Oakland’s on-again-off-again Coffee with a Cop program is picking up steam.
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Neighbors packed into the Temescal district McDonald’s recently to talk with officers and Oakland’s new police chief, Floyd Mitchell. Mitchell shook hands with dozens of supporters while he sipped his black coffee with two Sweet’N Lows, clearly enjoying the chance to meet folks in a happy place.
Mingling alongside Chief Mitchell were more than a dozen men and women in blue, taking a break from fighting the crime that dominates headlines in Oakland. The McDonald’s on Telegraph Avenue was the safest place in town for those two hours.
Of course, police can’t be everywhere all at once, Mitchell reminded the audience. That’s one reason why he worked to build trust at his last job in Texas — and his new job here.
“These community engagement events are very important so people understand that we are investing in their community and we want to sit down and have those critical conversations and say, ‘Hey, how can we work together and make our city safer?’ ”
Among Mitchell’s many challenges is the increasingly frightening number of sideshows popping up in Oakland.
“When we talk about the sideshows, what I am learning is that it’s part of the culture here,” he says, “and we see all the damage that they’re doing. So I’m working with our city to make sure we’re constructing our intersections to where we can deter sideshows.”
Mitchell says he’s been meeting with Oakland’s city administrator and public works director on using environmental design to reduce the number of sideshows.
“We’re also looking internally … and we have over $3 million set aside in our budget just to address sideshow activity. Every weekend I get a report — an after-action report of how many officers were out there working, how many contacts did we make, how many arrests did we make … and we’re monitoring what they’re doing through social media and where they’re popping off.”
Mitchell notes that because of social media the sideshow scofflaws are gathering almost instantaneously and going back and forth between cities like San Francisco and Oakland.
“What I want our community to understand, and this region to understand, is law enforcement is working together to address these issues, but it’s a large issue and a greater issue than these police officers can handle on their own,” he says.
“We have to look at it from an environmental design standpoint. Everyone’s looking at the problem and trying to solve it without infringing on anyone’s rights.”
Around town: CityHealth Urgent Care is still trying to recover from a break-in that left its front glass door shattered at the end of May. Four hooded thieves broke into the business after-hours and stole a cash box before driving away in a gray Audi convertible.
Going online-only: Montclair’s tasteful home decor store, Mix, is moving its merchandise to an online portal. Owners Patricia and Benson say they’ll be out of their brick-and-mortar shop at 6136 Medau Place by the end of the month and online by July 1.
Customers can order their window shades by calling 510-559-3229, and they’ll bring the fabric samples to you.
Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.