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People Questioned, Filmed And Called The Police On Black Oakland Firefighter
People Questioned, Filmed And Called The Police On Black Oakland Firefighter
Kevin Moore was in uniform, with a clipboard and fire truck during a routine inspection. Residents called 911 and videotaped him.
By Mary Papenfuss
Someone called the police last month on a black firefighter who was participating in a safety inspection in Oakland, California. Someone else filmed him and asked him to produce identification.
Kevin Moore was one of a number of firefighters carrying out legally mandated exterior inspections to determine if vegetation posed an extra risk to homes in the event of a wildfire, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Working in an upscale area of the Oakland hills, Moore was in uniform and carrying a clipboard and a radio, with his station’s fire truck parked nearby.
Prompted by a resident’s call, an emergency 911 dispatcher contacted Moore’s station on May 16 to determine if the inspections were going on. Someone also emailed home security footage to the Oakland Police Department showing Moore — clearly in uniform — knocking on a door. When Moore returned to do more inspections last week, a neighbor used his cellphone to videotape him, asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood and demanded to see his ID — which the resident then photographed.
Moore told the neighbor that if he was still concerned, he could check the street and see “a big red fire engine,” the Chronicle reported. “I try to put myself in other people’s shoes, like if I see someone in my yard, I’d ask what they’re doing,” Moore told the Chronicle. “That’s why I always call out, ‘Hello! Hello! Oakland Fire Department!’ Because I want to be heard. I just don’t want somebody to look out their window and see somebody in their backyard.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-firefighter-oakland-police_us_5b316e53e4b0cb56051b7804
Kevin Moore was in uniform, with a clipboard and fire truck during a routine inspection. Residents called 911 and videotaped him.
By Mary Papenfuss
Someone called the police last month on a black firefighter who was participating in a safety inspection in Oakland, California. Someone else filmed him and asked him to produce identification.
Kevin Moore was one of a number of firefighters carrying out legally mandated exterior inspections to determine if vegetation posed an extra risk to homes in the event of a wildfire, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Working in an upscale area of the Oakland hills, Moore was in uniform and carrying a clipboard and a radio, with his station’s fire truck parked nearby.
Prompted by a resident’s call, an emergency 911 dispatcher contacted Moore’s station on May 16 to determine if the inspections were going on. Someone also emailed home security footage to the Oakland Police Department showing Moore — clearly in uniform — knocking on a door. When Moore returned to do more inspections last week, a neighbor used his cellphone to videotape him, asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood and demanded to see his ID — which the resident then photographed.
Moore told the neighbor that if he was still concerned, he could check the street and see “a big red fire engine,” the Chronicle reported. “I try to put myself in other people’s shoes, like if I see someone in my yard, I’d ask what they’re doing,” Moore told the Chronicle. “That’s why I always call out, ‘Hello! Hello! Oakland Fire Department!’ Because I want to be heard. I just don’t want somebody to look out their window and see somebody in their backyard.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-firefighter-oakland-police_us_5b316e53e4b0cb56051b7804
(Just heard about this story on Joe Madison's show)
11 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Black firefighter on inspection duty in Oakland hills gets videotaped, reported to police
Kimberly Veklerov June 24, 2018 Updated: June 24, 2018 3:23 p.m.
<...>
His colleague, firefighter Megan Bryan, said she was an acting officer that day, May 16, and got a call from a 911 emergency dispatcher, wanting to check that they were indeed doing vegetation inspections. A resident concerned about Moore had apparently called dispatchers, Bryan said. “I knew that he was the one on that street,” Bryan said of the relayed message. She said the incident made her frustrated and annoyed, because no one had ever called the police on her or other white firefighters for doing an inspection.
<...>
Moore said he did his usual routine: knocked on the door, waited about a minute and yelled “Oakland Fire!” Then he stepped into the yard, which had no gate, and started noting the many vegetation hazards in his paperwork. As Moore was finishing up, he said he turned around to find the resident outside near the front steps of the house, video-recording him on a cell phone.
“He kind of startled me,” Moore said. “He says, ‘Well, what are you doing here?’ I say, ‘We’re here doing our annual vegetation inspection.’ Then he asks for ID. I say no problem. He takes a picture of my ID and says I need to get a different one. I’ve had that ID for years. It’s kind of dark, and I’m more of a dark-skinned black guy, but you can still see me.” Moore said he suggested that if the resident were still concerned, he could simply look out onto the street where “a big red fire engine is right there.” Eventually, Moore said, the resident stopped questioning him and started making excuses for his vegetation problems.
<...>
Bryan, who was worried about Moore’s safety given the recent interactions, said she plans to pair up with him during inspections so that she can do the yard walk-throughs while he takes notes. She said it shouldn’t be Moore’s — or other black people’s — job to soothe the fears of community members harboring prejudice. “It’s our work to do with other white people, to check our implicit biases and racism,” she said. “It’s not fair to him, and it’s actually not safe for him to be going into these backyards due to the sociopolitical climate.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Black-firefighter-on-inspection-duty-in-Oakland-13021084.php#photo-12943530
Kimberly Veklerov June 24, 2018 Updated: June 24, 2018 3:23 p.m.
<...>
His colleague, firefighter Megan Bryan, said she was an acting officer that day, May 16, and got a call from a 911 emergency dispatcher, wanting to check that they were indeed doing vegetation inspections. A resident concerned about Moore had apparently called dispatchers, Bryan said. “I knew that he was the one on that street,” Bryan said of the relayed message. She said the incident made her frustrated and annoyed, because no one had ever called the police on her or other white firefighters for doing an inspection.
<...>
Moore said he did his usual routine: knocked on the door, waited about a minute and yelled “Oakland Fire!” Then he stepped into the yard, which had no gate, and started noting the many vegetation hazards in his paperwork. As Moore was finishing up, he said he turned around to find the resident outside near the front steps of the house, video-recording him on a cell phone.
“He kind of startled me,” Moore said. “He says, ‘Well, what are you doing here?’ I say, ‘We’re here doing our annual vegetation inspection.’ Then he asks for ID. I say no problem. He takes a picture of my ID and says I need to get a different one. I’ve had that ID for years. It’s kind of dark, and I’m more of a dark-skinned black guy, but you can still see me.” Moore said he suggested that if the resident were still concerned, he could simply look out onto the street where “a big red fire engine is right there.” Eventually, Moore said, the resident stopped questioning him and started making excuses for his vegetation problems.
<...>
Bryan, who was worried about Moore’s safety given the recent interactions, said she plans to pair up with him during inspections so that she can do the yard walk-throughs while he takes notes. She said it shouldn’t be Moore’s — or other black people’s — job to soothe the fears of community members harboring prejudice. “It’s our work to do with other white people, to check our implicit biases and racism,” she said. “It’s not fair to him, and it’s actually not safe for him to be going into these backyards due to the sociopolitical climate.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Black-firefighter-on-inspection-duty-in-Oakland-13021084.php#photo-12943530
It's like slavery times. The plantation owner's "wife" has to accompany the slave (blacks must be escorted at all times by a white) so no harm comes to him -unless some douche thinks the slave is about to "rape" her and then all bets are off.
Well... this country has gone through these pendulum swings before. Sigh.
Very few things can be reasonably compared to slavery if you actually understand the utter horror of it.
I am a descendant of slaves. Please spare my the characterizations of "horror". All you have to do is read recent news stories of black men dragged down gravel roads until they are ripped apart (James Byrd) or a young black man given the "nickel ride" and a broken back in Baltimore or see any story of black men with dozens of bullets pumped into their backs or including one hit with 8 bullets after 20 shots were fired just a couple months ago.
There is nothing "absurd" about it.
Where I am in PA, we have our electric utility regulated by the state and recently, the state passed a law allowing people to select their "energy provider" for "competition" (i.e., 3rd party companies that might buy electricity from other sources but still have it distributed by the primary area electric co.).
So what that means is a number of "companies" are hawking their own "suppliers", with promises to lead to "cheaper" bills if you "switch" to them. Of course there's that fine print and in many or most cases, the rates may skyrocket after a couple years. In any event, these "companies" will robocall AND send out "reps" who dress in "safety vests" and try to solicit business, usually requesting to "see" your electric bill to "confirm" whether your rate is "higher" than what it could be if you didn't switch. In numerous cases, it becomes a scam because once they have your bill, they get your account # and switch you to them (as some horror stories have revealed). Some even lie to claim they work for your local electric company. But at least here in Philly, the electric co will send out a notice to the household to let you know if they are coming for whatever reason (meter change, etc), vs just showing up.
So there is a concern about "uniformed" people walking around neighborhoods. HOWEVER in this case, you have the problem of only questioning POC and not whites and thus it is an issue that needs some other way to handle what is essentially an "eminent domain" situation.
It's bad enough when you have POC who are police (or even police chiefs), sitting in unmarked vehicles with municipal tags, who are threatened by white police demanding ID and then not believing the ID is real.
Plainclothes officers in trouble - didn't recognize off-duty chief
By ALISON GENDAR
| DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER |
May 10, 2008 | 1:02 AM
At least one cop has been disciplined for ordering the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed black officer out of his auto while the three-star chief was off-duty and parked in Queens, the Daily News has learned.
"How you can not know or recognize a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," a police source said.
Chief Douglas Zeigler, 60, head of the Community Affairs Bureau, was in his NYPD-issued vehicle near a fire hydrant when two plainclothes cops approached on May 2, sources said. One officer walked up on each side of the SUV at 57th Ave. and Xenia St. in Corona about 7 p.m. and told the driver to roll down the heavily tinted windows, sources said. What happened next is in dispute.
In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said. After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/plainclothes-officers-trouble-didn-recognize-off-duty-chief-article-1.327540
By ALISON GENDAR
| DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER |
May 10, 2008 | 1:02 AM
At least one cop has been disciplined for ordering the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed black officer out of his auto while the three-star chief was off-duty and parked in Queens, the Daily News has learned.
"How you can not know or recognize a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," a police source said.
Chief Douglas Zeigler, 60, head of the Community Affairs Bureau, was in his NYPD-issued vehicle near a fire hydrant when two plainclothes cops approached on May 2, sources said. One officer walked up on each side of the SUV at 57th Ave. and Xenia St. in Corona about 7 p.m. and told the driver to roll down the heavily tinted windows, sources said. What happened next is in dispute.
In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said. After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/plainclothes-officers-trouble-didn-recognize-off-duty-chief-article-1.327540
The above happened 10 years ago.
