Name: Oakland police on protests: 137 arson fires, more than 200 businesses looted, vandalized
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Oakland police on protests: 137 arson fires, more than 200 businesses looted, vandalized

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateOakland police deployed smoke, gas and non-lethal munitions over four straight days of demonstrations that broke out following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer to the community late Wednesday.Those measures, beginning May 29, were used “during unlawful assemblies and in exigent circumstances” and “to disperse crowds to stem assaults on officers,” Manheimer wrote.In the wide-ranging letter, the interim chief noted the dangerous conditions on the ground and extent of the destruction during rioting and looting, but she also wrote that the department is “evaluating the principles and policies proposed by various groups and organizations calling for changes in police practices.”Manheimer said about 200 businesses were looted or vandalized and 137 arson fires were set during a period in which “numerous” shootings also occurred throughout the city. One killing was related to the incidents of looting, and two federal security guards were shot outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the guards, David Patrick Underwood, was killed.More than 30 first responders were injured amid the unrest, including 21 Oakland police officers and two Oakland Fire Department personnel, and four people in crowds reported injuries, Manheimer said. More than 300 people were arrested, with more investigations pending.Manheimer said the Police Department will review its use of tear gas and other tactics. The letter stated that all uses of gas “will be investigated and reviewed as a use of force.”The interim chief said she also planned to propose a special order at the Police Commission meeting Thursday evening that would ban the use of the carotid restraint. Law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area and around California, , have ended use of the choke hold, in which pressure on the neck cuts off blood flow in the carotid artery to the brain.Police &amp; ProtestsManheimer said Oakland police have already started revising the use-of-force policy and “many of the proposed revisions” align with 8CantWait initiative policies designed to reduce police violence against civilians.“We will be conducting a thorough review and assessment of our Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy operations as referenced above in an After-Action Report and via our Use of Force Investigations,” Manheimer wrote. “All reviews and assessments will be reported to the Federal Monitor and our Police Commission.”Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a tweet Thursday that reforming and reimagining police practices is “nowhere near done” and it will take collaboration to “make this transformative leap toward justice.”Updated: Chief Manheimer will propose a Special Order at the Citizen Police Commission to ban carotid restraint in Oakland. The work to reform + reimagine public safety is nowhere near done, and together we can make this transformative leap toward justice. — Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf)The department’s use of tear gas has concerned several city officials.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.In a letter sent June 3 to the mayor, police chief and City Administrator Edward Reiskin, council members Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rebecca Kaplan and Sheng Thao urged the Police Department to stop using tear gas during the pandemic.“The use of tear gas for crowd control adversely affects individuals in crowds of (protesters) as well as residents who are not involved in protesting, and it can have serious effects on medically vulnerable people and increase the spread of COVID-19,” the letter says.While many demonstrations in Oakland in the past two weeks were “inspiring and peaceful,” the chief said, police also “responded to assemblies disrupted by violence, requiring crowd management to control physical attacks on officers and threats to public and officer safety.”Oakland received aid from other Northern California law enforcement agencies that “enabled us to provide calm and security to our neighborhoods,” Manheimer wrote. A curfew enacted in the city for several days was “only enforced ... as a last resort to calm unruly gatherings.”CouncilmanNoel Gallo said he appreciated the “straightforwardness” of the chief’s letter, as well as “her willingness to create change within the Police Department.”He added, “I think we’ve heard the public loud and clear.”Matt Kawahara and Alejandro Serrano are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: , Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateOakland police deployed smoke, gas and non-lethal munitions over four straight days of demonstrations that broke out following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer to the community late Wednesday.Those measures, beginning May 29, were used “during unlawful assemblies and in exigent circumstances” and “to disperse crowds to stem assaults on officers,” Manheimer wrote.In the wide-ranging letter, the interim chief noted the dangerous conditions on the ground and extent of the...

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Matt Kawahara

Alejandro Serrano

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Oakland police on protests: 137 arson fires, more than 200 businesses looted, vandalized

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