Gov. Newsom visits Oakland to pressure city to scale back pursuit policy, allow more police chases in town

Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News on Dec 27, 2024

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom held a news conference Friday to pressure Oakland officials to scale back a policy that only allows the cops to chase someone if there’s reasonable suspicion they have committed a violent crime.

Calling the city’s policy an “extreme outlier,” Newsom first announced plans to extend a “surge” in California Highway Patrol support to combat retail theft, vehicle theft and sideshows in the East Bay. Then he said the popular program would only continue if the city meets him halfway.

“We’re at that point in time that we need to see some commiserate support and changes as it relates to policing here in Oakland in order to consider extending that state-subsidized partnership,” Newsom said Friday, flanked by CHP officers, a local bishop and the city’s Chamber of Commerce CEO.

He later added, “You can be drunk, you can run a red light, you can be close to side-swiping a school bus during the morning hours, right in front of a police officer, and the pursuit policy in Oakland says we cannot engage that suspect.”

Newsom’s announcement comes just weeks after Oakland voters moved overwhelmingly to recall both the city’s mayor and the county’s district attorney, largely due to concerns over increases in property crimes. In a statewide landslide, voters also supported Proposition 36, a law opposed by Newsom, which opens up more avenues to charging shoplifters with a felony and imprisoning repeat offenders.

“(Voters) want change. They’re demanding change,” Newsom said, referencing both recall elections.

The CHP partnership program, implemented in 2023, simply adds officers to assist in specific “proactive” enforcement of property and nuisance crimes, like organized retail theft and sideshows. The governor’s office touted 1,400 arrests through the partnership this year, and says it resulted in $13 million in stolen goods being returned. The program has been seen as a band aid for cities with understaffed police departments, and exists in San Bernardino, Bakersfield and the Bay Area.

CHP plans to extend its efforts in Vallejo as well, officials announced Friday.

Newsom has attempted to convince Oakland leaders to do away with the pursuit policy before, including in an open letter to the city penned last July. The city’s police commission declined to recommend policy changes in September, citing the dangers of high-speed chases, but also concerns that most chases happen in the non-white, lower income parts of the city and that fewer chases would help build trust in those communities.

Ironically, the policy doesn’t apply to CHP officers operating in Oakland, who say they’ve been met with surprise when they’ve chased suspects and forced them to stop.

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