For
Immediate Release—January 23, 2013
Despite Community Outrage, Contract Moves Forward, Bratton Remains
Controversial
Press Contact: Isaac Ontiveros
Stop the
Injunctions Coalition
Ph. 510 444
0484
Oakland—After a
marathon meeting that saw an attendance of more than 500 Oakland residents and
nearly 4 hours of public testimony, the Oakland City Council voted in the early
hours of Wednesday morning to move forward with spending $250,000 on a contract
to hire controversial police consultant William Bratton. Bratton’s
notorious policing methods—including stop and frisk, gang injunctions, and
curfews—remained center stage, as countless residents called for an end to
harmful, divisive policing policies in Oakland. Despite several
Councilmembers turning out pro-Bratton elements of their districts and a strong
police presence in the chambers that heightened tension among participants,
many residents stuck the meeting out to the bitter end, calling for public
safety strategies that were more inclusive of community input and
participation. Toward that end, Oaklanders recommended broader and better after
school and restorative justice programs, job training, and services for
residents returning from prison and jail.
Noting how the Council seemed to be playing
into people’s fear, Councilperson Desley Brooks took a strong stand against the
contract asking questions about what had been delivered on the existing
contract and suggesting that the Council had been sloppy in considering the
proposal to amend it. “Rejecting this contract tonight,” Brooks stated, “isn’t
about not addressing crime. It’s about doing the hard work that needs to
be done.” Brooks offered the lone voice of dissent on the Council.
“Sure it’s frustrating that the Council is
moving ahead with the contract and Bratton despite all common sense, but many
residents seem more ready than ever to band together and fight for a smarter,
more sustainable way of dealing with harm in Oakland,” said Rachel Herzing of
the Stop the Injunctions Coalition. “Our work will continue to fight
Bratton-style zero tolerance policing however and whenever it comes to our
neighborhoods—to carve out wider and wider spaces for the real innovation and
creativity in implementing strategies that are viable, that take into account
the knowledge and experience of the community itself, and that are effective in
making our city healthy and strong.”
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