POLICE TOO AGGRESSIVE

THE DEATH of Oakland Police Department Officer Willie Wilkins by friendly
fire was a tragic example of what citizens of Oakland have experienced much
too often and what they have known for a long time: When it comes to their
overly aggressive style, the OPD simply doesn't get it.

Now, one of their own has become the latest victim of the department's
policies, style and biases, after perhaps as many as 11 rounds were fired
against him by two of his fellow officers.

Officer Wilkins isn't the first person to have fallen as a result of an
overly aggressive department's vigilance in its drug war while it is
plagued by the all-too-familiar woes of racial profiling. For years, the
citizens of Oakland have cried out in concern when officers have responded
with an excess of force.

Too often, what they have received in response has been platitudes at best,
or re-victimization when accused officers have been acquitted by an
ineffective, myopic (if not completely blind) and biased internal review
process. Perhaps Officer Wilkins' death will do what few citizens have
managed: cause the OPD to seriously and critically examine its
aggressiveness, and how tragic it becomes for everyone when it is coupled
with racial and socio-economic bias.

Had Officer Wilkins simply been an ordinary citizen of African descent, I
doubt sadly that his death would have received such extensive front page
coverage. Nevertheless, I am glad that it did. I feel both grief and anger
for his widow and young child. I pray they will experience more justice
than most Oaklanders do when their family members are either mistreated or
killed by one of our own officers. Officer Wilkins obviously did not live
in vain. May his tragic death also not be in vain.

Rev. Myrna Bernadel-Huey, Shattuck Avenue United Methodist Church, Oakland