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Withdraw the nomination of Sarah Chavez-Yoell to the OPD Commission's selection committee

by APTP
The Anti-Police Terror Project & The Oakland Justice Coalition are petitioning Oakland City Council Member Lynette Gibson McElhaney: "We demand REAL community oversight of the Oakland police department."
oakland_police_1.jpg
Here's why this is important:

Oaklanders need to be safe and secure, we need housing and job security, we need a city that spends it's budget on jobs for the youth, housing protections, and the arts. And we need a city that spends less money on the police. We need to be living in an Oakland where the OPD is held to the same level of responsibility as civilians and where residents have security in knowing that if they are victimized by the police, such as Jasmine Absulin was, that the OPD will be held accountable. Currently we do not live in this type of Oakland but we're ready to fight in order to create it!

In fighting for a better Oakland we're highlighting the egregious conflict of interest that currently exists within the Oakland Police Commission, an oversight panel that is supposed to keep the police in check. We deserve a police commission that can objectively analyze the misconduct of officers and a selection panel, currently chaired by Sarah Chavez-Yoell, the wife of a violent officer is a conflict of interest that residents can not afford.

David, join us in demanding Sarah Chavez-Yoell, wife of a known violent officer, Lieutenant Mike Yoell, be removed from the Oakland Police Commission immediately!

In Oakland, we know far too well the outcomes of an unchecked police force. From the COINTELPRO attacks of the 1960s, the current Negotiated Settlement Agreement stemming from the Rider's case, and the more recent child rape case of Jasmine Absulin (also known as Celeste Guap), accounts of corruption, scandal, and violence are all too familiar and can have deadly outcomes.

When elected officials at the highest levels of city government know what's going on but turn a blind eye to police abuse bad outcomes will occur. Oakland officials ignore the intrinsic criminality of police behavior while calling for more cops to address crime on the street. It is the height of hypocrisy.

The Oakland Police Commission is supposed to address the lack of oversight of the Oakland Police Department. It is supposed to put civilians in roles to hold the department accountable for misconduct. But how does this occur when the selection panel appointed to choose commissioners has a bias toward violent officers?

District 3 City Council Member Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s recent appointment of Sarah Chavez-Yoell to the police commission raises considerable red flags. Chavez-Yoell is the wife of former OPD Lieutenant Mike Yoell, an officer with numerous incidents of violence. His "checkered past" includes excessive force, hitting a teen with a car, sexual harassment and "many other high-profile incidents”.

The commission used to hold Oakland police accountable cannot consist of people that sympathize with and are married to violent officers. We demand a fair and just police oversight commission and for this to happen Sarah Chavez-Yoell must go!

The Anti Police-Terror Project and the Oakland Justice Coalition request your support in demanding that Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney:

1. Immediately withdraw her appointment of Sarah Chavez-Yoell from the Oakland Police Commission's selection panel due to a conflict of interest.
2. Select an individual from community who can objectively make decisions based on the needs of community.
3. Create a community-centered vetting process for ​the replacement appointee prior to actual selection

"Conflicts of interest are the number one thing that can and will tank the credibility of the Oakland Police Commission. That process has begun with the appointments to the Selection Committee." - Cat Brooks

Sarah Chazed-Yoell must go!

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