Oakland admits it erred in suspect identification

People wearing jackets that read "lifelines to healing" go out on a Friday night walk with others to pray, talk with residents about violence and gun buyback programs in East Oakland, Calif., Friday, August 9, 2013. less People wearing jackets that read "lifelines to healing" go out on a Friday night walk with others to pray, talk with residents about violence and gun buyback programs in East Oakland, Calif., Friday, August 9, ... more Photo: Jason Henry, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Jason Henry, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland admits it erred in suspect identification 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Facing criticism over their refusal to identify the eight people arrested in a publicized crime sweep on Aug. 15, Oakland police this week finally released names - but a Chronicle check of jail records showed that none of the identified people was actually arrested during the sweep.

Instead, the Police Department released the identities of suspected gang members who were arrested in subsequent raids and charged with multiple felonies by the Alameda County district attorney's office.

The eight people arrested on Aug. 14 and 15, police admitted Wednesday, were actually picked up for lesser crimes, and it remained unclear late Wednesday if they have been formally charged with crimes at all.

Confusing information

The confusing mix of information and misinformation highlights a growing concern, some say, that the city and its Police Department, under immense pressure to curb violent crime, are trying hard to appear as if they are combatting violence but are not truly reducing crime.

The issue of who was actually arrested during the Aug. 14-15 sweep is also significant because police held a news conference on Aug. 15 to announce the arrests of eight individuals yet declined to name them. The department would only say they were violent criminals who were picked up as part of the city's Operation Ceasefire crackdown, Mayor Jean Quan's primary crime-fighting program.

The strategy calls for police to seek the cooperation of suspected gang members to reduce criminal activity. Those who do not comply with the program face arrest.

Quan touted the arrests in a newsletter Wednesday morning: "We believe they are responsible for several murders and hundreds of robberies. In the neighborhoods where we have conducted these operations we are seeing a reduction in violence."

Last week, law enforcement experts and others criticized the Oakland Police Department for withholding the names of the people arrested on Aug. 14-15. Police said they withheld the names to protect the integrity of their investigation and to protect some suspects who could face retaliation. They also promised to release the names on Tuesday.

But instead they released the names of 14 people who were arrested during a separate operation.

Confronted with this information on Wednesday, Sgt. Holly Joshi, chief of staff to Interim Chief Sean Whent, acknowledged that the department had excluded the names. Joshi said she couldn't say why but characterized the exclusion as an error and then provided a list of people she said were actually arrested on Aug. 14-15.

They included people who were arrested on suspicion of robbery, possession of a gun and selling marijuana or narcotics.

"There is no purposeful conspiracy or anything, I think it is just not managed well in the information release," Joshi said. "Yeah, obviously we are a police department that is struggling with lots of things. But we're not trying to cover up anything."

One longtime critic of the Police Department suggested the force, under pressure from the mayor's office, is more interested in looking as if it's doing something about crime than actually doing it.

"The Oakland Police Department has gotten to the point where it is not sufficiently able to apprehend violent criminals on the streets and rather than building the capacity where they should be, they are looking for quick fixes and public relations," said Dan Siegel, a civil rights attorney and former adviser to Quan. "I think a lot of it has to do with pressure from the mayor's office and from the public. The public is really disgusted with the performance of the Police Department."

'Unacceptable' error

Councilman Noel Gallo, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the Police Department's error was "unacceptable."

"The problem that we have in the Oakland Police Department is really the lack of organization, the lack of communication both with people outside the department and people inside the department," he said. "We're all trying to win the public's trust and confidence, and providing misinformation or a lack of information - you lose us."

Reygan Harmon, the interim director of Operation Ceasefire, has said none of the eight men arrested on Aug. 14-15 had participated in a Ceasefire call-in meeting to explain the program's carrot-and-stick approach.

Still, she said, they should have known they were on police radar because their cohorts had been warned.

But it isn't clear to what extent the eight are actually part of Operation Ceasefire.

A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity said some of the people arrested on Aug. 14-15 had nothing to do with Ceasefire other than that they happened to be picked up by officers who were out in the field because of the operation.

The eight men arrested on Aug. 14-15 were identified as Arnaud Bowman, Calvin Odom, Craig Goatley, Michael LaCostam, Daniel Guitterrez, Joshua Rose, Terrell Custer and Carlos Bratton.