More $$$ for repression in Oakland

agenda: https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=291792&GUID=F47A93AF-5A5B-485C-8C52-493FA009522C

13. Subject: RCC's Analysis Of EBRCS P25 Radio Systems
From: Department Of Information And Technology
Recommendation: Receive (A) An Informational Report On RCC's Side-By-Side Analysis Of Oakland And East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS) P25 Radio Systems; And (B) Authorize The City Administrator To Enter Into Negotiations With EBRCS And Return To Council In 90-120 Days With Proposed Negotiations Terms And A Funding And Transition Plan (13-0226)

This item was Continued from the January 7, 2014 City Council meeting.
The December 17, 2013 Finance & Management Committee approved recommendations as amended with a vote of 4 Ayes.
The Committee approved staff recommendations as amended as follows: "Authorize the City Administrator to enter into negotiations with EBRCS and return to Council in 90-120 days with proposed negotiation terms and a funding and transition plan, and include a funding plan for the purchase and maintenance of radio units."

to view the report: https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=2746373&GUID=F67649BC-C1A5-4ACA-9B13-29514F247C26


http://www.ebrcsa.org
It’s located at 4985 Broder Blvd., Dublin - the Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Services. It’s adjacent to the huge Santa Rita jail complex. Notice how they had to put those final two words there to make it seem a little less ominous. This facility is the county accumulation center for video, radio and digital signals. It's then passed on to the Northern California Regional Intelligence (FUSION) Center located in San Francisco.

This is one of those purposely partially hidden regional governmental agencies. You are not really supposed to know about it. It's final intention is a total surveillance capability. Sheriff Ahern's wet-dreamed-of drones will be fed into this facility.

One of the positives to Oakland's budget woes have been their inability to quickly jump to the county-wide radio system for their jack-booted thugs. Supposedly the OPD is the sole-remaining hold-out in not joining this system. The OPD, the entire City Council and of course, the county sheriff can't wait for this coordination to finish. It will help all with coordination of the reciprocal repression agreements the multiple city police and the county sheriff department have signed. What are those for? Well, to beat the heads of small-d democracy and fiscal-equality-minded folks not unlike the Occupy folks. Read the report. Notice how it's presented as correcting a problem with the relatively new, current system. It's easy for the OPD & the City to file this under mismanagement or incompetence or whatever. The residents of Oakland will never know. The McTribune either won't report on this or will spin it in a win-win way.

This report was undertaken by a private corporation with advice from the stakeholders. Look at that list of "stakeholders". No citizen or privacy advocates, no constitutional experts, etc. Would you trust any of those "stakeholders"? Notice how they are all repressive forces. Do you think they'll come to the same conclusion as you would? I think not.

Even so, here are some results from their reporting (so far):
- will cost less to switch in the short term though no time period is defined, BUT will cost an additional $25 million over the next 5 years.
- Oakland is proposed to only have one seat on the Joint Powers Association - the East Bay Regional Communication System (EBRCS). These JPA’s are designed to give the veneer of representation. Even so, supposedly Oakland's size & use would assume 4 seats on this board. That's not what this is for.
- they refer to the current system as "aging". It's not that old but it is supposedly incompatible with the EBRCS which is controlled by the sheriff - the guy who is supposed to uphold those rules established by the legal system (not laws). His goal is more spying, purchasing drones, and preventing the residents right to their common law rights and those additional rights supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution and it's amendments including the first 10 - the Bill of Rights.

The point of all this is that certain inadequacies in the reciprocal repression agreements regarding communication among police/sheriff agencies were exposed during the Occupy movements of late 2011. These radios are to coordinate repression of the populace regarding their expected uprising considering the ever lengthening depression and ever increasing unemployment.

Contact your council representative. Yes, they are supposed to "represent" you, not "repress" you. Remind them of that. Let them know you don't want the City to take part in such repressive capabilities. Find your council representative: http://mapgis.oaklandnet.com/councildistricts/

Some of the council members are very secretive of their city email addresses - wouldn't want their constituents to contact them and all - so here they are:
District 1 Kalb, Dan DKalb [at] oaklandnet.com
District 2 Kernighan, Patricia PKernighan [at] oaklandnet.com
District 3 Gibson McElhaney, Lynette LMcElhaney [at] oaklandnet.com
District 4 Schaaf, Libby LSchaaf [at] oaklandnet.com
District 5 Gallo, Noel ngallo [at] oaklandnet.com
District 6 Brooks, Desley dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com
District 7 Reid, Larry lreid [at] oaklandnet.com
Member at-large Kaplan, Rebecca atlarge [at] oaklandnet.com