Articles tagged with: Anthony Batts

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts announced this morning that he will continue to lead the department of the crime-battered city, after telling reporters last week that he could not commit to staying in Oakland long-term because of what he said was lack of support for police from City Hall.

Batts, who has been Oakland’s police chief for 15 months, said in a statement that he decided to stay in the position after engaging in numerous conversations with Mayor Jean Quan and other city officials.

Two fatal officer-involved shootings, lingering questions about the commitment of its police chief, and startling revelations about a communications meltdown between officers and emergency dispatchers during a dangerous chase last week have stoked public concern about the Oakland Police Department — an agency that appears to be functioning in crisis mode.

Police Chief Anthony Batts said Thursday that he was unsure if he would stay with the beleaguered department — one that has seen its uniformed force shrink from 805 officers when he began his tenure in 2009 to the 656 officers presently serving — after he was not chosen for the vacant police chief position in San Jose.

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts will not become San Jose’s new Chief of Police after he was not selected to fill the vacant position. The decision raised uncertainty about whether the veteran police officer would remain with the Oakland force.

“I have not made a final decision as to my future with this agency,” Batts said in a statement. “It still needs to be determined if I am a fit for the City of Oakland’s vision for the future.”

A series of leadership changes — including the possible hiring of Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts as San Jose’s Chief of Police — is poised to expand a series of shake-ups affecting three of the Bay Area’s largest and most high-profile police departments — each facing dwindling budgets and public scrutiny from widely publicized scandals.

Batts is competing with current San Jose Police Interim Chief Chris Moore — a favored candidate amongst rank-and-file San Jose officers — to head the police department in the city that coins itself as the “safest big city” in the country, the San Jose Mercury News reported Sunday evening.

(7/13) — UPDATED 17:45 PDT — OAKLAND — Mayor Ron Dellums announced Tuesday afternoon that after continued negotiations, Oakland officials and police union leaders were unable to reach a last-minute agreement to avoid the layoffs of 80 police officers.

The two sides met well into Monday night and continued their discussions behind closed doors today to try and hammer out a compromise as the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline loomed.

(7/9) — UPDATED 14:15 PDT — OAKLAND — A large, peaceful gathering of people in Downtown Oakland following former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter was followed by violence as the sun set.

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts blamed the violence, which included looting shops and setting dumpsters on fire, on a small group of about 50 anarchists.

As a Los Angeles County jury begins to deliberate the fate of former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle, unprecedented steps are being taken to avert vandalism in the city where the entire saga began.