Open Mic

Oakland Privacy just published its newletter. Chock full of information on what OP is doing and why they’re doing it. Articles include: Local Movements Demand Disclosure of Police Technologies – A Review. Sacramento Update – Bills in the California Legislature OP wants passed (to help protect privacy) or wants killed (because they further the surveillance state). Why I Joined OP or How I Spent My Summer For the Past 16 years. Hella Privacy – The Local Surveillance Equipment Regulation Ordinance Oakland Privacy Wants to Have Passed in Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, … Continued

The Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland created this video in support of their efforts to get the Oakland City Council to invest in Oakland’s future. New long version: Shorter version: Oakland Needs a Public Bank! – Sign the Petition at FriendsofPublicBankofOakland.org – Call your Oakland City Council Member and tell them to fund the feasibility study in this years’ budget. Video by Maren Poitras Music by Broke for Free We need everyone in Oakland to heavily lobby the City Council, starting now. Be sure to talk about how … Continued

On Saturday, May 13th, Councilperson Dan Kalb held a Town Hall on the upcoming Oakland budget. Against a backdrop of unaffordable housing, spreading homelessness and social needs, citizens confronted yet another budget where the Oakland Police consume the largest part of the General Fund, allocated a massive budget and then augmented by overtime. The Anti Police Terror Project and other groups came out in large numbers to oppose this basic contradiction, and demand an audit of the police budget and practices. Whether they made an impact remains to be seen, … Continued

A major milestone was reached in Oakland at 9:21 PM on May 9th. The Oakland City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to have the full City Council consider a first of its kind Surveillance Equipment Regulation Ordinance. (Read more about what the ordinance will do.) If and hopefully when it is passed by the full Council Oakland will be the first City in California, and, with the possible exception of Seattle, the nation, to pass such a set of restrictions on the use of surveillance equipment. Sweating the details … Continued

Protesting the Sheriff in Oakland. Protesting ICE in San Francisco. The March from Fruitvale Plaza.   County Sheriffs: No deals with ICE. No deportations. #OrganizeDefend #OaklandMayDay #MayDay pic.twitter.com/E5KYMLzMUw — Indybay (@Indybay) May 1, 2017 Four protesters were arrested upstairs inside @ACSOSheriffs Sheriff Ahern's office early this morning#OrganizeDefend #OaklandMayDay #MayDay pic.twitter.com/bkxmZWl10H — Indybay (@Indybay) May 1, 2017 No Ahern! No ICE! SANCTUARY NOW! #NoBanNoWallNoRaids #sanctuaryforall pic.twitter.com/0NXVQnPtEy — Bay Solidarity (@BaySolidarity) May 1, 2017 Sanctuary is legalization and decriminalizing migration #NoBanNoWallNoRaids #Sanctuary4all #ThisSanctuaryFightsBack pic.twitter.com/BT7SxhIgyZ — Bay Solidarity (@BaySolidarity) May 1, 2017 Criminalizing … Continued

It’s been a little over three years since the community came together to stop the DAC – the surveillance octopus Orwellianly dubbed the Domain Awareness Center. Faced with the prospect of surveillance everywhere, in schools, on the streets and online, a broad spectrum of people and organizations of every race, religion, ethnicity and political leaning came together to tell the Oakland City Council ‘NO.’ And they listened. Out of that effort came the establishment of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission by the City Council.  One of its mandates was to … Continued

In 2012 an official investigation revealed that Officer Miguel Masso, a minute or so before he fatally shot a young man, “went into auto pilot and could no longer hear.” Knowing such, would you later hire this man to carry a gun and be involved in high-stress situations on a daily basis? Would you hire a man to serve and protect after he was sued, in part, for this: “Officer Gottlieb, Police Officer Vanhorn, Police Officer Reveron and Police Officer Masso entered his holding cell. They commenced to assault and … Continued

By Mike Zint and JP Massar The body of a homeless woman was found Saturday near Berkeley High School. She appears to have died of exposure. – Jan 15th, 2017, Berkeleyside. What does it take to get off the streets? Money? Affordable housing? Employment? Of course the answer is yes, but none of those things is the first step. The first step is stability. Stability that the housed take for granted. A lack of stability means the homeless barely survive. Figuring out how to exist with no sense of safety and security and nowhere … Continued

The Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership hotline is (510) 241-4011.  ICE raids in San Francisco should be reported to them at (415) 200-1548. Similar hotlines are being set up around the state.  In the meanwhile, ICE raids in other counties (like Contra Costa) can be reported to 844-878-7801, a statewide number. Report ICE & help protect our immigrant community. In San Francisco, call Rapid Response hotline, 415-200-1548. @PODERSF @sfilenetwork pic.twitter.com/n9LxpWOOZ0 — PODERSF (@PODERSF) March 3, 2017 62537