New York Times Reports Oakland's Shame

The daytime murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey by a masked man casually holding a shotgun in view of a busload of passengers has brought shock to City Hall. Officials there shudder that the violence and disruption they allow in the neighborhoods is creeping up on them. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported the basic facts of Oakland's shame.

Times reporters asked assistant police chief Howard Jordan whether there were any regrets about not moving faster to arrest the suspects at the Your Black Muslim Bakery before Mr. Bailey was killed. The lengthy investigation of the Muslim Bakery mob was prompted by a blast of shots at a car in December 2006.

Jordan replied that the department's resources were "very thin." How thin? The Times also cites a lieutenant saying that many residents of the neighborhood surrounding the bakery are afraid of the personnel there because they shoot automatic rifles in the air in shows of intimidation. "Other members of the group, the police said, flaunted their defiance of outstanding warrants on assault and gun charges." (New York Times, Aug. 4, 2007)

Assistant chief Jordan holds a newly created post, sandwiched between chief Wayne Tucker and the deputy chiefs of the police department. Few other cities have such a duplicative executive structure, but chief Tucker gets one for a special pair of qualities: he has failed to establish leadership and respect among both police and Oakland residents, but he holds the confidence of mayor Dellums.

Jordan also disclosed to the New York Times that the long-term investigation involved the cooperation of neighboring departments. Ordinarily, this phrase means routine sharing of information, but in the case of the understaffed Oakland department, it refers to Oakland's lack of investigative resources, to the need to beg help from other agencies. In fact, Oakland still cannot analyze more than a handful of fingerprints, relying to this day on a contract with Contra Costa County to process the most important prints.

In addition to details reported by the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times documented Oakland's shame. The newspaper quoted Neil Henry, interim dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, who called Bailey's killing "a tragic new example of the escalating wages of violence in Oakland."

Also noted by the Los Angeles Times: "The organization [the Bey mob] even won fiscal support from the city in the form of a loan that was never repaid. All the while, rumors swirled that Bey cruelly mistreated the girls in the compound." The loan for $1.1 million was supposed to go into a business training home health workers. In 2002 the East Bay Express reported City staff "complained that Bey misspent the funds on personal perks and overinflated salaries. Bey allegedly closed the business secretly and sold equipment pledged as collateral. Not one cent has ever been repaid." (East Bay Express, Nov. 20, 2002)

The shameful details reported by the Times and other prominent newspapers illustrate the basic problem in Oakland. Our city has only half a police department, compared on a population basis with most major cities.

Oakland officials shudder because journalist Bailey, dressed in a business suit and tie, was walking along one of the same downtown streets they often walk. Ten minutes before the murder, a passenger on a No. 40 AC Transit bus saw the gunman, holding a shotgun at his side and wearing a black ski mask, lift the gun to the back of a man getting on the bus. The thug changed his mind and walked off to shoot Bailey three times, killing him.

"It was so brazen," the passenger said. "This guy was out in broad daylight with a double barrel shotgun." (San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 4, 2007)

Welcome to almost any Oakland neighborhood, City Hall officials. Welcome to street corner drug dealing while little children watch. Welcome to a Sunday afternoon shooting in front of Brookdale park. Welcome to "rat pack" gangs mugging victims picked almost at random. Welcome to boom cars, the smoke of vehicles spinning donuts, reckless driving, and sideshows. Welcome to the number six city in the country for vehicle thefts.

Shrine at spot where journalist Chauncey Bailey was murdered. (Photo by D. Ross Cameron, Oakland Tribune)

Neither the mayor nor any of the councilmembers will commit to at least 1,100 police, the minimum we need rather than today's 700-some. One reason is the officials' ambiguous attitude to thugs. Despite the City grant disguised as a loan, Your Black Muslim Bakery filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 24, 2006. In the filing papers Yusuf Bey IV, one of those arrested the day after Bailey was murdered, wrote that mayor Ron Dellums "has even pointed out his official support of me continuing in my father's successful pattern of running the business." Contacted by the San Francisco Chronicle about this statement, Dellums' office said the mayor has no comment.

If City Hall proposes any action at all after the murder of Bailey, will it merely seek to ensure safety around downtown, or will it claim to address the demands of residents all over the city? The only response that offers hope for the whole city is a solid commitment and a plan for at least 1,100 officers. They can provide presence, rapid response, and prompt investigation. That would let the thugs know who rules the streets of Oakland. Meanwhile, the New York Times, by simply reporting the facts, has added to City Hall's shame.