Oakland Community Demands In Advance of Curfew Action

To: Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Oakland Mayor, Oakland City Councilmembers, Oakland Unified School District Board Members, Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, Alameda County District Attorney, Alameda County Sheriff

Dear Elected Representatives,

We, community members and organizations representing the pillars of the community of Oakland, condemn Oakland and Alameda County’s militarized responses to the people’s protesting of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Steven Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others. We have come together to demonstrate multiracial solidarity in defense of Black lives and in the face of police and state oppression.

On Monday, thousands of Oakland’s youth took to the streets to peacefully protest in defense of Black lives. 

At 7:57 pm on Monday evening, Oakland Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office threw flashbang grenades and tear gas into the gathered crowd and proceeded to make 100+ arrests into the night -- rounding up protesters and non-protesters alike, including many of our unhoused neighbors and essential workers. This was a peaceful action and it was met with violence by the Police and Sheriff’s Departments as they tear-gassed our young people.

The Oakland Police Department's Alameda County Sheriff’s Department’s actions--and the curfews here and nationwide--are racist policing measures that amount to militarized repression of the people’s cries for justice, in service of Trump’s “Law and Order State.” They are in clear, direct response to regular people rising up in defense of Black lives. The events of the past week should ring alarm bells for everyone who is concerned about justice, safety, democracy, and political freedom. 

While the Alameda County curfew is set to be lifted at 5am on Friday, Mayor Libby Schaaf has imposed Oakland’s curfew from 8pm to 5am “until further notice.”  This comes five years after Mayor Schaaf’s failed policy to ban nighttime street protests, also in response to police violence towards Black lives.

We demand that Oakland and Alameda County elected officials:

1. End the City of Oakland curfew now and remove Sheriff Greg Ahern from the position of Director of Emergency Management, which gives him broad authority to declare curfews and other repressive measures
2. Block any military deployment to Alameda County
3. Act to terminate public educational institutions’ contracts with the Oakland Police Department (OPD) and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department
4. Cancel the county’s $318 million handout--a budget increase in the time of severe economic crisis--to the sheriff’s department; all county funds should be prioritized for life-affirming services, like healthcare and access to housing
5. Divest the Oakland city budget from OPD and reinvest in Community
6. Pass the full Black New Deal

We’ve detailed our demands below by each legislative decision-maker that can, and should, act now to show up for community voices and defend Black lives.

Alameda County Board of Supervisors:

• Rescind the budget allocation of $318 million to the Sheriff’s Department
• Reallocate the above amount towards investments in neighborhoods, from mental health care to housing stabilization
• Remove Sheriff Greg Ahern from the position of Director of Emergency Management, which gives him broad authority to declare curfews and other repressive measures
• Hold a vote to immediately separate the coroner from the sheriff's office; this is a clear conflict of interest, as the sheriff--who is not a medical professional--should not be investigating his own in-custody deaths 

Oakland Unified School District Board of Education and Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees:

• Divest from school policing by eliminating the Oakland School Police Department (OSPD) contract and Peralta Community College District’s (PCCD) contract with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office by the end of 2020 and barring any future contracts with law enforcement
• Reorganize the campus safety and security program under the OUSD Departments of Equity or Behavioral Health, and equivalent departments at PCCD, and restructure the role of security personnel to become mentors and peace/culture keepers
• Reinvest $2.3m+ OSPD budget and the Peralta Police Services contract budget into hiring additional mental & behavioral health and special education staff
• Establish a community oversight committee to review and redress all student and family complaints regarding interactions with law enforcement or school security personnel

Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan:

• Call emergency city council meeting ASAP for Thursday, June 4 or Friday, June 3 to end the curfew and stop the police use of tear gas

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Council:

• End the curfew immediately
• Stop police use of tear gas, as called for by Councilmembers Bas, Kaplan and Thao
• Defund OPD and reinvest in community by:
  • Immediately removing Measure Q and Measure Z funding from OPD; OPD funding should come from the city general fund only
  • Commit to a comprehensive audit of the Oakland Police Department in a process shaped and informed by community
  • Renegotiating the latest contract agreement with the Oakland Police Officers’ Association in a manner consistent with the other labor renegotiations occuring at this time, the financial crisis facing Oakland, and our dire need for funding in all other areas
  • Funding mental health services, crisis response and community ambassadors independent of law enforcement
  • Restoring funding to the Department of Oakland Parks, Recreation, and Youth Development
• Pass the full Black New Deal

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf:

• Command OPD to:
  • Use de-escalation options to the fullest extent
  • Make no arrests or bookings in connection with protests in defense of Black lives

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley and Sheriff Greg Ahern:

• Stop the killing of Black & Brown people by the sheriff’s department 
• Release all protesters still held at Santa Rita Jail
• Do not bring anyone else who is detained into Santa Rita Jail
• Drop all charges against protesters
• Do not trump up charges in order to circumvent the state-mandated bail schedule created in response to COVID-19
• Release prisoners being held at Santa Rita, prioritizing those who are elderly and immunocompromised
• Take measures advised by county health organizations to protect those remaining in custody from COVID-19, excluding holding them in solitary confinement
• Allow all prisoners to maintain regular communications with their lawyers and family

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley:

• Publicly commit to stop accepting campaign money from law enforcement associations

We expect an acknowledgement and response from you within 24 hours. Our people’s lives are on the line.

Signed,

Anti Police-Terror Project
Community READY Corps
Oakland Rising
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
Black Organizing Project
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Causa Justa :: Just Cause
Rising Tide North America
Bay Resistance
Arab Resource and Opportunity Center
Bay Rising
People’s Alliance Bay Area
#Audit Ahern Coalition
Young Women’s Freedom Center
GABRIELA Oakland
Anakbayan East Bay
#Third World Resistance
Parent Voices Oakland
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy