime by dc

dc — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:32:31 +0000

MarleenLee: Thanks for the reminder. I did note in the post that, “Oakland is already about 25 officers below the minimum number of sworn officers mandated by law (803) and Batts said the department loses an average of 4 to 5 officers a month due to attrition,” but I guess it’s more like 35, not 25. I tend to slip into saying “a bit under 800″ or “around 800″ when I am talking more loosely about how many cops Oakland has, since the exact number seems to change from month to month. (Although we haven’t been at 803 for what, almost a year now? You obviously track these numbers more closely than I do, given your lawsuit.)

Comment on Doing More With Less: OPD’s Plans to Bring Down Crime by MarleenLee

MarleenLee — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:15:30 +0000

Oakland does not have 800 cops. The authorized strength is 803, but currently, we’re at around 770, because the City has failed to conduct an academy in over a year – a clear violation of Measure Y. I thought your previous post on Jean Quan’s meandering gobbledegook in response to the question about staffing was very enlightening. God help us all if she’s elected…..

Comment on Watch Out by wordnerd

wordnerd — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:25:49 +0000

It’s the number one Coroner’s Bureau in the land, at least according to Google.
And maybe the only one, if you don’t count the blog that borrowed its name (and neon)…

Comment on Watch Out by dc

dc — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:22:54 +0000

Andy K: Beats me!

Comment on Doing More With Less: OPD’s Plans to Bring Down Crime by len raphael

len raphael — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:22:30 +0000

go figure that 67% of cops said they were proud to be part of OPD, but only 26% thought the public appreciated them. (won’t mention the even lower ratings they give to govt officials, would need comparable stats for other cities to see if that’s meaningful. but considering how well the city council pays oakland cops, it’s astounding.)

-len raphael
temescal

Comment on Rare Species Spotted in Oakland: Leadership by ruth gutmann

ruth gutmann — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:17:07 +0000

I am still trying to figure out what a “consumerist experience” is, or is meant to imply. But aside from that peculiar response to your report of the new Police Chief and his program, it seems clear that he will need the active cooperation of an open-minded community through the establishment of groups of volunteers. With Chief Batts evident gifts of leaderships it should be possible to attract citizens with special talents and skills to come forward and put these at the service of say, after school activities. Chicago’s mid-night basket ball comes to mind, but ideas are the easy part, it is the willingness to give time and effort and then sticking-to-it that’s hard.

Comment on Doing More With Less: OPD’s Plans to Bring Down Crime by dc

dc — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:53:54 +0000

Mike: it sounds like we agree about a lot of things, which is why the contemptuous tone of your other comment seemed so bizarre. I certainly didn’t intend to suggest that good leadership in the OPD will single-handedly solve Oakland’s crime problems, or that citizens should not be actively engaged in working with public officials on solutions.

Comment on Doing More With Less: OPD’s Plans to Bring Down Crime by Mike d'Ocla

Mike d'Ocla — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:35:50 +0000

Your coverage of more of the substance of the OPD Strategic Framework is important and useful.

As you put it: “The whole point of having an effective police chief, in my view, is so that non-professionals don’t need to concern themselves with policing strategies.”

The point I am trying to make is that policing strategies don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist in a network of community social and economic relations. I accept that getting one’s “hands” dirty in complex (and conflicted and contradictory) real police matters is not nice and probably not happy-making.

There is a positive side. Dealing crime is not just about the cop work of suppressing it and putting perps in jail. It is also dealing with where crime starts and the opportunities for helping young people in our community to make better choices.

Comment on Rare Species Spotted in Oakland: Leadership by Mike d'Ocla

Mike d'Ocla — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:03:39 +0000

dc: “In response to my modest effort to encourage community involvement, you tell me that I have no useful ideas about the nature of democracy.”

I said “no useful idea” (singular) which I meant as a comment on what you included in your observations about Batts’ public appearance, not about you as a person. I suspect that you have lots of useful ideas about a lot of things, including democracy. And my response to you is indeed something encouraged by your “modest effort.”

But the bottom line is that most of us look at democracy as just another consumerist experience. Do we or do we not think that Chief Batts is a good purchase for us Oakland buyers of police services? If our government is poor, we are really to blame. If we happen on a good leader, then we, as “ng” so thoughtfully noted, need to start thinking about what we can do.

dc: “Riding my bike 5 miles to Eastmont in order to be told how stupid I am doesn’t really sound like a lot of fun.”

As an old-time biker, five miles doesn’t impress me as much of a struggle, even in what passes for “rain” in Oakland. Try riding a century (100 miles) in cold, heavy rain with a 30 mph headwind. That’s what I call fun!

You don’t have to ride to Eastmont to learn about OCO. They’ve got a website and a telephone number.