by JR Valrey, Editor in Chief
The Oakland Police Department being released from federal oversight after 23 years is one of the biggest national news stories currently being missed by local mainstream news, for obvious reasons.
The police murders and terrorism have not ceased; in fact, a man was killed by OPD under questionable circumstances two weeks ago, prior to my writing this.
Adante Pointer is a well-known Bay Area-based attorney and human rights advocate who has been a champion for people’s rights, specializing in cases of police abusing people in the community. I sat down with him because there is a lot of talk locally about transparency in policing and police accountability, and he is an expert in that lane.
JR Valrey: What are your thoughts on the Oakland Police Department being let off of federal oversight after the police terrorism and corruption uncovered in the Riders case 23 years ago?
Adante Pointer: I think the fact that it took OPD 23 years to finally get its act straight speaks volumes about how poor OPD was doing its job when federal oversight first began, and how hard it has been to fix the culture within the department that was clearly resistant to adhering to policing Oakland in a constitutional way that followed the law and respected Oaklanders’ rights to be free from police terror.
The department’s checkered past is well documented, from how it intentionally recruited police officers from the Deep South to patrol – or some might say occupy – Oakland streets in an effort to intimidate and control Oakland’s once booming Black population, to the many scandals that have plagued the department: from the Celeste Guap sex scandal, to shooting and killing people in their sleep, to subjecting mostly Black men to strip searches in public, to fake search warrants, to violent crowd control tactics which injured so many people, to conducting sham internal affairs investigations all the way up to the Riders, which were a band of cops who framed, beat, robbed and planted evidence on Oaklanders.
JR Valrey: Do you think the Oakland Police are any less corrupt now than they were then?
Adante Pointer: I certainly see less cases come across my desk concerning OPD now than when I first started practicing law 21 years ago or when I was a young man growing up in West Oakland. However, like many organizations, it’s only as good as its last scandal. So whether the Oakland Police Department has really cleaned up remains to be seen.
JR Valrey: What are your thoughts on the new chief of police in Oakland?
Adante Pointer: After having played musical chairs in the chief of police position, it is good to know that we have someone who is chief, who is willing to take the role and doesn’t have so many skeletons in his closet that they fall out on day one or two of him taking the helm of the department.
Frankly, the bar has been set pretty low given all that the department has gone through, and like they say when you’re on the ground, there’s only one way to go and that’s up! For Oakland’s sake, and the people in the community, I want the chief to succeed because we know from experience the lessons that history has taught us: Failure as a chief leads to more people’s rights being violated, and lives harmed or cut short.
JR Valrey: Recently the SFPD illegally ran up in the Black Panther apartment building, and I know that you are representing the residents. Can you give the public some info on what went on?
Adante Pointer: It’s important to note that many of the key facts around SFPD storming The Black Panther apartment building in West Oakland are still shrouded in secrecy, and my law firm continues to investigate and gather more information.
However, what we do know is that about 20 SFPD officers came over to Oakland from San Francisco to reportedly arrest someone for robbing two people in San Francisco. They did this after surveilling the Black Panther apartment building and the suspected robber for 30 days, which is an enormous amount of time to commit police resources for a chain snatcher when folks routinely call the police during violent situations and are placed on hold or receive little to no response from SF or Oakland police departments.
So it begs to question why would SFPD commit such a tremendous amount of resources for a chain snatcher? Why would SFPD surveil a building for 30 days in pursuit of one person all the way over here in Oakland when there are crimes being committed every day in San Francisco that go unsolved and barely investigated? It makes you wonder whether they had an ulterior motive to storm the building and terrorize the many women and children that call The Black Panther Apartments home.
JR Valrey: You are representing the Oakland rapper Mistah FAB who recently was arrested.,Can you elaborate whether or not you think that there was foul play by the police involved in his arrest?
Adante Pointer: That remains to be seen; however, what I can say is many, many people, including myself, were surprised to see the police once again expand so many resources to try to crack down on one person who they believe fired fireworks; when anyone who has watched the news or been in Oakland, or any of the surrounding cities know that fireworks are popped off all over the city on every other block with firework shows that rival or are better than what the city or the Bay Area governments put on themselves.
With all that being said, for OPD, which has far too many unsolved murders, far too many unsolved shootings, far too many stolen cars and property crimes to send a group of 20 or so cops to raid three different locations looking for fireworks is almost a cruel joke to the residents of the city of Oakland. The everyday person wishes OPD spent those type of resources on finding the many missing girls of our community, who are being trafficked and exploited in the sex trade.
JR Valrey: How can people get in touch with your law firm? When can people catch you on tv?
Adante Pointer: The People can find me and keep up with the cases, issues and people I fight for by following us on social media on IG, FB and Tik Tok @Adante_Pointer_Esq @lawyersftp or our website www.Lawyersftp.com
SF Bay View Editor-in-Chief JR Valrey is a veteran journalist. His work can also be heard on www.blockreportradioworld.com. He can be reached at jr@sfbayview.com.