The number one issue in the upcoming local elections ought to be the continuing meddling by outside, unelected agitators into the Oakland Police Department via the Negotiated Settlement Agreement, or NSA.
This meddling may not appear to be directly related to the issues that are uppermost in voters’ minds: crime and homelessness. But, as I’ll explain, the three areas overlap, and are fueled by the same root cause: an abysmal ignorance on the part of Oakland voters that keeps them from understanding why Oakland is in such trouble.
An informed electorate is necessary if any society is to have wise leadership, but in Oakland too many voters have chosen not to take the time to educate themselves about issues, but merely to respond emotionally to clichés offered by cynical politicians who might more plausibly be doing commercials on late-night television. People like Carroll Fife, for instance, who says “Elect me and I’ll end homelessness.” She might as well be hawking a more-absorbent toilet paper for the Jerry Springer Show.
The NSA is way past its expiration date. Whether you believe it was justified in the first place, its time has come: 22-plus years. An entire generation! What does the public actually understand about this? They know, or think they know, that something horrible happened in OPD in the early 2000s, four U.S. presidents ago. They know, or think they know, that OPD must be punished for this original sin. They know, or think they know, that “somebody” is in charge of meting out this punishment, although 95% of them aren’t familiar with names such as Judge Orrick, Robert Warshaw, John Burris and James Chanin. They know, or think they know, that OPD and, by extension, all cops are tainted, and that it is good that “somebody,” at least, is attempting to reform them.
That is the sum total of the public’s knowledge of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement. And it’s shocking and sad that the few sources of information that could truly educate the public, choose not to.
I won’t even harp on the media—the S.F. Chronicle, Oaklandside, KQED radio and so forth, whose anti-police bias shows up every time they report on OPD. But at this time, I want to call out the new police chief, Floyd Mitchell, who’s been in his role only since May but has already shown that he’s little more than a lap dog for the powers that really run Oakland. I’ve been supportive of Chief Mitchell so far—he seems like a good, decent guy whose heart is in the right place. I’ve argued that he needs time to figure out his job. But with these new reports that the persecution of our police is likely to continue for many more years, it’s time for Chief Mitchell to start naming names and kicking ass.
Instead, he remains silent. We see him standing next to his boss, Sheng Thao, looking woebegone as she drags him along as a prop on her endless campaign against recall. But we haven’t heard a word from him concerning the attacks on him, personally, and his cops. And the reason, as I’m trying to explain, is that there’s no pressure on him to do so because the voters are so ignorant. Yes, there’s pressure on him from his own colleagues within OPD, who feel he represents the interests of the outside forces that selected him for the job, and not their interests or the interests of public safety. But the Chief is able to ignore those pressures because he’s decided to be subservient to the forces that own him and keep him on a short leash, and who he believes will protect him.
Wrong, Chief Mitchell. Thao and her overlords don’t protect anyone, except themselves. Look what they did to your predecessor, Chief Armstrong. They threw him under the bus, and they’ll do it to you, too, the minute you become expendable. Tick, tick, tick…
We have, in Oakland, a police department where every cop is afraid of his supervisor, where every supervisor is afraid of the top brass, where the top brass is afraid of the Chief, where the Chief is afraid of the Mayor and Police Commission, where the Mayor and Police Commission are afraid of police-hating woke activists and their media stooges. Nothing ever gets better in Oakland because everybody is covering their ass, and nobody has the guts to tell the truth.
There’s one person who could break through this logjam and that’s Floyd Mitchell. He’s still new and fresh enough to be perceived as an independent voice with credibility, although the longer he avoids speaking out, the more his credibility erodes. Chief Mitchell should give a press conference and announce that he will no longer cooperate with Orrick, Warshaw & Co. in their vengeful demolition derby against OPD, and that if Thao is dissatisfied with this, then he, Floyd Mitchell, is pleased to offer his resignation. That would shake things up: that might motivate the media to actually report on the blackmail and grift of Orrick, Warshaw & Co., which in turn might motivate the public to take a deeper look into the Negotiated Settlement and its complex web of lies, personal gain and misuse of power. But as long as Floyd Mitchell remains silent, the logjam gets worse.
Respectfully, Chief Mitchell, ask your conscience whose interests you’re really serving. Stand up for your cops, and stop being a lap dog. It’s demeaning to you, personally, and embarrassing to the Oakland Police Department, who have endured so much and deserve better.
Steve Heimoff