What do people think about the San Leandro Police Department? Apparently not much, at least accordingly to Yelp reviews. Check them out.
Jan 052015
Jan 052015
Update 2: Campaign finance reports show that Pauline Cutter returned Judge Landis’ contribution. Deborah Cox did not. Landis died in November 2015. Update: Deborah Cox has given in to public pressure, this afternoon she spoke with Brian Copeland and said she’d return the contribution. San Leandro has a long and tortuous history of racial segregation and discrimination. The city was almost exclusively white well into the 1990s and stories of police cars guarding the border with Oakland still linger in the memory of many African Americans. Writer and comedian Brian Copeland, who moved to San Leandro as a young child, [Continue Reading]
Jan 032015
City Manager evaluation, new “Hostage Negotiation” vehicle & new Vice Mayor also on agenda Update: I have heard back from City Attorney Richard Pio Roda. He says that the City does not believe that the potential plaintiffs in the case that will be discussed in closed session are aware of the facts and circumstances that will enable their lawsuit. He confirmed that the case in question did not involve “an accident, disaster, incident, or transaction”, for example, a police shooting, where the potential plaintiff is aware that they have been harmed. — The first City Council meeting of the year [Continue Reading]
Dec 172014
Update For an event organized in 3 days, the Free Speech Day was very successful. The day started with Mike speaking about his work as a human rights activist and then as a privacy rights researcher/activist. Then SLHS students spoke about their concerns and experiences. One girl asked question of whether Martin Luther King’s dream had come true (it has not), others mentioned their disappointment at how City and School authorities are not transparent about issues that concern students, such as the COPS grant. One student brought up the fact that they see many more military recruiters than college recruiters [Continue Reading]
Dec 162014
I give up. Local democracy does not work at any level. Tonight, a plethora of mostly white, middle-class, middle-aged parents told the San Leandro City Council: “This is where we draw the line. Don’t spy on our kids, don’t criminalize them from kindergarten on”. In essence they said: “this is your chance to release some steam, show that you are something other than a rubber stamp for the police, show that citizens have a chance to have their voices heard”. The arguments were intelligent, well-reasoned and researched and made politely. They came from a law professor, a poverty expert, a [Continue Reading]