6/8/20 Oakland Police Commission Meeting Public Comments
The online meeting was called on Monday, June 8 to address the treatment of protesters by the Oakland Police Department during the recent George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter Movement in Oakland, California, which began on Friday, May 29, 2020. Below are comments made by several individuals who made speeches, while the rest are from the public made over the course of roughly three hours. The transcripts are lightly edited for clarity and brevity. If you feel the transcript misrepresents you, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter: @SarahBelleLin Instead of cherry-picking statements and trying to summarize/paraphrase people’s thoughts, I’d rather do justice to those who spoke and lay all their thoughts bare. This is a long document - 23 pages long. The statements may be triggering for those sensitive to police violence and brutality, so please take caution in proceeding if you believe you might be negatively impacted. For additional context, the Oakland Police Commission is not to be confused as part of the Oakland Police Department. The Commission is made up of community members who “oversee Oakland Police Department’s policies, practices, and customs to meet national standards of constitutional policing and to oversee the Community Police Review Agency which investigates police misconduct and recommends discipline,” as stated on the City of Oakland’s website. *Although the meeting was public, I will not provide the identities of those who made the comments. If you would like to verify the identities yourselves, visit https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/police-commission/meetings for the link to the meeting video*
The online meeting was called on Monday, June 8 to address the treatment of protesters by the Oakland Police Department during the recent George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter Movement in Oakland, California, which began on Friday, May 29, 2020.
Below are comments made by several individuals who made speeches, while the rest are from the public made over the course of roughly three hours. The transcripts are lightly edited for clarity and brevity. If you feel the transcript misrepresents you, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter: @SarahBelleLin
Instead of cherry-picking statements and trying to summarize/paraphrase people’s thoughts, I’d rather do justice to those who spoke and lay all their thoughts bare. This is a long document - 23 pages long. The statements may be triggering for those sensitive to police violence and brutality, so please take caution in proceeding if you believe you might be negatively impacted.
For additional context, the Oakland Police Commission is not to be confused as part of the Oakland Police Department. The Commission is made up of community members who “oversee Oakland Police Department’s policies, practices, and customs to meet national standards of constitutional policing and to oversee the Community Police Review Agency which investigates police misconduct and recommends discipline,” as stated on the City of Oakland’s website.
*Although the meeting was public, I will not provide the identities of those who made the comments. If you would like to verify the identities yourselves, visit https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/police-commission/meetings for the link to the meeting video*
- No tags were found...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
the Anti-Police Terror Project. And as an additional note, I want the Oakland school police
department to be eliminated entirely as well.”
“I'm 15 years old. I do not personally live in Oakland, but I have family and close friends who live
in Oakland. And I'm calling today to ask that you defend the Oakland PD because about half of
Oakland's budget is given to the police, which is not fair considering the lack of funding given to
education, clean water, healthcare services, and more essential things to everyday life. We live
in a capitalist nation and money is power. Why is it that our doctors and nurses aren't given
protection against the deadly virus, but our police force has no problem acquiring unnecessary
weapons that have been used on countless occasions to hurt and murder people, especially
Black people and people of color. Why are you allowing your police officers to perpetuate
racism in the justice system? On Saturday night, Erik Salgado was shot fatally in Oakland by
highway patrol and had a pregnant girlfriend with him who was shot in the stomach. How many
more police officers will you allow to murder people before it change is made? I'm asking that
you hold police officers accountable for their actions just as you would hold any other citizens
accountable for their actions. No one should be above the law. Please defund the police and
start putting more funding to healthcare, education and other human rights. We have seen on
countless occasions that the police perpetuate racist laws and participate in unjust brutality.
Please stop giving them the power to murder, harrass, and assault people of color. This is all in
your power to stop this.”
“Years ago, I would have said that reform was a viable option for the Oakland PD. We have
tried for decades, minor improvements to adjust laws on use of force, to adjust rules of
engagement. And the Oakland Police Department have walked straight through those reforms
and continued to terrorize the community year after year. The simple answer is that they have
shown that they are unwilling to change. And when a group of people is unwilling to change,
they must be replaced. We are at a point in history where there is simply no other option than to
defund and abolish the Oakland Police Department and replace it with community-oriented
safety. There is no need in this community for the kind of highly militarized police that has done
far more harm than good over its entire period of existence. The alternatives are known and
they exist. Mental health response teams can care for our citizens. Education and social
services can prevent problems from happening and community response can protect those in
situations of violence. The police have failed at all of these jobs and so they must be removed
immediately.”
“I'm a teacher in Oakland. I teach second grade and I'm calling in for my students. I'm calling in
because my students do not live in a city that is safe for them. They live in a city where every
day they are in danger from the Oakland Police. They're in danger by the people who are sworn
to keep them safe, but in reality, do the opposite. I just came from a March in East Oakland,
near my school for Erik Salgado, a young man who was killed by [CHP] next to his pregnant
girlfriend. And my students deserve a place where they can be safe, a place where their city
shows that they care about them, a place where their city provides them with the care that they
Change language