Calendar
e Oakland Public Safety Committee will vote on whether to approve a $2.25 million FLOCK surveillance expansion that threatens the safety and privacy of our entire community, especially our undocumented neighbors, Black and Brown residents, and anyone who dares to dissent.
Before that meeting, we’re gathering to make our voices heard:
5PM — Rally | 6PM — Public Safety Committee Meeting (Item #5)
What’s at Stake
The Oakland Police Department wants to join forces with FLOCK Safety, a private Georgia-based surveillance company, to integrate public and private camera feeds—including Ring doorbells, business cameras, and traffic cameras—into one massive searchable database called FlockOS.
That system is already accessible to over 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, including ICE.
This comes just days after ICE operations in the Bay Area, putting our undocumented community members in even greater danger. Oakland cannot call itself a Sanctuary City while building surveillance systems that funnel our data directly into federal hands.
Who’s Behind It
Councilmembers Charlene Wang and Ken Houston have become loud champions for this dangerous expansion.
- CM Wang has lied to business groups, falsely claiming that Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission “blocked” community members from buying FLOCK cameras. In truth, only City-owned surveillance technology requires PAC review. Her misinformation campaign is part of a broader push to discredit civilian oversight.
- CM Houston has been a relentless mouthpiece for OPD, rubber-stamping anything police request while ignoring the harm done to our people.
Meanwhile, the Privacy Advisory Commission voted 4–2 last month to reject OPD’s proposed FLOCK policy and contract, warning it would create grave risks to privacy and civil rights.
Yet the City Council is trying to fast-track the expansion anyway. If it passes the Public Safety Committee tomorrow, it will head to the full Council for a final vote on November 4.
How You Can Take Action
- Join the Rally and Speak Out:
5PM — Rally | 6PM — Public Safety Committee Meeting (Item #5)
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza - Submit your e-comment TODAY (by 6PM) to oppose Item #5:
tinyurl.com/OPDFLOCK - Use our toolkit and talking points to speak truth to power:
bit.ly/noflock-oakland
APTP Statement
“CM Charlene Wang and CM Ken Houston are carrying water for OPD and corporate surveillance interests at the expense of Oakland’s most vulnerable residents,” said Cat Brooks, Co-Founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. “This contract would turn our neighborhoods into surveillance zones and put our immigrant communities in harm’s way. Oaklanders will not stand by while our city builds a $2.25 million pipeline to ICE.”
Oakland is a Sanctuary City—but not if we allow ICE and OPD to turn our neighborhoods into surveillance zones. Join us tomorrow to defend our communities, our privacy, and our right to live free from state violence.
Get the toolkit: bit.ly/noflock-oakland
No FLOCK. No ICE. No Surveillance in Oakland.
In Solidarity,
Cat Brooks and the APTP Crew
www.antipoliceterrorproject.
| 2025 CA Climate Policy Reviews
Both The Climate Center and CEJA will present environmental justice leaders, and clean energy experts talking about the legislative session that just ended. Hear and ask about what’s next for refineries and Cap and Invest (formerly Cap and Trade) as well as how we move forward on scaling up nature-based solutions, green zones, energy justice and more. Thurs Oct 30 10 – 11:30 PM, The Climate Center 1 PM, CEJA |
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our October, 2025 meeting we will be reading and discussing the first three chapters of The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart (The CBC Massey Lectures) by Astra Taylor (Amazon) (Anansi). For our November meeting we will finish the book.
Finalist, 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction
Finalist, 2024 Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn’t working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going on?
In this urgent cultural diagnosis, author and activist Astra Taylor exposes how seemingly disparate crises―rising inequality and declining mental health, the ecological emergency, and the threat of authoritarianism―originate from a social order built on insecurity. From home ownership and education to the wellness industry and policing, many of the institutions and systems that promise to make us more secure actually undermine us.
Mixing social critique, memoir, history, political analysis, and philosophy, this genre-bending book rethinks both insecurity and security from the ground up. By facing our existential insecurity and embracing our vulnerability, Taylor argues, we can begin to develop more caring, inclusive, and sustainable forms of security to help us better weather the challenges ahead. The Age of Insecurity will transform how you understand yourself and society―while illuminating a path toward meaningful change.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Our first book was Doughnut Economics, and our most recent book was Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals”. For the rest of our reading list see here.
“Come join us for a medicinal day at Clinton park (655 International Blvd) in Oakland November 9th 9-5pm. Free ancestral medicine offerings from cafe collective students. No sign-up required. Options for masked providers, outdoor treatments, and masks provided. Vietnamese interpretation available.”
