Recent Police Killings Add To Oakland's Troubles

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MICHEL MARTIN, host:

Now we go to Oakland, California, where we've been checking in from time to time as we assess how communities around the country have been coping with economic downturn. Oakland is under stress today for a different reason.

Over the weekend, what began as a traffic stop ended as the deadliest attack on police officers in California since 1970. Twenty-six-year-old Lovelle Mixon fatally shot the two officers who stopped him, then fled to his sister's apartment, where, armed with an AK-47, he fatally shot two more officers after a SWAT team entered the apartment. A fifth officer was slightly injured. Mixon himself was eventually killed in the confrontation.

The shootings occurred even as a judge was getting ready to hold a hearing about another violent crime that shook the city earlier this year. This was the case of the former transit officer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man named Oscar Grant. That shooting prompted days of demonstrations and some street violence.

Joining us now is Demian Bulwa. He covers law enforcement for the San Francisco Chronicle, and he's been keeping us up to date on stories from his beat. He's also covering this story. Welcome back, Demian. Thanks for joining us.

Mr. DEMIAN BULWA (Law Enforcement Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle): Thank you.

MARTIN: Tell us a little bit about Lovelle Mixon. Is there any idea why he began firing at the two officers who pulled him over for a traffic stop?

Mr. BULWA: Well, we're starting to learn more about that, and at first we just knew that he was wanted on a warrant for violating his prison parole. But remember, he also had a pistol on him, and so that - being caught with that as a felon might have meant some serious time.

We're also learning that he - the day before this shooting, a DNA database came up with a hit on him. They say he was tied to a rape earlier this year of a girl.

So he may have known about that, as well. And so he had a number of things that were facing him that may have sent him back to prison for a pretty substantial amount of time.

MARTIN: What's been the reaction in the city? As we mentioned, and as you talked to us about, there was that New Year's Day shooting at the transit platform that sparked these protests. What's been the reaction to this incident, and do you think that the earlier one somehow connects to it in some way?

Mr. BULWA: Well, I mean, first of all, I think most people are just in grief because of the way that people view police officers and their job being dangerous in the same way that people view, you know, firefighters or military officers. There's - it touches people that the work that they do, and so there's a lot of grief.

In the neighborhoods, in the neighborhood where this happened, you know, there is some different reactions and mixed feelings, and we're trying to get more to the bottom of that. But there is - there are some people that are sort of trying to create another narrative about this, where they're linking it more widespread problems between police and the community there.

There are also people that want to connect it to the Oscar Grant shooting, as you mentioned. But for a variety of reasons, and we're not sure what the theme here is yet…

MARTIN: Well, it's my understanding - and you can correct me if I'm wrong about this - but Mixon's final location was actually given to the police by a tipster. That strikes some of us as interesting, given the fact that as we've discussed, there's been some tension between law enforcement and citizens for a number of reasons.

Mr. BULWA: Yeah. We don't know - I spoke to a woman out in the neighborhood who said she had given the police information on the location, and that's striking because there's sort of this anti-snitching feeling in some of these neighborhoods. And, in fact, when I was talking to people in the last couple days, at times someone else would shout as they talked to me you're talking too much. Stop talking.

And so - and most people won't give me their names as I talk to them, either, even if they're just expressing a feeling, even if they're not a witness.

So - but people do give information, but they're very scared to do so because of retaliation.

MARTIN: This is - it's a difficult thing to raise at a time like this, when, as, of course, people are grieving. But the officers who were killed, Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans, Daniel Sakai, all very experienced. Is there any discussion about whether training techniques, their approach, may have been adequate to the task?

Mr. BULWA: Well, I think that everyone agrees that this is going to be studied all across the country. And because of the chaos of the incident, each step of the way, I think, will be studied from everything that happened during the initial traffic stop.

There's a lot of issues that come up there. I guess traffic stops are so common. And then two hours later, you have a decision to raid this apartment. And so you have a whole other set of issues about the decisions that are made.

And secondly, you also have issues of equipment and gunfire - I'm sorry, ammunition and the weaponry. All of this stuff, I believe, will be studied, and also you'll see, probably, a debate out of this over things like parolee status, gun control. I think this thing will be far-reaching.

MARTIN: And also, as I understand it, the department is currently being led by an interim leader because the previous police chief resigned. How is morale in the wake of all these events?

Mr. BULWA: Well, you know, the Oakland Police Department has gone through a number of different issues in recent times. There was a high-profile investigation of a journalist being killed. There was accusations that the investigation was not done properly.

There's an incident where an internal affairs leader is being investigated in an old case where a suspect died and it wasn't investigated properly, either.

But, you know, this case in East Oakland over the weekend was so unusual that I don't even think people have come to grips with what it means.

MARTIN: And finally, can I ask you about the Oscar Grant case that you told us about earlier? What is the status of that? As I understand it, there was a preliminary hearing set for Monday, but there was a request to postpone the hearing because there was a - at least the defense counsel argued that the feelings around the case were such that it just wasn't the appropriate time to address it. Can I just ask - what's the status of that case? Is there still some…

Mr. BULWA: Yeah, that's been postponed to May 18th, and that's a preliminary hearing. The defense attorney said two things. One, he plans to mount a very vigorous defense in the preliminary hearing. He's going to call a number of witnesses, review video and launch a defense. He feels like he needs to make a statement in the case, and he didn't feel like that was - the climate was right for that.

Secondly, he represents the Oakland Police Department, and he said that over the weekend, he lost four personal friends and that he hadn't been able to spend as much time as he'd liked to prepare. It wasn't fair to the BART officer, then, to be defended by him when he's been tied up on this other thing and is also kind of scattered and not on his - not in top form, really, to launch a vigorous defense. So…

MARTIN: I see. And finally, there's - how is the passing of these officers being acknowledged by the community? I think there's a vigil tonight. Are there any other plans, memorials, for example? I understand that Governor Schwarzenegger paid a courtesy call to Mayor Ron Dellums. What else can you tell us?

Mr. BULWA: Yeah, there's - it's being done in a number of ways. There's a vigil tonight in Oakland. People are coming by the police department to sign condolence books. You know, there's going to be large funerals. I mean, I've been to a number of police funerals, but I can't imagine what one is like with four. You know, it's going to be unprecedented.

And then, you know, I think also, you know, it's going to be see, people are trying to unite the city and make sure that there's not any tension that flares up. I mean, there's, you know, there's some feelings out there that people need to kind of get - come to grips with.

I mean, there was people out in this neighborhood yesterday trying to invite people to a rally against the police.

MARTIN: I see. I see. Well, it's a complicated story. We appreciate your taking the time to keep us up to date. Demian Bulwa covers law enforcement for the San Francisco Chronicle. He joined us by phone from Oakland. Demian, thank you so much.

Mr. BULWA: Thanks.

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