The state intervention, which comes as crime concerns rise during an election year, has drawn criticism from police accountability groups and privacy experts concerned about the effect on residents - particularly communities of color.
Monday, August 26, 2024 10:17PMGov. Gavin Newsom's letter to Oakland city leaders last month urging them to change the city's policy on police vehicle chases seemed out of the ordinary: a governor weighing in forcefully on a somewhat-obscure element of local policing.
"Oakland is so fractured right now," said Hofer. "Fifty percent think the CHP should be here and running the show because Oakland City Hall can't manage itself. The other 50% totally resent this." Meanwhile, the latest crime statistics from both Oakland and California show property crime trending downward and well below historic highs, mirroring a nationwide pattern.
One such program in Oakland, Operation Ceasefire, was scaled back during the pandemic but city officials say they have revived it this year. "Every call I get is they've been broken into and it's taking too long for people to show up," she said. Still, Adams said that while she's "not in favor of mass incarceration," she supports the additional police resources the highway patrol is providing.
When Newsom said this spring that the state would pay for and install in and around Oakland nearly 500 automated license plate readers - surveillance cameras that law enforcement can use to track vehicles they suspect of being involved in crimes - police accountability groups raised concern that the devices wouldn't be subject to the city's surveillance policy.
In his letter to Oakland officials, Newsom touted a recent highway patrol blitz in which officers used police cars and a helicopter to chase people suspected of participating in sideshows, making five felony arrests. He acknowledged that such pursuits "can be dangerous to police, suspects and innocent bystanders."
Burris also represented the family of Erik Salgado, who highway patrol officers shot to death after Salgado fled a traffic stop in Oakland in 2020. The highway patrol settled that case for $7 million last year, and some police accountability activists cite the agency's chase policy as a factor in the killing.
The agency also differs from Oakland police in some measures of transparency. Oakland's vehicle chase policy, for example, is listed on the police department's website; California Highway Patrol asked CalMatters to file a formal public records before providing its policy.More lawyers for prosecution, but not defense
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