Dear Mayor Quan,
I just watched an internet video in which an Oakland Police officer at the Occupy Oakland protest had his name taped over, so that it was unreadable.
We ask a OPD officer why he had his name badge covered…. from BLK PXLS on Vimeo.
The officer in question, J. Hargraves, was ordered to remove the covering by his superior officer once members of the public intervened. That he had his name covered at all strongly suggests to me that he was intending to break the law in his policing of protesters. I also find it troubling that he was willing to do this only a few feet away from his superior officer. This further suggests that the department has an informal policy allowing or encouraging this behavior.
I hope you as mayor investigate whether or not this is the case and order the police to issue a clarification to their officers that they are required to follow the law and respect the civil rights of protesters.
Thank you for your time,
Charles Hutchins
You can contact the mayor of Oakland via her website: http://www.oaklandnet.com/contactmayor.asp