APD Makes Rapid Arrest Of Gun Toting Car Jackers in Late June; Chief Hopes That Alameda County D.A.’s Office Will Follow Through With Vigorous Prosecution Of Three Arrested Suspects.
APD Goal Of Filling Patrol Division Ranks Falls Short After Some Officers Leave In Wake Of District Attorney Price’s Decision To Prosecute Three Officers For Involuntary Manslaughter.
APD’s Presence In Alameda’s Famed Fourth Of July Parade Enriches Entire Community. No Criminal Or Crowd Issues During Parade; Kids Lob Water Balloons At Motorcycle Squad In Well Received Spirit Of Summer Fun.
Illegal Fireworks At Alameda Point Blazed Ahead With No Arrests Or Substantial Police Presence To Manage Or Deter
USSC Decision Makes It Easier To Relocate Homeless Who Occupy Public Property
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PLEASE LISTEN TO ENTIRE AUDIO INTERVIEW AT BOTTOM OF STORY
Text And Photos By Larry Freeman
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
CRIME DROPS BODE WELL IF TREND CONTINUES
Chief Joshi. in this latest podcast of the series, expressed “cautious optimism” about what he said were “double digit drops” in a range of serious crimes in Alameda since the start of the year.
Joshi noted that the main exception to the general trend came with an uptick in local crime after Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced in April –just hours before the Statute Of Limitations expired– that she was going to launch the prosecution of three APD Officers for Involuntary Manslaughter.
“Our crime numbers are trending in a good direction. We have been consistently seeing reductions in crime since December of last year. We are on our way to seeing double digit reductions in crime. That’s our goal. … This year we are very close.
Joshi praised APD Captain Matt McMullen for taking the helm of the drive, and, in the interview details particulars of the plan and why it appears to be on track.
“We are seeing people getting arrested within an hour” with respect to a number of arrests.. There is an absolute strategy. We are making a number of strategic arrests” taking down a number of professional, multi-offense crew or ring leaders.
The Chief signaled, but did not confirm, the probability that the overall drop in crime rates has to do, in part, with the overall staffing increase to APD’s force, a topic explored in depth in Police Pod Number Eight which can be found HERE.
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JUNE CARJACKING IN GREATER DETAIL
“If these individuals that we arrested on this violent car jacking end up getting off with some simple disturbance or theft or something like that, what message does that send?”
Chief Joshi
A feather in APD’s cap in combatting serious crimes in town came with its vigorous rapid response and arrest in the vicious and disturbing crime of felony carjacking late last month.
In just over an hour, APD, with substantial, mutual assistance from Oakland and San Francisco Police Departments, arrested three teen suspects who allegedly car jacked an Alameda mother with two young children in the car on June 26th of this year.
Recently added crime fighting technologies, including the acquisition of License Plate Readers (denied for four years under a preceding Alameda City Council) and the deployment of an OPD helicopter to track the stolen vehicle, played an important role in bringing the alleged criminals to, at least, the first stage of justice.
The next step depends on what The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office does with the high visibility case.
The Alameda County D.A’s office signaled, in a press release on 6/28 –two days after the arrest–that it intends to be stringent on these particular three alleged criminals.
“Three defendants Marionna Makia Haley (18), Isaiah Howard (18), and Sariyah Barker (18) are each charged with multiple felonies for allegedly carjacking a woman with two small children inside a vehicle in the City of Alameda,“ said the release signed by D.A. Pamela Price who currently faces a recall election.
Each suspect faces one count of carjacking, and two counts of child abuse. Haley faces one count of “use of a fire arm” in the commission of a crime –in what is known as an enhancement—and the other two for “armed with fire arm” enhancements.
All three eighteen year olds, identified by Joshi as having come into Alameda from Oakland where they also initially fled, face anywhere from 11 to 20 years and several months in prison if convicted, fully sentenced and if all three actually serve full time.
Joshi made it abundantly clear that he expects The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to follow through on the case with a heavy hand to stay the course with high level felony charging, hopefully a conviction and substantial sentencing as prescribed by “the law books.”
He also wants the end result to send a strong message of deterrence to the criminal community.
“If an offender says, ‘I got arrested for car jacking and I did two days in jail, or I got a low level misdemeanor conviction… If these individuals that we arrested on this violent car jacking end up getting off with some simple disturbance or theft or something like that, what message does that send? …Listen to the victims and see what….does justice look like to the victims?
APD arrived on scene in minutes after the crime call came in, and, before long, joined with Oakland PD officers and eventually SFPD forces in an extended surveillance of the suspects and vehicle in Oakland and a later car chase across the Bay Bridge and into the city, where the driver crashed. The three suspects fled on foot and were soon apprehended by SFPD who turned them over to APD officers for the arrest and custodial detention.
All in all, said Joshi, just “one hour and twelve minutes” passed from the time APD got the 911 call until the time that the three youth renegades were in cuffs.
Without specifically naming The Alameda Police Department — D.A. Price said, in her press release, that, “I applaud the law enforcement agencies for swiftly making arrests in this case.”
This particular crime hits home for Joshi, an Alameda family man himself, and he described the incident as “Horrible.”
The Chief went on to say that “this is one of the more serious, violent felony crimes. I think about the trauma that family is going to go through…. In my eyes, and in my thoughts she (the adult victim) is a big hero. She was thoughtful, she was courageous, she maintained her calm under pressure and thought about all the right things to do in protecting those young ones who were with her.”
ANN will monitor the progress of the case as it advances through the system.
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STAFFING SETBACK IN WAKE OF D.A. DECISION TO PROSECUTE OFFICERS
Coincidentally or otherwise, a number of APD officers left the ranks of the department or have signaled an intent to do so after Alameda D.A. Price announced that she would proceed with involuntary manslaughter charges against three officers related to the in custody death of Mario Gonzalez.
The Chief did not say that the loss of officers to the patrol division –which was expected to be up to full strength by now—was a direct result of that decision, but noted the timing.
He also noted the existential dangers to life and limb that officers face in the line of duty that may factor in to officers’ career decisions.
The three APD officers are scheduled to be arraigned on August 2nd, following a continuance in the matter stipulated to by all parties in the case. (For more on the Gonzalez case see “Alameda Officers Charged With Manslaughter…” (ANN, May 23, 2024).
“We were on a trend to increase staffing. Unfortunately, we back slid… shortly after officers (related to the Gonzalez case) were charged. We lost several officers. They either decided to leave the profession or move on to other departments.”
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For more on all of the above, including key details in the car jacking arrest, please check out the full interview audio below:
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UP NEXT ON POLICE POD 12:
ANN’S next, exclusive Police Pod Interview with Chief Joshi will focus on highly specific Alameda crime statistics and details, updates on staffing, and the strengths and limits of Alameda County’s Justice System when it comes to what happens to serious or repeat offenders under the current D.A.’s regime, in the courts and other institutions in the justice process when suspects leave the hands or the handcuffs of the police.