Oakland Police Redefine Their Crowd Control Policy? Tango and QRF

by Copwatcher

Fri, Apr 27, 2012 2:36PM

Snatch Squads at May 1st General Strike?

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Oakland Police claim that they have retrained all their officers in crowd control tactics for the upcoming May 1rst general strike. While much is unclear about what will be different, there are things that are sure to be the same. Officers that make up most of Oakland's Police Shootings will continue to be deployed as Tango and QRF (Quick Response Force). Howard Jordan has suggested that he may send specialized units into the crowd for the purpose of making surgical arrests, rather than use lethal force through the deployment of chemical and less than lethal rounds indiscriminately. However, sending teams of Officers that are known for their relationship to violence into large crowds of people is a clear indication that OPD intends to incite panic and chaos rather than develop better methods for interfacing with large groups of people.

For more information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nuZ4IM648k

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§seems the ACLU/NLG got OPD to back off

by time will tell

Sun, Apr 29, 2012 11:33AM

ACLU and NLG Ask Oakland Police Department If It Seeks to Abandon Key Protections for Demonstrators
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/04/25/18712079.php

Citywise: Oakland's crowd control reforms on hold
By Matt Artz
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 04/27/2012 06:41:55 PM PDT
Updated: 04/28/2012 08:35:21 AM PDT

It turns out Oakland's well-publicized crowd control policy reforms won't be in place during Tuesday's Occupy Oakland protests after all.

On Monday, Mayor Jean Quan and police Chief Howard Jordan convened reporters to announce the reforms, which included using small teams of officers to root out troublemakers from crowds of protesters.

But the announcement concerned civil rights attorneys who had negotiated the department's current crowd control policy. That policy, enshrined in a federal court order, was negotiated after a 2003 protest at the Port of Oakland that included police firing less-than-lethal munitions at protesters.

The attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild maintained that Oakland was required to meet with them before making any changes to the policies and raised concerns that the city's plan to align its policies with state standards would actually give the department more leeway to use the less-than-lethal munitions.

In emails to the civil rights attorneys this week, Supervising Deputy City Attorney Rocio Fierro wrote that the new measures are "being postponed until after the May Day events." He also wrote that the police chief wouldn't change any policies without first getting approval from the federal monitor overseeing the department.

For more information: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland-tribu...

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