Feb 012015
 
Proposed Policy Places No Restrictions on BearCat Use

If the San Leandro Police Department gets their way, not only will they get a brand new Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck (Bearcat), but they will be able to use it in whichever way they want.  The proposed policy allows use of the vehicle for “purposes including, but not limited to, calls for service involving potentially armed subjects, Tactical Team callouts, search warrants, officer or citizen rescues, or authorized training” (emphasis added).  The policy, furthermore, allows the use of the BearCat “during non-violent demonstrations” when “there are objective facts demonstrating a risk of injury or death to police [Continue Reading]

Jan 312015
 
City Manager Prioritizes Police Over Innovation

Police Chief Now to Report to City Manager, CIO to Report to Community Development Director Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli, whose latest accomplishment includes the SLPD’s shooting of fleeing black and Latino suspects in three separate occasions, is now reporting directly to City Manager Chris Zapata.  She was previously reporting to Assistant City Manager Lianne Marshall.  Zapata has been explicit on his unwavering confidence on the police chief and has long taken the attitude that she can do no wrong, he has even excused the multitudes of falsehoods Spagnoli has conveyed to the City Council and the community as unintentional “misstatements”.  [Continue Reading]

Jan 242015
 
Chief Spagnoli's Attempt to Buy Bearcat is a Slap in the Face of the Memory of Martin Luther King

The following essay is by San Leandro citizen Tim Holmes San Leandro Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli marched with our San Leandro High School students in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To claim to honor Dr. King while simultaneously propagandizing the purchase of a Bearcat for local police use (a tank with the lipstick of “medical” slapped on it) is a slap in the face of the memory of a man for whom that tank would represent the very boot of the oppressor. To claim to walk in Dr. King’s honor while sitting at the helm of a rapidly [Continue Reading]

Jan 212015
 
Prominent San Leandro Citizen Speaks Out Against BEARCAT

This is the letter that Tim Holmes, a prominent San Leandro citizen and community activist, sent the San Leandro City Council. You can also read my own message to the SLPD on this matter. To the members of the San Leandro City Council: I attended the recent community meeting regarding the plans to obtain a Bearcat, I wasn’t able to complete my comments in the time allotted, so I’m including them in full here. I am asking you vote no and to NOT accept this vehicle. Tools only seem neutral. You pick one up, you use it and put it [Continue Reading]

Jan 142015
 
Choices for Art Commission Show Nepotism at Play

Note: this article has been slightly expanded. If you start seeing a lot of sad and mediocre public art in San Leandro, you know whom you have to blame: the past and current members of the City Council who chose to appoint friends to the newly created Arts Commission instead of people with any sort of knowledge or experience in the Arts. When the City Council created an Arts Commission to decide on how to beautify San Leandro though art, they had the opportunity to populate it with outstanding artists and arts professionals.  Instead, three Councilmembers, Michael Gregory, Ursula Reed [Continue Reading]