Suffer These Crimes in Oakland? Don't Call the Cops

[General of Darkness]

WOW.


Suffer These Crimes in Oakland? Don't Call the Cops
Dozens of layoffs effective at midnight, barring last minute deal
By LORI PREUITT and KRIS SANCHEZ
Updated 6:28 AM PDT, Tue, Jul 13, 2010

Oakland's police chief is making some dire claims about what his force will and will not respond to if planned layoffs happen tonight at midnight.

Chief Anthony Batts listed exactly 44 situations that his officers no longer respond to and they include grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism. He says if you live and Oakland and one of the above happens to you, you need to let police know on-line.

Here's a partial list:

* burglary
* theft
* embezzlement
* grand theft
* grand theft:dog
* identity theft
* false information to peace officer
* required to register as sex or arson offender
* dump waste or offensive matter
* discard appliance with lock
* loud music
* possess forged notes
* pass fictitious check
* obtain money by false voucher
* fraudulent use of access cards
* stolen license plate
* embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
* extortion
* attempted extortion
* false personification of other
* injure telephone/ power line
* interfere with power line
* unauthorized cable tv connection
* vandalism
* administer/expose poison to another's

Batts has only been chief since last October. "I came here to build an organization, not to downsize one," Batts said.

Some 80 officers will be let go at midnight if a last-minute deal is not reached. Negotiations are going on at Oakland City Hall today in the mayor's office. That is about a tenth of the force.

Batts said the 80 officers slated to be laid off - mostly new officers - are "pretty sad and pretty depressed," and those feelings are shared by the Police Department as a whole.

The Oakland City Council voted June 25 to eliminate the positions to help close the city's $32.5 million funding gap. According to the city of Oakland, each of the 776 police officers currently employed at OPD costs around $188,000 per year. Most of the officers who will be affected by the layoffs were on the streets of Oakland when Johannes Mehserle's involuntary manslaughter conviction caused riots last Thursday.

The sticking point in negotiations appears to be job security. The city council asked OPD officers to pay nine percent of their salary toward their pensions, which would save the city about $7.8 million toward a multi-million dollar deficit. The police union agreed, as long as the city could promise no layoffs for three years. No dice, says city council president Jane Brunner.

"We wish we could offer them a three-year no layoff protection we just can't financially.It would be irresponsible of us," Brunner told NBC Bay Area. The city agreed to a one-year moratorium on layoffs, but it is not enough for the union.

The problem is that in the last five years, the police budget -- along with the fire department budget -- have amount to 75 percent of the general fund. After years of largely sparing those departments the budget ax, now it appears there are few other places to cut.

These are the last hours of negotiation and Brunner is hopeful that the city and police will find some sort middle ground.

"It's been very good conversation and not a whole lot of grandstanding." Brunner said. "There's actually real conversations. Each side understands the problem," she said.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Suffer-These-Crimes-in-Oakland-Dont-Call-the-Cops-98266509.html

[joe_momma]

Yeah - Oaktown pretty much sucks - I think most residents are now even more happy that they've driven out all gun and ammo sellers with the targeted zoning/tax laws passed over the last decade.

I'm not sure that the police response to non-emergency crimes was all that good to begin with, so there may not be a significant degradation.

Oddly, this is actually one instance where the Police need to cave in - at issue is the overly lavish pension scheme that is completely unsustainable. The Oakland City Council has come out and said that after they break the police over the pension, they'll target the Fire Department (and then presumably the remaining city employees).

Oakland has always understaffed their police (ratio of officers to general population) since they can use the threat of police staffing cuts to force tax/fee increases (which in turn are diverted to fund socially important programs).

The whole pension battle is just starting in California - which is in race with Illinois for the race to see which state can default first. CALPERS (the California Employee Pension Fund) lost a sh*tload of money in the past few years and is vastly underfunded - techincally the (bankrupt) state is on the hook to make the pensions solvent - we'll see.


"When seconds matter, the police are just minutes away."

[Book]

Idaho woman charged in mayo dump at library wanted

Associated Press - July 12, 2010 7:44 PM ET

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A bench warrant has been issued for a 74-year-old Idaho woman suspected in a yearlong condiment-dumping crime spree at the Ada County library.

Police arrested Joy L. Cassidy on June 13, saying she had poured mayonnaise in the library's book drop box that day and was a person of interest in at least 10 other condiment-related crimes.

The library, dating back to May 2009, has reported finding books in the drop box covered in corn syrup and ketchup.

An Ada County court clerk says a warrant was issued for Cassidy's arrest last week after she failed to show at a court hearing on charges that stem from her June arrest.

Cassidy is charged with malicious injury to property and carrying a concealed weapon without a license.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/13/1265047/warrant-issued-in-sticky-library.html

Here in Boise we don't let any criminals run loose on our streets...lol.

:D

[horseshoe3]

Riding the train is about to get safer.

[MNeagle]

Cassidy is charged with malicious injury to property and carrying a concealed weapon without a license.


So now mayo, corn syrup & ketchup are concealed weapons?? :oo--> Stay out of the grocery stores!

[undgrd]

They'll agree to a 2 year freeze on layoffs in exchange for 11%-12% officer pay to pension.

[MNeagle]

Will be interesting to hear the final settlement. I'm impressed that Oakland is even taking on the sacred cow! Good for them.

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

Let's see what an Oakland riot looks like now....

(assuming they fail to make a last minute deal)

[Phoenix]

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts...

http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2009/08/24/oaklandpolicechiefbatts.jpg

jus' wanna give his bruthuhs a head start!

[Twisted Titan]

Imwaiting with bated breath for this to reach to east coast

Im gonna call the ex Bi Polar wife and play my favorite tune.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wbi9q-tV8Q

[EE_]

Chief Anthony Batts listed exactly 44 situations that his officers no longer respond to and they include grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism.

Here's a partial list:

* burglary
* theft
* embezzlement
* grand theft
* grand theft:dog
* identity theft
* false information to peace officer
* required to register as sex or arson offender
* dump waste or offensive matter
* discard appliance with lock
* loud music
* possess forged notes
* pass fictitious check
* obtain money by false voucher
* fraudulent use of access cards
* stolen license plate
* embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
* extortion
* attempted extortion
* false personification of other
* injure telephone/ power line
* interfere with power line
* unauthorized cable tv connection
* vandalism
* administer/expose poison to another's

Here's the list they will respond to:

* firearm possession by elderly people
* suspected firearm possession by elderly
* unarmed violent black youths that might have a firearm
* angry white people that might be holding something that looks like a firearm
* jaywalkers that resist ticketing and might be carrying something
* tea party elderly members that could be hiding something

(the above will be met swiftly with tasers and firearms to disarm any potential threat they may pose)

[1970 silver art]

I might be wrong on this but that is a pretty long "partial list". Maybe it will be easier (and cheaper) if they did not respond to ANY crimes at all and just allow citizens to be responsible for arming themselves.

I guess not responding to the extortion "situation" makes sense to me since there are too many CA state legislators to arrest and put in jail.

"Grand Theft Dog"? WTF is "Grand Theft Dog"?? Is that when someone steals more than 1000 oz's of silver from someone? After all, silver is a DOG. ;D

[EE_]

"Grand Theft Dog"? WTF is "Grand Theft Dog"??


http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/dog-the-bounty-hunter-0109-fb-47821367.jpg

[Book]

I'm gonna call the ex Bi Polar wife and play my favorite tune.



:ROFL:

[JDRock]

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts...

http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2009/08/24/oaklandpolicechiefbatts.jpg

jus' wanna give his bruthuhs a head start!


or....maybe his work ethic, or lack thereof?

[Liquid]

"Grand Theft Dog"? WTF is "Grand Theft Dog"??


Grand Theft Dog. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/13/5/s487e. Basically, if the dog is worth more than $400, it's grand theft dog. I think this statute is a biased attack on vietnamese restuarants, personally. All the neighborhood dogs and cats suddenly go 'missing' once the open sign lights up. ;D

The online crime reporting is going to be a big fail, considering that most Oakland residents don't actually have any computers nor online services.

Welcome to the wild wild west.

[Skirnir]

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/297/komputah.jpg

[MNeagle]

Oakland Lays Off 80 Police Officers in Budget Crisis; What's the Real Solution?

Public unions continue to display a lack of basic math regarding city budget woes.

Alternatively they simply do not care and are willing to cannibalize newest union members for the benefit of those with the most seniority. Either way, and most likely some of each, cities have seen no recourse other than to layoff workers when contract negotiations stall.

Oakland, California is a prime example. Please consider Oakland talks break down; layoffs for 80 cops

Oakland laid off 80 police officers Tuesday after negotiations between city officials and union leaders failed on one simple matter: job security.

The police union demanded that the city guarantee that its officers would not be laid off for three years in exchange for giving up some pension benefits that would have eased the city's budget problems.

City leaders, however, said it would have been irresponsible of them to agree to protect police jobs for more than one year because the city's budget problems are likely to worsen.

"Every time you lay us off, there's a gun to the citizen's head as well," said Sgt. Dom Arotzarena, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association.


My Comment: Notice the fear-mongering by Sgt. Dom Arotzarena.

Also note that he is supposed to be a public servant. If what he said was true, then he places his own amazingly greedy interests ahead of serving the public.

[Sgt. Arotzarena] compared the slaying of four officers in the line of duty in March 2009 to Tuesday's layoffs, saying the 80 were released "not by the hand of a gun, but by the hand of a pen."


My Comment: Not only did the union's actions endanger the the public, their union's stance also resulted in the deaths of four fellow police offices, assuming you take Sgt. Arotzarena's statements at face value.

The council counter-offered by saying it would agree to a one-year moratorium. But the union said no. The union also rejected an offer from the city for smaller pension contributions with the one-year moratorium.

The city has already eliminated the $42 million deficit it faced for the year that began July 1. Cuts included the police layoffs. The city now has a $407 million budget.

Next year, the deficit is projected at roughly $50 million.

With 75 percent of the budget devoted to police and fire and 10 percent to debt service, the city has no wiggle room, council members said.


My comment: Please read that again. 75 Percent of the city's entire budget goes to police and fire workers and they want still more.

Officers who lost their jobs Tuesday said the union could not sacrifice without getting anything back in return.

"My idea of negotiating is giving and getting," said Chris Peters, who was laid off Tuesday after having worked for nearly two years in North Oakland. "We're giving, but we're not getting anything back."


My Comment: The union asked for the world and gave nothing. Also note that fools who just lost their job still support the union who tossed them to the dogs.

What is it about unions that they cannot understand simple math. Cities are broke. There is nothing more to give.

The article states the union is going to the voters to ask for tax increase. I suggest taxpayers ought to have an equal right to a vote on whether to outsource the entire police force to the local sheriff's association to save money.

What Is The Correct Policy

The correct policy is the same as it has been for year: Tell the public unions to go to hell. Things have now come to such a crucial economic point that the city had no choice than to do that.

It even offered to suspend layoffs for a year. The union refused. If any citizens or officers lose their lives over this decision, the blood will be on the hands of Sgt. Dom Arotzarena and his ilk.

Looking ahead, the ultimate way out of this problem is an Oakland bankruptcy. There is absolutely no doubt the city is bankrupt, the only problem is admitting it.

Rather than increase city taxes or property taxes in a foolish attempt to sustain the unsustainable, Oakland should file for bankruptcy now which would send city pension benefits to the courts.

Indeed, my proposal for the city is to do just that. File bankruptcy. It's going to happen anyway, so the sooner it happens the better. When it does happen, that blood too will be on the hands of the public unions and the corrupt politicians who supported them.

If Oakland wants to kick the can down the road, it can in the interim outsource the whole damn police force to the local sheriff's association. However, that will not solve the problem with fireman or other unions, and it too just temporarily staves off the inevitable: bankruptcy.

To anyone living in Oakland. Please email this link http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/07/oakland-lays-off-80-police-officers-in.html to your city council member, with your comments whatever they are, noting if you would, whether or not you are in a public union.

Have your friends and neighbors do the same. It is time to insist on real reform and the only way to do that is to take personal responsibility whenever you can.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

link (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/07/oakland-lays-off-80-police-officers-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnaly sis+%28Mish%27s+Global+Economic+Trend+Analysis%29)