Misplaced Pages

Oakland Police Department

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

A law enforcement agency ( LEA ) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement agency is the police , but various other forms exist as well, including agencies that focus on specific legal violation , or are organized and overseen by certain authorities . They typically have various powers and legal rights to allow them to perform their duties, such as the power of arrest and the use of force .

#994005

170-488: The Oakland Police Department ( OPD ) is a law enforcement agency responsible for policing the city of Oakland, California , United States. As of May 2021, the department employed 709 sworn officers and 371 civilian employees. The department is divided into 5 geographical divisions policing Oakland's 78 square miles and population of 420,000. The OPD receives 550,000 annual calls for service, and responds to over 250,000 law enforcement incidents. The Oakland Police Department

340-847: A "Class A style" navy blue wool round police cap with cap badge indicating rank, usually worn only with the full dress uniform. Navy blue BDU style uniforms are also authorized. Plain black leather duty belts with matching holster and accessories are issued. Black nylon duty gear is worn optionally by some officers. Navy blue nylon jackets are issued for cooler weather while black leather bomber style jackets may be purchased for optional wear. For crowd control, OPD officers normally wear helmets and BDU uniforms. Oakland officers are issued Glock 17 9mm caliber handguns. Less Lethal weapons issued/authorized for use by officers include Batons (Straight Wood Baton, Straight ASP Expandable Baton, Short Billy), OC Pepper Spray, bean-bag shotgun rounds, and Tasers. Cruisers may be armed with Remington 870 shotguns. The OPD SWAT Team

510-487: A "revolutionary internationalist movement ": [The Party] dropped its wholesale attacks against whites and began to emphasize more of a class analysis of society. Its emphasis on Marxist–Leninist doctrine and its repeated espousal of Maoist statements signaled the group's transition from a revolutionary nationalist to a revolutionary internationalist movement. Every Party member had to study Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book" to advance his or her knowledge of peoples' struggle and

680-515: A 1-inch medium blue stripe along the side seam. A sterling silver seven-point star is affixed to the left breast above the pocket, each with a distinctive 3 digit enameled number and bearing the words "Police Officer, Oakland California". Nametags are worn on the right breast above the pocket. Police officers and sergeants wear sterling silver stars, while higher ranks wear gold stars. Additionally, ranks from sergeant and up are hand-engraved with scrolling, and enameled rank designation. Officers are issued

850-566: A 1906 Auto-Car. In 1907, Chief Wilson reorganized the Detective Bureau and detectives became known as Inspectors, a title borrowed from Scotland Yard. Chief Wilson concurrently created the Bureau of Identification, and Oakland became the first police department west of Chicago to maintain specialized criminal identification files using the French method of Bertillion Records along with fingerprints as

1020-614: A 1958 rape conviction. They settled in Algeria. By the end of the year, party membership peaked at around 2,000. Party members engaged in criminal activities such as extortion, stealing, violent discipline of BPP members, and robberies. The BPP leadership took one-third of the proceeds from robberies committed by BPP members. No kid should be running around hungry in school. Bobby Seale Inspired by Mao Zedong 's advice to revolutionaries in The Little Red Book , Newton called on

1190-434: A 90-minute gun battle with the police. The standoff ended with Cleaver wounded and Hutton voluntarily surrendering. According to Cleaver, although Hutton had stripped down to his underwear and had his hands raised in the air to prove that he was unarmed, Oakland Police shot Hutton more than 12 times, killing him. Two police officers were also shot. He became the first member of the party to be killed by police. Although at

1360-503: A California law that permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it was publicly displayed and pointed at no one. Generally this was done while monitoring and observing police behavior in their neighborhoods, with the Panthers arguing that this emphasis on active militancy and openly carrying their weapons was necessary to protect individuals from police violence. For example, chants like "The Revolution has come, it's time to pick up

1530-579: A LEA is sometimes referred to as a jurisdiction, any LEA operations area usually still has legal jurisdiction in all geographic areas the LEA operates, but by policy and consensus the operations area does not normally operate in other geographical operations areas of the LEA. For example, since 2019 the frontline or territorial policing of the United Kingdom 's Metropolitan Police has been divided into 12 Basic Command Units, each consisting of two, three, or four of

1700-927: A big influence on the White Panther Party , tied to the Detroit/Ann Arbor band MC5 and their manager John Sinclair (author of the book Guitar Army ), which also promulgated a ten-point program. Violent conflict between the Panther chapter in LA and the US Organization , a black nationalist group, resulted in shootings and beatings and led to the murders of at least four Black Panther Party members. On January 17, 1969, Los Angeles Panther Captain Bunchy Carter and Deputy Minister John Huggins were killed in Campbell Hall on

1870-587: A character in Greek mythology. The department also operates a marine support unit which patrols the estuary and port of Oakland facilities, conducting critical infrastructure inspections, underwater searches with side scan sonar, and underwater remote vehicle searches. Chief of the Oakland Police Department is an office held by the highest-ranking member of the Oakland Police Department. Oakland has had 13 police chiefs (including interim chiefs) since 1993. For

SECTION 10

#1732845327995

2040-600: A circulation of 250,000. The group created a Ten-Point Program , a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from conscription for black men, among other demands. With the Ten-Point program, "What We Want, What We Believe," the Black Panther Party expressed its economic and political grievances. Curtis Austin states that by late 1968, Black Panther ideology had evolved from black nationalism to become more

2210-628: A collection of states typically within an international organization or political union (e.g. Europol for the European Union ). Sometimes, an LEA's jurisdiction is determined by the type of violation committed relative to the laws the LEA enforces, who or what the violation affects, or the seriousness of the violation. For example, in the United States, the Postal Inspection Service primarily investigates crimes affecting or misusing

2380-619: A country, but is made up of personnel from several countries, such as the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina . International LEAs are typically also multinational, but multinational LEAs are typically not international. LEAs which operate across a collection of countries tend to assist in law enforcement activities, rather than directly enforcing laws, by facilitating the sharing of information necessary for law enforcement between LEAs within those countries. Within

2550-408: A country, the jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies can be organized and structured in a number of ways to provide law enforcement throughout the country. A law enforcement agency's jurisdiction can be for the whole country or for a division or sub-division within the country. When a LEA's jurisdiction is for the whole country, it is usually one of two broad types, either federal or national. When

2720-413: A divisional level. Such exercising of powers is typically specific arrangements between the federal and divisional governing bodies. Examples of federal law enforcement agencies include the: A federated approach to the organization of a country does not necessarily indicate the nature of the organization of law enforcement agencies within the country. Some countries, such as Austria and Belgium , have

2890-558: A felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for forcible rape of a minor as well as a parole violation. The suspect shot and killed Traffic Division Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege when they stopped him for a traffic violation. They were unaware he was armed and wanted, and he drew a handgun and shot both officers before they could react. He fled to a nearby apartment and staged an ambush of the police SWAT team as they attempted to arrest him, killing officers Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai before he too

3060-521: A full list of past and current police chiefs, visit the Chief of the Oakland Police Department page. The ranks of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and Chief are appointed. The Assistant Chief as second-in-command. Deputy Chiefs command the Bureaus of Field Services (Area 1 and Area 2), Criminal Investigations and Services. Each bureau contains various divisions, each typically commanded by a Captain. A Lieutenant may

3230-593: A geographic area and territory. LEA might be able to apply its powers within a state (e.g. the National Police for the entirety of France ), within an administrative division (e.g. the Ontario Provincial Police for Ontario , Canada ), within a division of an administrative division (e.g. the Miami-Dade Police Department for Miami-Dade County , Florida , United States ), or across

3400-533: A law and identify other non-complying subjects. Lawful deception and use of law exemption by a LEA is typically subject to very strong judicial or open civil overview. For example, the Australian Federal Police's controlled operations are subject to open civil review by its governing body, the Parliament of Australia . Law enforcement agencies have other exemptions from laws to allow them to operate in

3570-457: A law by a specified subject. The judicial officer, if they agree, will then issue a legal instrument, typically called a search warrant , to the LEA, which must be presented to the relevant subject if possible. Subjects who do not comply with laws will usually seek to avoid detection by a LEA. When required, in order for the LEA to detect and investigate subjects not complying with laws, the LEA must be able to undertake its activities secretly from

SECTION 20

#1732845327995

3740-450: A low of 646 officers in 1996 to a high of 814 in 2002, and back to a low again of 646 by 2012. The department's strength declined 21 percent from 2009 to 2012 alone. On Friday, August 15, 2007, Oakland swore in 22 new graduates from the department's 161st Basic Police Academy, increasing the ranks of the department to 741 filled positions, the most since 1999. At least five veteran officers were expected to be granted disability retirements by

3910-538: A major tax increase known as Measure Y. The measure has been largely unsuccessful, as staffing levels remain historically low and crime remains far above the national average. In February 2020, the Oakland Police Commission, with support from Mayor Libby Schaaf, fired Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick without cause. In May 2020, Kirkpatrick filed a complaint with the City Attorney's Office, claiming her firing

4080-464: A means of identification. Chief Wilson also instituted civil service status for police officers beginning in 1911, ending political patronage in the department. Formalized training was introduced with the opening of a "police school" which included instruction in department regulations, law courses taught by the District Attorney and local judges, and first aid taught by the local Red Cross. By 1914,

4250-469: A member of the Oakland Police Department. After a criminal trial, former Officer Richard Valerga was sentenced to six months in jail. In 2010, Oakland agreed to pay $ 6.5 million to individuals alleging that the Oakland police illegally obtained search warrants based on false or misleading information. In 2011, Oakland Police came under further criticism for its handling of Occupy Oakland . Occupier Scott Olsen

4420-484: A plan to send a group of 26 armed Panthers led by Seale from Oakland to Sacramento to protest the bill. The group entered the assembly carrying their weapons, an incident which was widely publicized, and which prompted police to arrest Seale and five others. The group pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disrupting a legislative session. At the time of the protest, the Party had fewer than 100 members in total. In May 1967,

4590-453: A police force of 61 officers, and grew rapidly thereafter. Oakland PD was on the forefront of innovation under the leadership of Chief Adelbert Wilson (1906 to 1912) as it instituted advances in modern telephone communications, criminalistics, and auto and motorcycle transport. The department became the first city west of the Mississippi to utilize automobiles for police patrol when it purchased

4760-489: A police officer, Party members cited laws proving they had done nothing wrong and threatened to take to court any officer that violated their constitutional rights. Between the end of 1966 to the start of 1967, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense's armed police patrols in Oakland black communities attracted a small handful of members. Numbers grew slightly starting in February 1967, when the party provided an armed escort at

4930-489: A practical way. For example, many jurisdictions have laws which forbid animals from entering certain areas for health and safety reasons. LEAs are typically exempted from these laws to allow dogs to be used for search and rescue, drug search, explosives search, chase and arrest, etc. This type of exemption is not unique to LEAs. Sight assist dogs are also typically exempted from access restrictions . Members of LEAs may be permitted to openly display firearms in places where this

5100-491: A raid by the Chicago Police Department . Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Huey Newton allegedly killed officer John Frey in 1967, and Eldridge Cleaver (Minister of Information) led an ambush in 1968 of Oakland police officers, in which two officers were wounded and Panther treasurer Bobby Hutton was killed. The party suffered many internal conflicts, resulting in

5270-458: A relatively unified approach to law enforcement, but still have operationally separate units for federal law enforcement and divisional policing. The United States has a highly fractured approach to law enforcement agencies generally, and this is reflected in American federal law enforcement agencies . In a federation, there will typically be separate LEAs with jurisdictions for each division within

Oakland Police Department - Misplaced Pages Continue

5440-694: A revolutionary anti-imperialist perspective working with more active and militant groups like the Soul Students Advisory Council and the Revolutionary Action Movement . Their paid jobs running youth service programs at the North Oakland Neighborhood Anti-Poverty Center allowed them to develop a revolutionary nationalist approach to community service, later a key element in the Black Panther Party's " community survival programs ." Dissatisfied with

5610-558: A safety impacting event. These include: Many LEAs have administrative and service responsibilities, often as their major responsibility, as well as their law enforcement responsibilities. This is typical of agencies such as customs or taxation agencies, which provide services and facilities to allow subjects to comply with relevant laws as their primary responsibilities. Private police are law enforcement bodies that are owned or controlled by non-governmental entities. Private police are often utilized in places where public law enforcement

5780-495: A sex scandal involving a teenaged prostitute, including some while she was allegedly a minor. The scandal was revealed by an investigation triggered by a suicide note written by Oakland Police Officer Brendan O'Brien, who was one of the implicated officers alleged to have repeatedly had sex with the girl while she was a minor. The scandal led to the resignation of Chief Sean Whent , and the subsequent appointment and voluntary resignations of two subsequent candidates, one from outside

5950-434: A subject with regulations or codes of practice may result in the revocation of a license for the subject to operate, and operating without a licence is typically illegal. Also, the failure to apply codes of practice can impact other subjects' safety and life, which can also be illegal. A LEA can be responsible for enforcing secular law or religious law such as Sharia or Halakha . The significant majority of LEAs around

6120-601: A two-pronged attempt to engage the community and curtail violence. Again, these efforts were hampered by the continual shortage of officers. The city commissioned an independent study on police staffing in the mid-1990s by the non-profit Police Executive Research Foundation, which concluded that Oakland needed a minimum of 1,200 sworn officers to effectively deal with the annual average level of reported crime. Nonetheless, budget shortfalls ensured that sworn staffing remained at an average of 750 to 800 officers thereafter, an average of 1.76 officers per 1000 residents, ranking Oakland near

6290-641: A variety of locations throughout the country which focused their curriculum on Black history , writing skills, and political science. The first Liberation School was opened by the Richmond Black Panthers in July 1969 with brunch served and snacks provided to students. Another school was opened in Mt. Vernon New York on July 17 of the subsequent year. These schools were informal in nature and more closely resembled after-school or summer programs. While these campuses were

6460-405: Is a direct jurisdictional responsibility and is different from the situation when a governing body makes arrangements with another governing body's LEA to provide law enforcement for its subjects. In federal polities, actions that violate laws in multiple geographical divisions within the federation are escalated to a federal LEA. In other cases, specific crimes deemed to be serious are escalated; in

6630-415: Is commonly understood by society, it is recognized formally by scholars and academics. A police agency's jurisdiction for social order and public safety will normally be the same as its jurisdiction for law enforcement. Military organizations often have law enforcement units. These units within armed forces are generally referred to as military police . This may refer to: The exact usage and meaning of

6800-698: Is determined based on whether their involvement is requested; the Australian Federal Police , for instance, has jurisdiction over all of Australia , but usually takes on complex serious matters referred to it by another agency, and the agency will undertake its own investigations of less serious or complex matters by consensus. LEA jurisdictions for a country and its divisions can typically be at more than one level. The United States has five basic tiers of law enforcement jurisdiction: federal , state , county , municipality , and special jurisdiction ( tribal , airport , transit , railroad , etc.). Only

6970-558: Is equipped with Colt M4 rifles. OPD deploys black and white patrol vehicles, primarily the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors and Ford Police Interceptor sport utility vehicles . The Traffic Division deploys Harley Davidson FLHP Road King motorcycles. The helicopters for the Oakland Police are McDonnell Douglas MD369E models, equipped with forward Looking Infra-Red systems. They are nicknamed ARGUS after

Oakland Police Department - Misplaced Pages Continue

7140-494: Is for penal or court-related duties), they are still capable of assisting each other if necessary, usually in the form of higher-tier agencies assisting lower-tier agencies. In some countries, national or federal police may be involved in direct policing as well, though what they focus on and what their duties are may vary. In Brazil , there are five federal police forces with national jurisdiction—the Federal Police of Brazil ,

7310-491: Is for social order within their jurisdiction and the relevant social order being highly codified as laws. Often, a LEA will have a specific internal unit to ensure that the LEA is complying with relevant laws such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Office of Professional Responsibility. In some countries and regions, specialised or separate LEAs are established to ensure that other LEAs comply with laws and investigate potential violations of laws by law enforcers, like

7480-416: Is noted as saying, "I think that the school's principles came from the socialist principles we tried to live in the Black Panther Party. One of them being critical thinking—that children should learn not what to think but how to think ... the school was an expression of the collective wisdom of the people who envisioned it. And it was ... a living thing [that] changed every year. Joan Kelley oversaw funding for

7650-463: Is often used in the United States to refer to police agencies, however, it also includes agencies with peace officer status or agencies which prosecute criminal acts. A county prosecutor or district attorney is considered to be the chief law enforcement officer of a county. Other responsibilities of LEAs are typically related to assisting subjects to avoid non-compliance with a law, assisting subjects to remain safe and secure, assisting subjects after

7820-881: Is seen as being under-provided. For example, the San Francisco Patrol Special Police was formed to increase security in San Francisco during the California gold rush , and presently still exists to protect locations on the request of private clients. In Canada and the United States, many railroad companies have private railroad police. Examples include the BNSF Police Department , Canadian National Police Service , Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police Service , Union Pacific Police Department , etc. The Canadian National Police Service and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police Service operate in both countries while

7990-496: Is the United Nations Police , which helps provide law enforcement during United Nations peacekeeping missions. To enable a LEA to prevent, detect, and investigate non-compliance with laws, the LEA is endowed with powers by its governing body which are not available to non LEA subjects of a governing body. Typically, a LEA is empowered to varying degrees to: These powers are not available to subjects other than LEAs within

8160-595: Is typically prohibited to civilians, violate various traffic laws in the course of their duties, or detain persons against their will. Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense ) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California . The party

8330-885: The Federal Highway Police , the Federal Railroad Police , the Federal Penal Police, and the National Public Security Force —but the Highway Police, Railroad Police, and Penal Police are restricted to specific area jurisdictions (the Brazilian Highway System , railways , and prisons respectively) and do not investigate crimes , the Federal Police performs various police duties across the country and does investigate crimes, while

8500-588: The Ku Klux Klan . In December 1966, he became the first treasurer and recruit of the Black Panther Party at the age of just 16 years old. On April 6, 1968, two days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , and with riots raging across cities in the United States, the 17-year-old Hutton was traveling with Eldridge Cleaver and other BPP members in a car. The group confronted Oakland Police officers, then fled to an apartment building where they engaged in

8670-686: The London boroughs , while the New York City Police Department is divided into 77 precincts. Sometimes, the one legal jurisdiction is covered by more than one LEA, again for administrative and logistical efficiency reasons, or arising from policy, or historical reasons. In England and Wales , LEAs called constabularies have jurisdiction over their respective areas of legal coverage, but they do not normally operate out of their areas without formal liaison between them. The primary difference between separate agencies and operational areas within

SECTION 50

#1732845327995

8840-643: The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption or the Ontario Special Investigations Unit . Typically, a LEA is established and constituted by the governing body it is supporting, and the personnel making up the LEA are from the governing body's subjects. For reasons of either logistical efficiency or policy, some divisions with a country will not establish their own LEAs but will instead make arrangements with another LEA, typically from

9010-719: The Progressive Labor Party , Bob Avakian of the Community for New Politics, and the Red Guard . For example, the Black Panther Party collaborated with the Peace and Freedom Party , which sought to promote a strong antiwar and antiracist politics in opposition to the establishment Democratic Party . The Black Panther Party provided needed legitimacy to the Peace and Freedom Party's racial politics and in return received invaluable support for

9180-897: The Southern states during the Second Great Migration , moving to Oakland and other cities in the Bay Area to find work in the war industries such as Kaiser Shipyards . The sweeping migration transformed the Bay Area as well as cities throughout the West and North , altering the once white-dominated demographics. A new generation of young black people growing up in these cities faced new forms of poverty and racism unfamiliar to their parents, and they sought to develop new forms of politics to address them. Black Panther Party membership "consisted of recent migrants whose families traveled north and west to escape

9350-1006: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Nation of Islam , as well as leaders including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. , Stokely Carmichael , H. Rap Brown , Maxwell Stanford and Elijah Muhammad . As assistant FBI Director William Sullivan later testified in front of the Church Committee , the Bureau "did not differentiate" between Soviet spies and suspected Communists in black nationalist movements when deploying surveillance and neutralization tactics. COINTELPRO attempted to create rivalries between black nationalist factions and to exploit existing ones. One such attempt

9520-507: The UCLA campus, in a gun battle with members of the US Organization. Another shootout between the two groups on March 17 led to further injuries. Two more Panthers died. Paramount to their beliefs regarding the need for individual agency to catalyze community change, the Black Panther Party (BPP) strongly supported the education of the masses. As part of their Ten-Point Program which set forth

9690-673: The excessive force and misconduct of the Oakland Police Department . From 1969 onward, the party created social programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children Programs, education programs, and community health clinics. The Black Panther Party advocated for class struggle , claiming to represent the proletarian vanguard . In 1969, J. Edgar Hoover , the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), described

9860-622: The "Free Huey" campaign. In 1968 the southern California chapter was founded by Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter in Los Angeles. Carter was the leader of the Slauson Street gang, and many of the L.A. chapter's early recruits were Slausons. Bobby James Hutton was born April 21, 1950, in Jefferson County, Arkansas. At the age of three, he and his family moved to Oakland, California after being harassed by racist vigilante groups associated with

10030-419: The 1943 appointment of African American Officers Adrien C. Bridges and Leon S. Daniels. Other African American officers soon joined the ranks, and in 1949, Odell Sylvester, a World War II veteran and 1948 graduate of Cal Berkeley joined the department and rose through the ranks to become the first African American Lieutenant, Captain and Deputy Chief. He was the first African American officer to attain this rank in

10200-634: The 1960s. Despite community outreach programs, racial tensions increased throughout the decade as crime and declining socioeconomic status impacted the African American community the hardest. By the late 1960s, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense had formed in Oakland and a series of public confrontations with the police garnered national attention. Black Panthers wearing a uniform of black clothes, black leather jackets, and black berets would follow Oakland police patrols while openly carrying statute books and firearms. In October 1967, OPD officer John Frey

10370-403: The Australian Federal Police is a federal agency and has the legal power to enforce the laws enacted by any Australian state, but will generally only enforce state law if there is a federal aspect to investigate. Typically, federal LEAs have relatively narrow police responsibilities, the individual divisions within the federation usually establish their own police agencies to enforce laws within

SECTION 60

#1732845327995

10540-453: The Black Panther Party and a black nationalist group called the US Organization , allegedly sending a provocative letter to the US Organization to increase existing antagonism. COINTELPRO also aimed to dismantle the Black Panther Party by targeting their social/community programs, including its Free Breakfast for Children program, whose success had served to "shed light on the government's failure to address child poverty and hunger—pointing to

10710-448: The Black Panther Party and sought to focus directly on political action. Members were encouraged to carry guns and to defend themselves against violence. An influx of college students joined the group, which had consisted chiefly of "brothers off the block". This created some tension in the group. Some members were more interested in supporting the Panthers' social programs, while others wanted to maintain their "street mentality". By 1968,

10880-625: The Black Panther Party emerged. In late October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense). In formulating a new politics, they drew on their work with a variety of Black Power organizations. Newton and Seale first met in 1962 when they were both students at Merritt College . They joined Donald Warden's Afro-American Association , where they read widely, debated, and organized in an emergent black nationalist tradition inspired by Malcolm X and others. Eventually dissatisfied with Warden's accommodationism, they developed

11050-586: The Black Panther symbol. Newton and Seale decided to adopt the Black Panther logo and form their own organization called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Newton and Seale decided on a uniform of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, the latter adopted as an homage to Che Guevara . Sixteen-year-old Bobby Hutton was their first recruit. By January 1967, the BPP opened its first official headquarters in an Oakland storefront and published

11220-426: The Black Panthers and their allies had become primary COINTELPRO targets, singled out in 233 of the 295 authorized " Black Nationalist " COINTELPRO actions. The goals of the program were to prevent the unification of militant black nationalist groups and to weaken their leadership, as well as to discredit them to reduce their support and growth. The initial targets included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ,

11390-515: The City of Oakland paid $ 42,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by rapper Tupac Shakur after officers allegedly beat him during a confrontation after stopping him for a traffic infraction. In July 2000, a former rookie Oakland Police officer alleged that four veteran officers known as the "Riders" had over the past four years made false arrests, planted evidence, used excessive force, and falsified police reports. Scores of drug cases were dropped because of potentially tainted evidence. The alleged leader of

11560-515: The City of Oakland's annual expenditures, according to the Proposed 2019-2021 Oakland City Budget. As of 2023, average total pay for an Oakland police officer is $ 215,940 ($ 324,583 including benefits). The highest earning department employee, Sergeant Of Police Francisco Javier Negrete, received $ 604,326 in pay ($ 879,284 including benefits). The staffing of the Oakland Police Department has varied widely, particularly since 1995, due to budget cuts and rising attrition rates. Sworn personnel ranged from

11730-415: The Homicide, Sexual Assault, and Robbery Sections. All potential candidates for the position of Police Officer must undergo a written examination, oral board panel and review, physical agility testing, psychological screening, drug testing and intensive background investigation. The number of candidates accepted is less than 25 percent of overall applicants. New officers are hired as probationary employees at

11900-433: The LEA's jurisdiction and are typically subject to judicial and civil overview. Usually, these powers are only allowed when it can be shown that a subject is probably already not complying with a law. For example, to undertake an intrusive search, typically a LEA must make an argument and convince a judicial officer of the need to undertake the intrusive search on the basis that it will help detect or prove non-compliance with

12070-399: The National Public Security Force is a rapid reaction force deployed to assist state authorities on request. Often, a LEA's jurisdiction will be geographically divided into operations areas for administrative and logistical efficiency reasons. An operations area is often called a command , division , or office . Colloquially, they are known as beats . While the operations area of

12240-406: The Oakland Police Department and its staff, while announcing another new scandal, this one involving racist and homophobic text messages allegedly by African-American Oakland Police Department officers. Law enforcement agency LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction . Jurisdictions are traditionally restricted to

12410-413: The Panther , writer Hugh Pearson alleges that Newton was intoxicated in the hours before the incident, and claimed to have willfully killed John Frey. At the time, Newton claimed that he had been falsely accused, leading to the Party's "Free Huey!" campaign. The police killing gained the party even wider recognition by the radical American left and it stimulated the growth of the Party nationwide. Newton

12580-778: The Panthers Party claimed to have fed twenty thousand children in the 1968–69 school year. The Black Panther Party's free breakfast program is "the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for." FBI director J. Edgar Hoover Other survival programs were free services such as clothing distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics, lessons on self-defense and first aid, transportation to upstate prisons for family members of inmates, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease . The free medical clinics were very significant because they modeled an idea of how

12750-587: The Panthers invaded the State Assembly Chamber in Sacramento , guns in hand, in what appears to have been a publicity stunt . Still, they scared a lot of important people that day. At the time, the Panthers had almost no following. Now, (a year later) however, their leaders speak on invitation almost anywhere radicals gather, and many whites wear "Honkeys for Huey " buttons, supporting the fight to free Newton, who has been in jail since last Oct. 28 (1967) on

12920-460: The Panthers to "serve the people" and to make "survival programs" a priority within its branches. The most famous of their programs was the Free Breakfast for Children Program , initially run out of an Oakland church. The Free Breakfast For Children program was especially significant because it served as a space for educating youth about the current condition of the Black community, and the actions that

13090-454: The Panthers' many legal battles. The BPP adopted a "Serve the People" program, which at first involved a free breakfast program for children . By the end of 1968, the BPP had established 38 chapters and branches, claiming more than five thousand members. Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver left the country days before Cleaver was to turn himself in to serve the remainder of a thirteen-year sentence for

13260-439: The Party had expanded into many U.S. cities, including Atlanta , Baltimore , Boston , Chicago, Cleveland , Dallas , Denver , Detroit, Kansas City , Los Angeles, Newark , New Orleans , New York City, Omaha , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , San Diego , San Francisco, Seattle , Toledo , and Washington, D.C. Peak membership was near 5,000 by 1969, and their newspaper , under the editorial leadership of Eldridge Cleaver , had

13430-448: The Party was taking to address that condition. "While the children ate their meal[s], members [of the Party] taught them liberation lessons consisting of Party messages and Black history." Through this program, the Party was able to influence young minds, and strengthen their ties to communities as well as gain widespread support for their ideologies. The breakfast program became so popular that

13600-597: The Riders, Frank Vazquez, fled to Mexico shortly after his criminal indictment and remains a fugitive from justice. The other three officers were indicted by the Alameda County District Attorney and tried twice in Oakland Superior Court. The first trial resulted in acquittal on 8 charges and a hung jury on 27 charges. A second trial acquitted officer Hornung, and was deadlocked on most of the charges for

13770-469: The Sacramento action, in the second issue of The Black Panther newspaper. In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program " COINTELPRO " to "neutralize ... black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups. In September 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country". By 1969,

13940-460: The San Francisco airport for Betty Shabazz , Malcolm X's widow and keynote speaker for a conference held in his honor. The Black Panther Party's focus on militancy was often construed as open hostility, feeding a reputation of violence even though early efforts by the Panthers focused primarily on promoting social issues and the exercise of their legal right to carry arms. The Panthers employed

14110-853: The Solomon Islands which has a Participating Police Force working in conjunction with the Solomon Islands Police Force . In circumstances where the United Nations is already providing an administrative support capability within the country, the United Nations may directly establish and constitute a LEA on behalf of the country, as occurred under the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor , which operated in Timor-Leste from 1999 to 2002; related

14280-527: The United States, the FBI has responsibility for the investigation of all kidnapping cases, regardless of whether it involves the crossing of state lines. Some countries provide law enforcement on land and in buildings owned or controlled by the federation by using a federal LEA; for example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is responsible for some aspects of federal property law enforcement Typically, LEAs working in different jurisdictions which overlap in

14450-516: The ambush in retaliation for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis two days prior. The ensuing shootout lasted over 90 minutes as backup officers rushed to the scene and forced the ambushers to seek cover in the basement of a dilapidated row house near 25th and Union Streets. The shootout resulted in two officers being seriously wounded and party member Bobby Hutton killed. The circumstances of Hutton's death remain in dispute to this day, with

14620-505: The black migration "fled to the suburbs along with white residents", the black population was concentrated in poor "urban ghettos" with high unemployment and substandard housing and was mostly excluded from political representation, top universities, and the middle class. Northern and Western police departments were almost all white. In 1966, only 16 of Oakland's 661 police officers were African American (less than 2.5%). Civil rights tactics proved incapable of redressing these conditions, and

14790-601: The books, make the money, buy the guns, and go on the streets with the guns. We'll protect a mother, protect a brother, and protect the community from the racist cops." On October 29, 1966, Stokely Carmichael – a leader of SNCC – championed the call for " Black Power " and came to Berkeley to keynote a Black Power conference. At the time, he was promoting the armed organizing efforts of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in Alabama and their use of

14960-575: The bottom of major U.S. and California cities in the number of officers per capita. Upon the retirement of Chief George T. Hart in 1993, Oakland appointed its first African American Chief of Police, Joseph Samuels Jr. He retired in 1999, and three of the next four chiefs were African American. Oakland appointed its first female chief, Anne Kirkpatrick, in 2017. Each chief has faced the same chronic understaffing faced by his or her predecessors. In an attempt to increase community involvement and address police officer under-staffing, Oakland voters in 2004 passed

15130-555: The charge that he killed a policeman ... In 1967, the Mulford Act was passed by the California legislature and signed by governor Ronald Reagan . The bill was crafted in response to members of the Black Panther Party who were copwatching . The bill repealed a law that allowed the public carrying of loaded firearms. The Black Panther Party first publicized its original "What We Want Now!" Ten-Point program on May 15, 1967, following

15300-470: The city had grown to 216,261 and the department employed 250 officers. Operations expanded to include station houses in the northern and eastern sectors of the city, while headquarters and the central patrol district remained in city hall. By the late 1940s, the central patrol division had moved into its own facility at 14th and Jefferson. With the national economic collapse of 1929, Oakland's growth declined and revenues fell precipitously. The police department

15470-482: The city of Oakland averaged 763.2 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 280.5. This is down from the most recent high of 969.2 per 100,000 residents, which occurred in 2006. Since its inception, 53 Oakland Police Officers have been killed in the line of duty, the majority by gunfire. The first officer killed in the line of duty was Richard B. Richardson, shot to death by an armed fugitive on October 23, 1867. The most recent officer killed

15640-470: The city's largest cocaine dealer until he too was arrested, convicted and imprisoned in 1989. The struggle for dominance among drug gangs continued, and the murder rate reached its peak in 1992 when 175 murders were recorded. Likewise, the rate of non-fatal shootings, rape, aggravated assault and robbery was nearly double the national average during this time. The department remained understaffed throughout this period, even as Oakland consistently ranked as one of

15810-476: The city's racial divisions and had begun community relations programs in the late 1940s. By 1955, the department had greatly expanded its academy training and instituted an internal affairs division. In 1956, the department instituted a civil rights training program for all administrative and supervisory personnel, conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. By 1962, the department centralized operations at

15980-399: The combined responsibilities that federal LEAs and divisional LEAs would have in a federated country. National LEAs are usually divided into operational areas. To help avoid confusion over jurisdictional responsibility, some federal LEAs, such as the U.S. FBI, explicitly advise that they are not a national law enforcement agency. A national police agency is a national LEA that also has

16150-490: The country has a federal constitution , an LEA responsible for the entire country is referred to as a federal law enforcement agency . The responsibilities of a federal LEA vary from country to country. Federal LEA responsibilities are typically countering fraud against the federation, immigration and border control regarding people and goods, investigating currency counterfeiting, policing of airports and protection of designated national infrastructure, national security, and

16320-474: The daughter of two Black Panther members, Mary Luana Williams . Fonda and other Hollywood celebrities became involved in the Panthers' leftist programs. The Panthers attracted a wide variety of left-wing revolutionaries and political activists, including writer Jean Genet , former Ramparts magazine editor David Horowitz (who later became a major critic of what he describes as Panther criminality) and left-wing lawyer Charles R. Garry , who acted as counsel in

16490-483: The defection to Cuba by Huey Newton to avoid prosecution for the murder of an 18-year-old prostitute, new unrest emerged in the form of the S.L.A. (responsible for the 1973 murder of Oakland Schools Superintendent Marcus Foster), the Hell's Angels expanding criminal empire headquartered in east Oakland, numerous anti-Vietnam War protests, and most significantly, the burgeoning drug trade and subsequent gang wars. Heroin had become

16660-426: The department formed its first SWAT team to counter increasingly heavily armed criminals. George T. Hart was appointed Chief in 1972 and became Oakland's longest-serving Chief of Police. His low key demeanor and insistence on strict adherence to law and departmental regulations proved a steadying influence on the department through this turbulent period. Despite the decline of the Black Panther Party due to infighting and

16830-518: The department settled on a permanent policy decreeing that all women hired thereafter would be appointed to the regular rank of police officer. With the emergence of the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s, the rate of violence and murder reached new heights as various drug gangs battled to fill the power vacuum left when Felix Mitchell and rivals like Mickey Moore and other contemporaries were targeted by OPD Vice/Narcotics investigators and subsequently imprisoned. Rudolph "Rudy" Henderson briefly emerged as

17000-458: The department was headquartered in the new city hall located at 14th and Washington. By 1886, the department had installed telephone call boxes for foot patrolmen and purchased horse-drawn wagons for patrol, which, according to the Oakland Review , were the first such conveyances used by police in California. The wagons also doubled as ambulances. In 1900, the city had a population of 67,690 and

17170-421: The department who elected to resign and one from within who elected to remain a captain instead. The department was under civilian control from June 17, 2016, through February 27, 2017, while the city conducted an intensive recruiting and hiring process for the position. Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was sworn in on February 27, 2017. At a press conference, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf delivered an aggressive repudiation of

17340-425: The division. However, in some countries federal agencies have jurisdiction in divisions of the federation. This typically happens when the division does not have its own independent status and is dependent on the federation. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is one such federal agency that also acts as the sole police agency for Canada's three territories , Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon . This

17510-443: The drug of choice by the 1970s, and notorious drug lords such as Felix "The Cat" Mitchell and his "69 Mob" controlled vast swaths of territory throughout Oakland's numerous housing projects. The murder rate increased steadily during the 1970s as various drug lords battled over territory, with drug-related shootings becoming a regular occurrence. Despite having been among the first California police departments to initiate integration in

17680-671: The end of the month and up to 20 more were expected to leave by the end of the year. Forty-one potential Oakland officers were in the Oakland Police Academy that graduated in January 2008, and another academy was scheduled to start in October. Even with that graduation, there were still more than 60 vacancies in the department where the authorized strength increased by 63 to 802 officers after the passage of Measure Y in November 2004. On July 14, 2010, Oakland laid off 80 police officers reducing

17850-581: The explosive rebellious anger of the ghetto as a social force and believed that if he could stand up to the police, he could organize that force into political power. Inspired by Robert F. Williams ' armed resistance to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and Williams' book Negroes with Guns , Newton studied gun laws in California extensively. Like the Community Alert Patrol in Los Angeles after the Watts Rebellion , he decided to organize patrols to follow

18020-616: The faculty to student ratio was 1:10. The Panther's goal in opening Liberation Schools, and specifically the Intercommunal Youth Institute, was to provide students with an education that was not being provided in the "white" schools, as the public schools in the district employed a Eurocentric assimilationist curriculum with little to no attention to black history and culture. While students were provided with traditional courses such as English, Math, and Science, they were also exposed to activities focused on class structure and

18190-438: The failure of these organizations to directly challenge police brutality and appeal to the "brothers on the block", Huey and Bobby took matters into their own hands. After the police killed Matthew Johnson, an unarmed young black man in San Francisco, Newton observed the violent insurrection that followed. He had an epiphany that would distinguish the Black Panther Party from the multitude of Black Power organizations. Newton saw

18360-476: The federal government, and reduces the number of agencies policing the same geographical area. In circumstances where a country or division within a country is not able to establish stable or effective LEAs, typically police agencies, the country might invite other countries to provide personnel, experience, and organisational structure to constitute a LEA, such as the Regional Assistance Mission to

18530-436: The federation. A federal LEA will have primary responsibility for laws which affect the federation as whole, and which have been enacted by the governing body of the federation. Members of a federal LEA may be given jurisdiction within a division of a federation for laws enacted by the governing bodies of the divisions either by the relevant division within the federation, or by the federation's governing body. By way of example,

18700-523: The first issue of The Black Panther: Black Community News Service . The newspaper would be in continuous circulation, though varying in length, format, title, and frequency until the party dissolved. At its height, it sold one hundred thousand copies a week. The initial tactic of the party used contemporary open-carry gun laws to protect Party members when policing the police. This act was done to record incidents of police brutality by distantly following police cars around neighborhoods. When confronted by

18870-519: The first to open, the first full-time and longest-running Liberation School was opened in January 1971 in Oakland in response to the inequitable conditions in the Oakland Unified School District which was ranked one of the lowest-scoring districts in California. Named the Intercommunal Youth Institute (IYI), this school, under the directorship of Brenda Bay, and later Ericka Huggins , enrolled twenty-eight students in its first year, with

19040-568: The first town marshal, assisted by two deputies and operating out of a small waterfront building which also housed the police court and jail. Oakland's growth continued when it became the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. It developed into a major port and industrial center, including the manufacture of ships and, later, automobiles. By 1872, the Alameda County Courthouse opened at 4th and Broadway and cases deemed too serious for police court were tried there. By 1874,

19210-564: The following titles (listed in order): Number 5 of the "What We Want Now!" section of the Ten-Point Program reads: "We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society." To ensure that this occurred, the Black Panther Party took the education of their youth into their own hands by first establishing after-school programs and then opening up Liberation Schools in

19380-409: The gun, they can recapture their dreams and bring them into reality. On October 28, 1967, Oakland police officer John Frey was shot to death in an altercation with Huey P. Newton during a traffic stop in which Newton and backup officer Herbert Heanes also sustained gunshot wounds. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter at trial, but the conviction was later overturned. In his book Shadow of

19550-425: The gun. Off the pigs!", helped create the Panthers' reputation as a violent organization. The black community of Richmond, California wanted protection against police brutality. With only three main streets for entering and exiting the neighborhood, it was easy for police to control, contain, and suppress the population. On April 1, 1967, a black unarmed twenty-two-year-old construction worker named Denzil Dowell

19720-466: The hands of West Oakland cocaine dealer Anthony Robinson in 1989, Newton candidly admitted to willfully killing Officer Frey. On April 6, 1968, armed Black Panther members under the direction of Eldridge Cleaver initiated an ambush of Oakland police officers in West Oakland. Cleaver initially claimed that the police had ambushed him and fellow party members, but years later admitted he had planned and led

19890-489: The head of a division in lieu of a Captain under certain conditions. Uniformed Lieutenants generally command patrol sectors and serve as watch-commanders, with Uniformed Sergeants functioning as line-supervisors of squads of officers. Lieutenants assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division serve as unit supervisors, with Sergeants assigned as supervising investigators of Part 1 felony offenses, primarily in

20060-492: The ideals and goals of the party, they demanded an equitable education for all black people. Study and reading was important for all would-be candidates of the Party, which included studying the Ten-Point Program, reading the Black Panther newspaper , and attending a series of political education classes as well as weapons training. A 1968 "Panther Party Book List" was circulated in the party newspaper, recommending Panthers read

20230-500: The interests of the country as a whole (e.g. United Kingdom 's His Majesty's Revenue and Customs ). Many law enforcement agencies are police agencies that have a broad range powers and responsibilities. Police agencies, however, also often have a range of responsibilities not specifically related to law enforcement. These responsibilities relate to social order and public safety. While this understanding of policing, being more encompassing than just law enforcement has grown with and

20400-409: The limits of the nation's War on Poverty". According to Bloom & Martin, the FBI denounced the Party's efforts as a means of indoctrination because the Party taught and provided for children more effectively than the government. "Police and Federal Agents regularly harassed and intimidated program participants, supporters, and Party workers and sought to scare away donors and organizations that housed

20570-486: The majority being the children of Black Panther parents. This number grew to fifty by the 1973–1974 school year. To provide full support for Black Panther parents whose time was spent organizing, some of the students and faculty members lived together year around. The school itself was dissimilar to traditional schools in a variety of ways including the fact that students were separated by academic performance rather than age, and students were often provided one-on-one support as

20740-624: The most part they patrol unincorporated area and operate Cook County Jail , and leave municipalities to municipal police departments; and the rest of Illinois , primarily its state highways , are under the jurisdiction of the Illinois State Police . All three technically have overlapping jurisdictions, and though their regular duties are fairly different and they typically avoid each other's responsible areas (the Cook County Sheriff's Office typically avoids patrolling Chicago unless it

20910-540: The municipal, county, and state levels are involved in direct policing (i.e. uniformed officers with marked cars and regular patrols), and these can still depend on each agency's role and function. As an example for the American tiers, the Chicago Police Department has jurisdiction over Chicago , but not necessarily the rest of Cook County ; while the Cook County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction over Cook County, for

21080-584: The murder of Alex Rackley . Government persecution initially contributed to the party's growth among African Americans and the political left, who both valued the party as a powerful force against de facto segregation and the US military draft during the Vietnam War. Party membership peaked in 1970 and gradually declined over the next decade, due to vilification by the mainstream press and infighting largely fomented by COINTELPRO. Support further declined over reports of

21250-534: The new Police Administration Building at 455 7th St. The old Central, Northern and Eastern stations closed as the economy continued to contract. In 1963, the federal government declared Oakland to be a depressed city. With the closing of the neighborhood stations and continued staffing shortages, officers were less available for routine patrol and were often relegated to answering emergency calls for service. Echoing many other large U.S. cities, Oakland saw an increase in crime, poverty and increasing civil unrest throughout

21420-588: The next rallies. Awareness of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense grew rapidly after their May 2, 1967, protest at the California State Capitol . On May 2, 1967, the California State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure was scheduled to convene to discuss what was known as the " Mulford Act ," which would make the public carrying of loaded firearms illegal. Newton, with Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver , put together

21590-490: The non-complying subject. This, however, may require the LEA to explicitly not comply with a law other subjects must comply with. To allow the LEA to operate and comply with the law, it is given lawful exemption to undertake secret activities. Secret activities by a LEA are often referred to as covert operations . To deceive a subject and carry out its activities, a LEA may be lawfully allowed to secretly: to typically collect information about and evidence of non-compliance with

21760-887: The one legal jurisdiction is the degree of flexibility to move resources between versus within agencies. When multiple LEAs cover the one legal jurisdiction, each agency still typically organizes itself into operations areas. In the United States, within a state's legal jurisdiction, county and city LEAs do not have full legal jurisdictional flexibility throughout the state, and this has led in part to mergers of adjacent police agencies. Jurisdictionally, there can be an important difference between international LEAs and multinational LEAs, even though both are often referred to as "international", even in official documents. An international law enforcement agency has jurisdiction and or operates in multiple countries and across state borders, such as Interpol . A multinational law enforcement agency will typically operate in only one country, or one division of

21930-628: The organizations that had "led much of the nonviolent civil disobedience ", such as SNCC and CORE , went into decline. By 1966 a "Black Power ferment" emerged, consisting largely of young urban black people, posing a question the Civil Rights Movement could not answer: "How would black people in America win not only formal citizenship rights, but actual economic and political power?" Young black people in Oakland and other cities developed study groups and political organizations, and from this ferment

22100-585: The other two officers. The Riders' actions resulted in Oakland settling a federal civil rights case, Allen v. City of Oakland , for nearly $ 11 million. As part of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement, the Oakland Police Department is required to make major reforms to ensure constitutional policing. The court appointed an independent monitor to oversee implementation of these reforms. In 2008, Oakland agreed to pay $ 2 million to 16 women, all Asian, who alleged being groped, harassed, or victimized by

22270-402: The others operate only in the US. Many LEAs are also involved in the monitoring or application of regulations and codes of practice. See, for example, Australian Commercial Television Code of Practice , building code , and code enforcement . Monitoring of the application of regulations and codes of practice is not normally considered law enforcement. However, the consistent non-compliance by

22440-405: The party as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." The FBI sabotaged the party with an illegal and covert counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) of surveillance , infiltration , perjury , and police harassment , all designed to undermine and criminalize the party. The FBI was involved in the 1969 assassinations of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark , who were killed in

22610-551: The party's alleged criminal activities, such as drug dealing and extortion . The party's history is controversial. Scholars have characterized the Black Panther Party as the most influential black power organization of the late 1960s, and "the strongest link between the domestic Black Liberation Struggle and global opponents of American imperialism ". Other scholars have described the party as more criminal than political, characterized by "defiant posturing over substance". During World War II , tens of thousands of black people left

22780-454: The police around to monitor for incidents of brutality. But with a crucial difference: his patrols would carry loaded guns. Huey and Bobby raised enough money to buy two shotguns by buying bulk quantities of the recently publicized Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and reselling them to leftists and liberals on the Berkeley campus at three times the price. According to Bobby Seale, they would "sell

22950-447: The police stating that Hutton was shot as he emerged from a tear-gassed house with a rifle and tried to flee. Cleaver disputed the police account of Hutton's death, saying that Hutton "had his hands in the air until he died." The tumultuous 1960s and 70s proved a particular policing challenge for the department as the city saw increased social unrest. The Police Administration Building was the scene of several bombings during this time, and

23120-505: The post-war boom declined. In shipbuilding alone, the number of jobs dropped from over 250,000 to fewer than 12,000 by 1949. As a result, a large number of African American residents were relegated to poverty, and poor, underserved neighborhoods grew. The minority population of Oakland had risen from 5 percent in 1940 to 26 percent by 1960. Inner-city Oakland began to mirror the inner-cities of the east coast, where large swaths of poverty and neglect fostered crime. The police department recognized

23290-408: The practice of beat officers taking long-term responsibility for and developing relationships in the neighborhoods they patrolled rather than simply responding to 911 calls. This concept was expanded in the late 1980s under a revamped community policing program which included the re-opening of an Eastern station. This was undertaken in conjunction with an aggressive, proactive approach to street crime in

23460-404: The prevalence of institutional racism . The overall goal of the school was to instill a sense of revolutionary consciousness in the students. With a strong belief in experiential learning, students had the opportunity to participate in community service projects as well as practice their writing skills by drafting letters to political prisoners associated with the Black Panther Party. Huggins

23630-440: The programs like churches and community centers". Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Newton declared: Malcolm , implacable to the ultimate degree, held out to the Black masses ... liberation from the chains of the oppressor and the treacherous embrace of the endorsed [Black] spokesmen. Only with the gun were the black masses denied this victory. But they learned from Malcolm that with

23800-455: The protection of the country's head of state and of other designated very important persons, such as the U.S. Secret Service or the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service . A federal police agency is a federal LEA that also has the typical police responsibilities of social order and public safety as well as federal law enforcement responsibilities. However, a federal police agency will not usually exercise its powers at

23970-538: The rank of Police Trainee. Upon successful completion of the six-month police academy, they are appointed as a probationary Police Officer. Upon successful completion of 4 months of field training and an additional 1-year probationary period, they attain their full rank. As of 2015 the department has lost 52 officers killed in the line of duty, 33 of whom died as a result of gunfire. The 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers took place on Saturday, March 21, 2009, when four Oakland, California police officers were killed by

24140-691: The ranks, by 1974, Oakland PD found controversy with a statistical imbalance in minority representation. By this date, the minority population of Oakland had grown to 50 percent, while minority officers represented only 12 percent of the department. To end this disparity, the department entered into the Penn-Stump Consent decree. The resulting affirmative action program was supervised by Chief George Hart, Deputy Chief Odell Sylvester, and Captain James McArthur. The program focused on all identified minority groups within Oakland and included special provisions for

24310-417: The recruitment of female officers. In 1975, the rank of policewoman was closed to further appointments, resolving an issue the department had handled inconsistently for 60 years. The rank of policewoman had been instituted in 1913 but terminated in 1919 by the office of the mayor. The rank was reintroduced in 1943 but again terminated by 1946. The rank was established again in 1949 and continued until 1975 when

24480-419: The relevant sub-national jurisdiction, and may cooperate in law enforcement activities with municipal or national police where either exist. LEAs can be responsible for the enforcement of laws affecting the behavior of people or the general community (e.g. New York City Police Department ), the behavior of commercial organizations and corporations (e.g. Australian Securities and Investments Commission ), or for

24650-448: The revolutionary process. Panther slogans and iconography spread. At the 1968 Summer Olympics , Tommie Smith and John Carlos , two American medalists, gave the black power salute during the American national anthem. The International Olympic Committee banned them from all future Olympic Games. Film star Jane Fonda publicly supported Huey Newton and the Black Panthers during the early 1970s. She actually ended up informally adopting

24820-539: The same country, to provide law enforcement within the division. For example, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is a federal agency and is contracted by most of Canada 's provinces and many municipalities to police them, even though law enforcement in Canada is constitutionally a divided responsibility. This arrangement has been achieved by formal agreement between those provinces and municipalities and

24990-649: The services of the United States Postal Service , such as mail and wire fraud . If, hypothetically, a Postal Inspection Service investigation uncovered tobacco smuggling , the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be involved, but the Drug Enforcement Administration would not, as even though they investigate drug smuggling , their jurisdiction does not cover specifically tobacco smuggling. In other cases, an LEA's involvement

25160-634: The southern racial regime, only to be confronted with new forms of segregation and repression". In the early 1960s, the Civil rights movement had dismantled the Jim Crow system of racial subordination in the South with tactics of non-violent civil disobedience , and demanding full citizenship rights for black people. However, not much changed in the cities of the North and West. As the wartime and post-war jobs which drew much of

25330-477: The state of California. He later became the first African American Chief of the Berkeley Police Department. The city's economy expanded rapidly during World War II and the immediate post-war years before beginning a long period of decline. During the war, thousands of African Americans migrated to Oakland from the South to work in the shipyards and were later relegated to the ranks of the unemployed as

25500-424: The suspect was armed and wanted. The suspect drew a handgun and shot Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege before they could react, killing them on the spot. The suspect fled to a nearby apartment where he armed himself with an assault rifle and ambushed an Oakland Police SWAT team as they attempted to arrest him, killing sergeants Erv Romans and Danial Sakai before he himself was shot to death by other officers. This

25670-514: The terms military police , provost , security forces , and gendarmerie vary from country to country. Non-military law enforcement agencies are sometimes referred to as civilian police , but usually only in contexts where they need to be distinguished from military police. However, they may still possess a military-like structure and protocol. In most countries, the term law enforcement agency when used formally includes agencies other than only police agencies. The term law enforcement agency

25840-404: The time the BPP claimed that the police had ambushed them, several party members later admitted that Cleaver had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, provoking the shoot-out. Seven other Panthers, including Chief of Staff David Hilliard, were also arrested. Hutton's death became a rallying issue for Panther supporters. In 1968, the group shortened its name to

26010-445: The top ten most violent cities in the nation on a yearly basis. Establishment of specialized units tasked with interdicting street-level narcotics dealing and tracking and apprehending Part 1 offenders were successful in curtailing gang-related murders, but staffing shortages limited overall effectiveness. The concept of community policing had been introduced as the "Beat Health" program in the 1970s by Chief Hart in an attempt to return to

26180-516: The total officers from 776 to 695. 24 of those sworn officers worked in patrol. The rest of the officers performed other duties, including community policing activities. As of 2018, Oakland employed 747 officers. Oakland has eight detectives assigned to investigate robberies. There are six Special Victims Unit investigators. Oakland has fourteen police dog teams. There are 62 members on Oakland's SWAT team, all of whom serve in other assignments until called upon for emergency situations. In 1991,

26350-437: The type of law non-compliance actively establish mechanisms for cooperation, establish joint operations and joints task forces. Often, members of a LEA working outside of their normal jurisdiction on joint operations or task force are sworn in as special members of the host jurisdiction. A national law enforcement agency is a LEA in a country which does not have divisions capable of making their own laws. A national LEA has

26520-758: The typical police responsibilities of social order and public safety as well as national law enforcement responsibilities. Examples of countries with non-federal national police agencies are New Zealand , Italy , Indonesia , France , Ireland , Japan , Netherlands , Malaysia , the Philippines , and Nicaragua . State police , provincial police , or regional police are a type of subnational territorial police force found in nations organized as federations , typically in North America , South Asia , and Oceania , because each of their state police are mostly at country level. These forces typically have jurisdiction over

26690-419: The world are secular, and their governing bodies separating religious matters from the governance of their subjects. Religious law enforcement agencies, such as Saudi Arabia 's Mutaween or Iran 's Guidance Patrol , exist where full separation of government and religious doctrine has not occurred, and are generally considered police agencies, typically religious police , because their primary responsibility

26860-495: The world might work with free medical care , eventually being established in 13 places across the country. These clinics were involved in community-based health care that had roots connected to the Civil Rights Movement, which made it possible to establish the Medical Committee for Human Rights. In 1968, BPP Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver ran for presidential office on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. They were

27030-403: Was Paul Carlisle, who died on December 1, 2015, from gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier gun battle. The March 21, 2009, shootings of four Oakland police officers by a wanted rapist and parole violator marked the deadliest day for California law enforcement since the "Newhall Incident" in 1970. The first two officers killed had pulled over the suspect for a routine traffic violation, unaware that

27200-469: Was active in the United States between 1966 and 1982, with chapters in many major American cities, including San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle , and Philadelphia . They were also active in many prisons and had international chapters in the United Kingdom and Algeria. Upon its inception, the party's core practice was its open carry patrols ("copwatching") designed to challenge

27370-556: Was also the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since the September 11 attacks . until the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers , when five officers were killed. In 2024, the SF Chronicle reported that Oakland and its police department have published misleading crime data for years. The uniform of the Oakland Police department consists of a dark navy-blue "tropical weight" wool shirt with matching dark navy wool twill trousers with

27540-404: Was formed in 1853 by Oakland founder and first Mayor Horace W. Carpentier . Oakland had been incorporated as a town by the state legislature in 1852, and with its rapid expansion, Carpentier felt the need to organize a city government with a police force to provide regular law enforcement. Heretofore, vigilante justice had been the norm. On October 15, 1853, the town council appointed John McCann as

27710-871: Was killed by police gunfire. The Police Department makes demographic data available to the public via a monthly staffing report. However, as of June 2021, the most recent Staffing Report published on the OSD City Site was nearly 3 years old. As of July 2018, 10% of Oakland Police officers were Oakland city residents. 34% of officers reside in Alameda County (inclusive of Oakland), 34% of officers reside in Contra Costa County, followed by Solano County at 9%. As of June 2018, Oakland employed 97 Female officers (13%) and 641 Male officers (87%). Police Avg Avg Oakland Population Police Dept The Oakland Police Department and Police Commission account for roughly 20% of

27880-591: Was not exempt, as plans for a new two-way radio system were delayed for a decade and the number of patrol cars was reduced. As World War II approached, the city cooperated with the federal government on essential projects including the construction of the Oakland Army Base and the Naval Supply Center. The police department assisted the military by helping to escort convoys and training military policemen. The department became integrated during World War II with

28050-455: Was released after three years, when his conviction was reversed on appeal. As Newton awaited trial, the "Free Huey" campaign developed alliances with numerous students and anti-war activists, "advancing an anti-imperialist political ideology that linked the oppression of antiwar protestors to the oppression of blacks and Vietnamese". The "Free Huey" campaign attracted black power organizations, New Left groups , and other activist groups such as

28220-415: Was retaliation for submitting several complaints against the commission during her tenure as Police Chief. Kirkpatrick's complaint outlined several allegations of misconduct by the commission, including commissioners seeking special treatment, and making unlawful attempts to obtain confidential personnel records, and harassing city staff. in 2016, the most recent year for which full statistics are available,

28390-437: Was seriously injured during a melee when struck in the head by an object that some claim was a bean bag round or tear gas canister fired by an Oakland officer. That allegation has to date remain unproven. Oakland paid a total of $ 57 million during 2001–2011 to alleged victims of police abuse—the largest sum of any city in California during that time. In June 2016, 14 Oakland Police officers were alleged to have been involved in

28560-490: Was shot and killed and officer Cliff Heanes was wounded when they made a traffic stop of a car containing Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton . Newton was wounded in the shootout and was subsequently arrested and tried for murder. He was convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter, which was later overturned on appeal. Subsequent re-trials ended without a conviction. In his book "Shadow of the Panther", African American author Hugh Pearson alleged that not long before his death at

28730-598: Was shot dead by police in North Richmond. Dowell's family contacted the Black Panther Party for assistance after county officials refused to investigate the case. The Party held rallies in North Richmond that educated the community on armed self-defense and the Denzil Dowell incident. Police seldom interfered at these rallies because every Panther was armed and no laws were broken. The Party's ideals resonated with several community members, who then brought their own guns to

28900-522: Was to "intensify the degree of animosity" between the Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers , a Chicago street gang. The FBI sent an anonymous letter to the Rangers' gang leader claiming that the Panthers were threatening his life, a letter whose intent was to provoke "preemptive" violence against Panther leadership. In Southern California, the FBI made similar efforts to exacerbate a "gang war" between

#994005