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jenn_ingle's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
This book is very important but very challenging to read given the descriptions of the deep and long term corruption of the Oakland PD. Very densely packed with important information but just takes a while to finish as I found I needed periodic break from the intensity of the anger I felt while reading it.
marireadstoomuch's review against another edition
5.0
An extremely well-researched and comprehensive look at the attempts to reform a wildly issue-riddled police department (I read an ARC). While it was at times difficult and often deeply frustrating to read of the specific incidents (they’re horrifying, and the consistent pattern of reinstatement following arbitration is an exhausting and repetitive follow-up punch), such detailed analysis of incidents are necessary to get a sense of OPD. As a whole, the work is an incredible feat of investigative and explanatory labor, and I would recommend it as a very good tool for examining how policing works.
Winston and Bondgraham trace reform efforts (and the disregarding of reform efforts) over decades to illustrate what can and cannot be achieved through police reform. If Oakland is a test case, the authors ask, what can we learn? From this question we get a key text in the area of American policing.
From the conclusion:
“So long as Oakland and the rest of America is riven by extreme racial and class inequalities, and the power of the federal government is not brought to repair the economies of destitute cities and rural areas, and deal with the intergenerational trauma that leads to despair and hopelessness, then it’s very likely the police will continue serving more or less the same function they have for well over a half a century: containing, and repressing the symptoms of broader social problems through violence.
Small reforms that save lives, and prevent some egregious abuses of power are possible. However, Oakland has shown that this only happens through the utmost exertion by civil society”
Winston and Bondgraham trace reform efforts (and the disregarding of reform efforts) over decades to illustrate what can and cannot be achieved through police reform. If Oakland is a test case, the authors ask, what can we learn? From this question we get a key text in the area of American policing.
From the conclusion:
“So long as Oakland and the rest of America is riven by extreme racial and class inequalities, and the power of the federal government is not brought to repair the economies of destitute cities and rural areas, and deal with the intergenerational trauma that leads to despair and hopelessness, then it’s very likely the police will continue serving more or less the same function they have for well over a half a century: containing, and repressing the symptoms of broader social problems through violence.
Small reforms that save lives, and prevent some egregious abuses of power are possible. However, Oakland has shown that this only happens through the utmost exertion by civil society”
seatonob's review
5.0
The story of a police department that spent two decades under a consent degree because of its repeated inability to police itself and discipline officers engaged in criminal behavior.
megatsunami's review
4.0
You: I'm not sure if I should be outraged about the police or not
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I don't fully understand the role anti-Black racism has played in Oakland's history
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I want all the tea on Oakland politics
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I just moved to Oakland! Everything is fine! Police issues have nothing to do with me!
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I don't fully understand the role anti-Black racism has played in Oakland's history
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I want all the tea on Oakland politics
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
You: I just moved to Oakland! Everything is fine! Police issues have nothing to do with me!
Me: I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU
lady_n_beautiful_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.5
The authors start our strongly with the narration of the Night Riders. These beginning chapters are riveting and heartbreaking. Yet, subsequent chapters (where they explore the history of police corruption in Oakland, going back to the 1800s and up through present day) read more as a list/informational. Over and over, they describe police corruption, but it lacks the incredible narration/details of the beginning. First part, I read quickly. The last 2/3 to 3/4 was much slower of a read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship
chadstep's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Incredibly well researched, the local coverage of the OPD is unmatched in detail.
jordandotcom's review against another edition
5.0
“Law enforcement is the repressive, coercive power of the state embodied in an armed officer. They are made to deal with societal problems when they reach a crisis point. The police have to respond to the symptoms of an unequal society and the alienation and suffering it produces. If they are allowed to do so—or encouraged, as they so often are—police will frequently subject a society’s poor and racially oppressed to violence, surveillance, and harassment, all in the name of maintaining social order.”
Or, in short, ACAB.
Or, in short, ACAB.