PUEBLO Meets Police Chief Batts

PUEBLO had its first meeting with Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts Jan.13. Co-founding member Gwen Hardy provided Chief Batts with an introduction to PUEBLO, its history and accomplishments, after all of the attendees had introduced themselves to the Chief.
Most of the meeting was devoted to PUEBLO members expressing their interests, issues, concerns and questions to the Chief, and he responded very positively at the conclusion of the session. Among the topics discussed were community-police relations, with particular emphasis on youth of color, towing practices, and the proposal to civilianize the intake of complaints against police officers.
Chief Batts was very receptive the concerns that were expressed, and said that he looked forward to working proactively with PUEBLO in an ongoing relationship. PUEBLO members de-briefed afterward, felt that the meeting was very successful and were looking forward to working pro-actively with the Chief to address the issues of concern and to improve the quality of public safety service delivery in Oakland.

Created: 01-14-2010