Saturday's Tragedy

I have chosen to keep my friend's name private (author of the post below) out of courtesy & respect to her. But I believe everyone should open heartedly consider what has been written. We could immediately begin passing judgement, become extremely angry, depressed, frightened and an array of other feelings from the tragedy that occured last Saturday. But as I replied to my dear friend, there is order out of chaos. The Divine plan is so much bigger then we can begin to fathom, and we cannot buy into the fear and actions of those that harm others, or our government's decisions to place more criminals out into our streets. We need to always remember that we have the POWER to change our world and make it a better, safer & more loving place for ourselves, our children and their children. Keep your light shining brightly and continue to be diligent in sending love out into the world and into Mother Earth....the time is now, whether you see the changes happening or not, just know that change is occuring, and for the better. Remember we are in the world, but not of the world; be the observer and not the participant. We are making a difference! If you should feel compelled to do so, please write your congressman and ask them to change the current legislation in regard to releasing back into society, those incarcerated individuals that have not shown signs of rehabilitation, or have chosen not to participate in the rehabilitative programs available through the state prison system.


Friends and Family:

Most of you know about the parolee's shooting and killing four Oakland Police Officers this past weekend. I have received many phone calls asking for information "Did you know these officers?", "Did you know the parolee? What was of most interest to me was the lack of question and concern about the parolee's Field Parole Agent. Due to my avoiding phone calls and conversation, I thought it would be better to let you all know how I am and how myself and my partners think and feel about now....

As an Assistant Supervisor of an Oakland Parole Unit, I would like to firstly extend my condolences to the families and give praise and acknowledgement to the four Fallen Heroes. Secondly, I would like to extend my condolence to the Field Parole Agent assigned to parolee Mixon. When incidents such as this one occurs, the Field Parole Agent is immediately under scrutiny by our Department. With a caseload of over 100 parolees, this Agent had her work cut our for her…and she did an exceptional job in this case.

Parolee "Mixon" was assigned to the "high risk" caseload…meaning his propensity for violence, drug use, and community victimization was very high -yet the Parole Board determined he had a right to be released back to the community after serving only 7 months on a parole violation (called Determinate Sentencing). His DNA has now been linked to the February 2009 rape OF A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL who lives close to where the officers lost their lives (74th and McArthur /East Oakland). He is also a suspect in 5 other rape cases and his DNA will be the key to closing these cases. This parolee's cousin is currently housed inside one of our prisons, committed for First Degree Murder; another cousin is out on parole and on a "high risk" caseload. The community's support of law enforcement is divided. Last night at the vigil for the officers at the site of the the shooting (74th and Mc Arthur) - protestors carrying wooden signs spoke of police harrassment to the NEWS MEDIA…one man spat on the memorial and was arrested - others shouted "Fuck the Police!". My interpretation of this is complete disgrace as I can tell you all that it was NOT the police who caused Mixon to commit the car jacking in San Francisco 6 years ago, it was NOT the police that caused Mixon to violate his parole conditions, it was NOT the police that caused Mixon to rape a 12-year-old child (and possibly others), and it was NOT the police that caused MIXON to carry guns as a FELON. Felons buy guns to commit crimes - NOT to protect themselves from the community (and police unless you're doing something you're not suppose to do!)
Lastly, I want to say on a personal note that Oakland is a difficult city to be working the streets. Myself and the Agents that I supervise put out trust in the Oakland Police Department AND the Fugitive Apprehension Team. Our Special Agent (name witheld) of the apprehension team was one of the ones that went out to the parolee's residence early last week in order to apprehend MIXON on the active Parolee Fugitive PAL Warrant…they risk their lives to ensure community safety. I am extremely proud of all law enforcement agencies in terms of how they h andle their business under extremely difficult situations here in Oakland . Late last year I was involved in an arrest of a fugitive parolee here in Oakland that was very difficult…while walking him to the ambulance in cuffs, the neighborhood came out and began yelling and screaming at us (officers). Two women approached me screaming at me "Bitch!" "Fucking Bitch!" Unless you've been in our shoes it's difficult to talk to others about our line of work and I personally choose to not do so.

This is the first time I've put out an email about my work to my friends and family…but I chose not to communicate what we (law enforcement) go through on a daily basis because you need not worry…we took these jobs as a CALL TO SERVICE…we serve our communities the best we can.

Now I want you to keep in mind in the coming months, that our Gov. is putting into legislation the release of 52,000 inmates to the streets WITHOUT PAROLE SUPERVISION. If any of you are as concerned as I am, now is the time to begin planning on what YOU want to have happen and begin to act upon it. Write your legislators. Write your local Representatives. Write your Gov. The media and Legislators will focus upon the "Broken Parole System", but NOT on their paychecks and their passing of Senate Bills that are tying the hands of Parole Agents working the streets. Please keep in mind that Jerry Brown, State Attorney General who started the negative statement "Broken Parole System" is the same man who changed the sentencing of criminals from Indeterminate to Determinate Sentencing back in the day as Govenor! What does this mean? Indeterminate Sentencing meant the inmate was required to complete his release programs (education, anger management counseling, menta l health counseling, victimization classes, gang diversion classes, and show a change in negative behaviors like not getting into fights or performing extortion). If the inmate fails to show on-going, long-term progress - he/she is NOT released on parole! NOW - thanks to J. Brown - it's Determinate Sentencing, meaning the inmate has a set release date and they are to be released when that date arrives - no matter how poor a program he/she has performed while serving their sentence for their crime in prison. This means that although we have exceptional programs available in our institutions, if the inmate chooses not to participate in them, it's not important because they know that the will be released when the Determinate Sentence Release Date arrives.

In case you don't know, we parole agents have also received a 10% pay cut and are forced to take 2-day furloughs a month…who's watching the streets when we're not at work? OAKLAND PD., Hayward PD, Livermore PD, San Francisco PD, Richmond PD, El Cerrito PD, Pinole PD, Antioch PD, Brentwood PD, Pittsburg PD, Oakley PD, South San Francisco PD, San Bruno PD, El Cerrito PD, Union City PD, San Leandro PD, Livermore PD, Castro Valley PD, Martinez PD, Concord PD, San Lorenzo PD, Bay Point PD, Alameda County Sheriffs, Contra Costa County Sheriffs, and San Francisco County Sheriffs.