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Showing posts with label Emeryville Police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emeryville Police. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2020

'Vargas Era' Ends: School Board Member Cruz Vargas Announces He's Leaving Emeryville

 Pet Issue, Police in Schools, Likely Dies With Vargas' Departure

Leaving Emery
School Board Member Cruz Vargas

Emery School District School Board incumbent Cruz Vargas announced this week he is moving out of Emeryville and will not seek another term on the Board, marking the end of a pugnacious career for the school board firebrand and his style of imprudent politics that has emblematized the last few years at Emery.  The vacating Cruz Vargas likely puts to an end his signature albeit disputatious policy idea for Emery; putting Emeryville police officers in the schools



 The announcement by Mr Vargas surprised veteran school board watchers who noted the quixotic and brash former Board President had been riding what seemed to be a recent comeback after a public drubbing when his colleagues stripped him of his presidency in 2018.  

Board member Vargas had been arguing that there is a systemic discipline problem and a lack of order among children in Emery schools that only the stationing of police officers can quell.  Such officers, controversial but used in some school districts, are referred to as School Resources Officers (SRO).  There have been studies linking school districts with SROs to greater expulsions and even imprisonment of students.

Mr Vargas made his mark battling the City Council, leading the charge to sever ties between Emery and City Hall after several dust ups between the ‘Vargas faction’ on the Board and the Council members.  The two governmental agencies are contractually bound in their running of the Emeryville Center of Community Life, the joint schools/community center campus completed in 2017.  The two bodies formed a collegial bond in the City/School Committee charged with running the ECCL, that became a battleground subsequent to Mr Vargas’ election to the Board.  The open rancor came to a head when Mr Vargas took on Council member John Bauters over the ‘police in the schools’ idea.  After Mr Bauters delivered arguably the most impassioned and forceful speech ever delivered by an Emeryville pol, Mr Vargas retreated, swearing to go around the Council and take his police idea directly to the people.

Councilman John Bauters
wearing his 'schools not prisons' T shirt, 
volunteering at an ECAP event. 
Foil to Board Member Vargas.

The retiring of Cruz Vargas leaves current Board President, Brynnda Collins as the sole supporter on a five member board of the Vargas police in Emery schools idea.

In the wake of the nation wide paradigm shift following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, it would seem Board member Vargas’ police in the schools idea is on the wrong side of history.  Many, Mr Bauters among them, have noted how police in schools especially those with large populations of black and brown children like Emery, tend to criminalize normal children's behavior.  It’s been widely criticized as part of the so called ‘schools to prison pipeline’ for minority children.

The withdraw by Mr Vargas incidentally leaves the three seat school board race without an incumbent and automatically adds another week for would be applicants to submit their paperwork says the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Woman Beaten to Death on Emeryville's Mean Streets

Emeryville resident Hayok Kay was beaten to death by an unknown assailant where she slept over the last couple of years; on the sidewalk on San Pablo Avenue in front of the CVS Pharmacy police said.  Police are looking for the suspect in the horrific killing, Emeryville's first since 2012.
The beating took place early in the morning on July 6th and by the time Emeryville police arrived at the scene, Ms Kay was unconscious.  She was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland where she later lapsed into a coma from extensive brain injuries due to the attack and was pronounced dead on August 18th after doctors removed her from life support.

Hayok Kay 1954-2015
Murdered in Emeryville
A native of Seoul South Korea but a longtime Emeryville resident and fixture, Hayok Kay, 61, lived for many years without a home and at the margins in town.  She performed as a drummer the '80's post punk band Polkacide and in several Bay Area all girl punk bands many years ago but more recently made her living by recycling in Emeryville and West Oakland.  Ms Kay's gender and her small stature, unusual for people living with homelessness on the streets, made her well known by the clannish local recycler population, many of whom felt protective of her.  After her partner, the landscape painter Fred Griffing died some years ago, she lost the shelter of the car she shared with him and was flung to the streets.
 
Hayok, known affectionately as 'Miss Kay' by her many friends was the subject of a recent film, Dogtown Redemption, on the lives of people living with homelessness in West Oakland and Emeryville.  Sadly, film director and producer Amir Soltani was prescient in 2013 when, upon the release of his film, he predicted Ms Kay would not last long on the streets, "A diminutive and much diminished Asian-American woman, Miss Kay is easy prey.  Amongst the recyclers, her chances of survival are by far the worst."

The City of Emeryville has no policy or programs or shelter for people experiencing homelessness and they usually get pushed around town by police responding to complaints.  The exposed sidewalks around CVS Pharmacy where Ms Kay was beaten to death is a place where encampments are common for people now after the City fenced off the nearby former bike/pedestrian path known as the Pixar Bike Path, a place people without shelter found attractive because of its relative off the street safety.   Emeryville police refused to comment further on the case still under investigation by the Alameda County District Attorney.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Restoration Hardware "Pop-Up Sale" Causes Horton Street Traffic Mayhem

Traffic came to a standstill on Horton Street this weekend when a major luxury furniture retail chain held a "pop up" warehouse sale resulting in a gridlocked street; "traffic mayhem" as one Emeryville police officer described it.  With discounts of up to 85% advertised, horns were blaring, profanity was shouted and threats were issued after a swarm of frenzied shoppers double and triple parked, blocking the street as drivers attempting to negotiate the street were caught unawares Saturday.  Police were summoned when the action got particularly intense.
It was a case of shoppers engaging in bad taste boorish behavior to buy their furniture in order to show their good taste refined aesthetics.

With no parking made available, an unidentified police officer noted the event coordinators didn't provide adequate planning including traffic monitoring and flag personnel.

The sale is being conducted by publicly traded RH (formerly known as Restoration Hardware), a Corte Madera based 3000 employee retail giant with 68 stores across the nation.  An RH manager employee at the Horton Street event refused to comment on the pandemonium, "What can we do?" he said.

A check on their prospectus showed RH net $487 million last quarter, not enough apparently to spend a little to run their sale in an orderly manner to not cause mayhem in our town.

Last weekend was called "round one" for the three week sale according to a company e-mail blast.  Next weekend will be the final in the event; what they're ominously calling "round three" in the RH / Emeryville traffipocalypse.  This weekend it almost came to blows between drivers with threats of fisticuffs in the streets.  Let's hope round three is not going to result in a TKO for Emeryville.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Emeryville and Oakland Settle Claims Against Their Police

Courthouse News, a Pasadena California based legal news service, reports that a lawsuit against the cities of Emeryville and Oakland was settled on Tuesday. The settlement came immediately on the heels of the federal court's ruling on the parties' motions regarding the various claims in the case, the plaintiff's alleging that the cities' Police were liable for excessive force, false imprisonment, battery, and related claims.

The lawsuit arose out of an incident in which Oakland Police dispatch reported a robbery of a purse containing the victim's iPhone by two African-American women who sprayed the victim with pepper spray and fled in a white Toyota Highlander or Landcruiser SUV with gray trim at the bottom.  The victim described one of the assailants as being in her 20s, wearing a white t-shirt. Emeryville PD officers heard of the crime over their patrol car's radios.
Fred Hampton Jr
Chicago based
community activist & 
Chairman of the 
Prisoners of 
Conscious Committee,
a social justice organization.

Oakland PD was able to track the victim's cell phone location to the vicinity of Christie Ave. and Powell St. in Emeryville, radioing this information out as well. An Emeryville police officer traveling north on Hollis St. saw a light-colored SUV traveling south-bound and observed that the driver was an African-American female wearing a white t-shirt with a black jacket over it.  The Emeryville officer made a U-turn and followed the SUV to the Target parking lot. In doing so, he observed that the SUV was a silver Mitsubishi SUV, not a white Toyota, but reasoned that victims often make mistakes regarding car makes and colors.

The Emeryville Police officer pulled in so as to block the SUV into its parking spot and ordered those in the SUV out. One of the occupants was Fred Hampton, Jr., son of the 1960's era Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, who was shot to death in his sleep in 1969 by Chicago police and FBI agents.  Ultimately up to 15 police vehicles arrived on the scene, some officers with guns drawn, and the four vehicle occupants were handcuffed and detained for up to an hour while the victim was brought to the Target parking lot to see if she could identify any of these individuals as her assailants.  The victim reported that these were not her assailants and while the detention was in progress Oakland Police dispatch reported the iPhone's location now appeared to be on the I-80 heading towards the Bay Bridge.  Nonetheless, the detention continued until the victim was given an opportunity to try to identify the individuals as her attackers.

The Court's order analyzes the facts of the detention in great detail and ultimately concludes that a jury could find that the detention constituted an arrest and that such an arrest would not be supported by probable cause.  Pointing to numerous discrepancies between the facts known before the stop and the facts that became evident after, including that the driver easily appeared in her mid-30s, not twenties, and had a very distinctive and large afro, which a victim likely would have included in any description, the Court was prepared to let several of the plaintiff's claims move forward to a full trial.

The cities avoided that trial by settling the case immediately, on terms not yet provided on the court's docket.  Presumably Emeryville and Oakland paid fairly significant sums over this incident.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

National Night Out is Tonight

National Night Out is Tonight, Tuesday, August 6th


There are multiple National Night Out events planned in Emeryville tonight. Three events are planned by local home owners' associations at Oak Walk, Watergate, and Bridgewater. Two additional events are open to all Emeryville residents. One is at the Park Avenue Plaza, as previously mentioned on the Tattler and runs from 5:30 until 8:00 p.m. Additionally, there will be a public event at Doyle-Hollis Park from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Details below:
Note to readers:
The Emeryville Tattler does not condone the placement of the Target logo on the notice above.  The City of Emeryville has chosen to associate itself with Target for purposes of this National Night Out.  By placing the logo on official City documents such as this, the City gives to Target Corporation a positive civic association and it's beneficial to the company from a PR perspective.  Since Target has shown itself to be highly anti-gay in recent years in words and deeds, we think it's not well advised for the City to do this.  The Tattler does not think Target should be rewarded like this for the past anti-gay work it has done.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Emeryville Murder Suspect Captured By Chico Police

Triangle Neighborhood Homicide Suspect Arrested


Emeryville murder suspect
DeAngelo Eagleton
Chico police arrested Emeryville murder suspect DeAngelo Eagleton after detectives served a search warrant for an apartment in the Northern California town Wednesday morning.  Mr Eagleton, age 18 has been sought in connection with the murder of Emeryville resident and high school student Taranda Jones.
Seeking a suspect related to a number of robberies during the past few weeks in Chico, police detectives entered an apartment at 1114 Nord Avenue before dawn and detained a male and female.  The male gave a false name to officers but through fingerprint analysis it was determined to be Mr Eagleton.  Also identified was a female, Aimee Ellinson, age 22 and a three year old child.  A stolen handgun and marijuana was also found in the apartment.

Mr Eagleton is alleged to be the murderer of fellow Emery High School student Taranda Jones, aged 18 last May.  Ms Jones was found by Emeryville Police with a single gunshot wound to the chest at her home on 47th Street in the Triangle neighborhood.

Mr Eagleton is also wanted by Oakland Police in connection with violent crimes including assault with a deadly weapon in that town.


Saturday, March 31, 2012

Emeryville Police Catch Alleged Kidnapper

Re posted from the Oakland Tribune:

Emeryville police arrest man suspected in two sex-related attacks

Updated:   03/30/2012 10:24:17 PM PDT




A 30-year-old Oakland man faces a possible life sentence after being charged 
with four felony counts in connection with sex-related attacks on two women earlier 
this month in Emeryville, police said Friday.
Emeryville police Detective Eric White said both women have identified Bashar 
Aremu as their attacker.
White said Aremu has denied involvement in the attacks, which happened 
March 10 and 14.
Aremu has been charged with two counts of kidnapping to commit a sex crime or robbery, one count of 
sexual battery and one count of false imprisonment. The kidnapping to commit a sex crime or robbery 
charge carries a life with possibility of parole sentence if he is convicted. He is being held without bail 
and is scheduled to enter a plea April 12.
Police said Aremu wore a security guard uniform in the March 14 attack when he followed a woman 
to her car, which was parked in a garage in the 2100 block of Powell Street. The woman, who White 
said heroically "kept her cool," told police the man put a knife to her neck, forced her into her car trunk 
and threatened to rape and kill her.
She was able to open the trunk and escape after the car stopped at the garage's exit.
In the March 10 incident, a restaurant employee said a gunman grabbed her by the throat, demanded 
money and forced her to remove her shirt and lie on the floor in the back of the restaurant before he fled.
Police quickly identified Aremu as the suspect and began

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Emeryville Police Chief Receives Cal Police Chiefs Award

Colleagues Grant Emeryville Top Cop  Prestigious Award 


The California Police Chiefs Association awarded its most prestigious award, the Joe Molloy Award, to Emeryville Police Chief Ken James March 14th at the Installation Banquet in Sacramento, during their 35th Annual Training Symposium.  CPCA President Dave Maggard, Chief of the Irvine Police Department, presented Chief James with the award for his dedication and service to law enforcement and to the California Police Chiefs Association.  This award embodies the characteristics represented by the late Chief Joe Molloy of Anaheim; professionalism, leadership, energy, and commitment to the mission of the Association. 

Emeryville Police Chief Ken James
Chief Maggard said the selection of Ken James to receive this award was an easy one to make, “Chief James has served the association as the chair of our Firearms Committee for many years and had tirelessly advocated on our behalf on all of the firearms legislation that has been introduced”  he said.
“Additionally,” emphasized Chief Maggard, “Chief James fought successfully – against great odds—last year to have Cal Chiefs 'Open Carry' bill, AB 144, get to the governor’s desk and be signed into law.  He led this year’s fight not only on behalf of our members, but on behalf of public safety and the safety of those in our communities.  His tenacity on this issue is what enabled the bill to pass. Through it all he has steadfastly stood for what is best for the safety of our communities”.  He added, "Chief James’ record of commitment and contribution on a statewide level is greatly appreciated.  He is highly respected within the law enforcement community, and I was honored to present Chief James with the award for the work he has done for Cal Chiefs, for law enforcement, and for public safety.”

The California Police Chiefs Association represents the state’s municipal police chiefs whose agencies protect over 78 percent of the citizens of California.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Emeryville's Outstanding Police Department

Community Policing?  It's Nothing New In Emeryville

Opinion/Essay
If you listen to the public relations hype at the Oakland Police Department, you'd think they're listening to the residents, you'd think they've got their interests at heart and that they're loved by the residents there.  You'd think this because the department there is fond of making loud proclamations about how they're hip to the latest thing at police departments nation-wide:  it's "community policing" and it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.  The problem is in Oakland and most everywhere else, it's just a bunch of hype.


Community policing evolved in response to the breakdown of the traditional model of urban policing where in recent years police increasingly found themselves like an occupying army against a hostile civilian populace.  Police departments wisely realized it was time to involve the citizens more and make the community more stakeholders and feel a sense of ownership in their own police departments.
This is the hype anyway.

In Emeryville however, unlike Oakland, community policing is not any new thing; it's something that's just practiced, not hyped.

The recent Occupy Oakland protests and the reprehensible police response couldn't make it clearer: the Oakland Police Department is broken.  One only needs to look to their community support, or better put, their lack of community support.  It's stark: Oakland residents don't trust and don't like their police department.  Moral is low among the rank and file.  The police are alienated from the community and this unfortunate condition makes everyone lose; the cops and the community.
In Oakland's defence, this scenario is common in urban settings, all the twittering hoopla of "community policing" notwithstanding.

Contrast this with Emeryville, where there's a decided lack of hyperbole emanating from the police department.  The last time residents were polled a couple of years ago, EPD enjoyed more than 85% positive feedback from the community.  It's a result of real community policing; the cops interacting with the residents in a professional and even courteous manner.  It's noteworthy that even groups such as the Green Party, whom one would not normally expect to be big police supporters, sing the praises of our police department.

All the resident's love here directed to the police must be attributed in no small part to our Chief of Police, longtime public servant Ken James.  Mr James has quietly built a quintessentially professional force without macho posturing and shameless playing of politics.  He has kept our police force free from the "badge heavy" type-A personalities so common in Oakland and elsewhere and he's made a force respected by the community.  And Mr James has earned the respect of the rank and file at the same time; not an easy feat.

As Chief James prepares for retirement in the months to come, we must acknowledge a big part Emeryville's livability comes from the high degree of public safety we enjoy, all without feeling like we're living in a repressive police state.  It's not hyperbole to point out that without this kind of police force, Emeryville could degrade into Oakland.  Our envious and palpably collective sense of high civic mindedness could evaporate.

Government in Emeryville is not something normally very praiseworthy.  Let's take the time to say job well done to government employee Ken James and our very professional and outstanding police force.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Emeryville Police Gets A Pair

    "Mr Testicles" Solicits Help From Pixar


This morning the Emeryville police responded to an unusual call:  "There's someone dressed up as a man's private parts in front of the Pixar entrance."  Police checked out the lone costumed picketer and left the scene to attend to the seminal work of crime fighting.
The individual seeking to gain Pixar's attention distributed business cards reading:

Pixar can you help?
We are a small innovative charity
hoping to inspire your support.
Can you help us?
www.malecancer.org

The charity's website reveals that this is "Mr. Testicles" which is part
of the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign, which seeks to challenge the
"prevailing ‘culture of embarrassment’, that discourages men from
discussing and resolving problems related to intimate parts of their
body." The charity argues that "too many men die of prostate, bowel and
testicular cancer because they do not know how to detect the symptoms in
the early stages, when treatment would be more effective."

Perhaps the funniest call that the EPD will receive today might also be
their most important. Have you or the men in your life been screened?
The 
American Cancer Society provides guidelines on who should be
screened (and when) on their website:
Prostrate Cancer:http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/FindCancerEarly/CancerScreeningGuidelines/american-cancer-society-guidelines-for-the-early-detection-of-cancer

Testicular Cancer:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/testicularcancer/detailedguide/testicular-cancer-detection