No surprise here. Mayor Jean Quan is dismissing the notion of declaring a state of emergency to deal with Oakland’s out-of-control violence, accented by a weekend in which four people died in 15 shootings. “We understand it’s an emergency. We have called for assistance and gotten assistance from everybody we have asked so far and we’ll be asking for more over the next few weeks.” Mercury News
Left unsaid: the public relations embarrassment the city would suffer if such an emergency were declared. Similarly, the Quan administration struggled mightily to persuade a federal judge not to place the police department under a federal receiver for its lack of court-ordered reforms. The term of art chosen for OPD’s soon-to-be-appointed overseer: compliance director. Sounds better than receiver.
Oakland Police,
Politics
