Interesting when the undercover cops join in the demonstration they get paid. If a soul with a conscience speaks up...well there will be none of that!

I don't know the history of the Richmond PD regarding killings by cops but going by the general attitude of our so-called 'civilian police' it would seem a little ironic to call what this officer/chief is doing 'illegal'.

They should grateful for what he did. He makes at least that one department look better than those of the rest of the country.

I hope the people stand up for HIM now. He absolutely has a right to wear his uniform when stating what should be obvious, that the people who pay his salary deserve the respect of having THEIR lives matter.

Good for him! Maybe his courage to go against the police will give others the courage to do so.

and then campaigning to stay sheriff after that. We elect our sheriffs here. So, their job is all political activity from the get go. We have a sheriff for the county and police chiefs for the cities. Do they pick the heads of their police departments and sheriff's offices differently in CA or something? I'm just curious.

but police chief is not.

is actually some HR rule against police participating in political activity.

However, it is petty and "political" to invoke in this case. The racial and class divides in Richmond are almost as notorious as Oakland - and vast ghettos of poverty get to have their noses pressed right up against the windows of billionaire wealth in San Francisco, and perhaps even in rapidly gentrifying Berkeley. The crime level, and accompanying police department community relations issues, have been roiling for years.

So here we have a police chief who wants to take a different tack and reach out to the community. This is not some random "political" matter. This matter is ABOUT the police!!! Of course it would behoove the police chief to come out and take a side!

I applaud the Richmond police chief for trying to get out in front of the problem before Richmond gets sunk into the cycle of police-action-protest-response like Oakland already has. Oakland has taken the tack of bringing out platoons of jackbooted police officers to hunt down and arrest protesters just for resisting nonsensical dispersal orders. And what they are getting is #opdshutdown civil actions in response!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025966312

That Richmond Police Chief is a wise man.

I'd vote for. Bravo!!

to keep the peace! His community will not be plagued by riots and looting thanks to the Chief's acknowledgement of, and sympathy for the Protestor's (people's) cause!

I'll say!

but her replacement is also part of "Team Richmond", an alliance of Greens and other progressives. And she's still on the council. Her other signature achievement: leading a caravan down San Pablo Ave. to Occupy Oakland, at a time when Oakland's own mayor was dilly-dallying over how to respond to it!

Now, Ms. Wilkerson, ask me if I care. Ask me if I think that the police chief demonstrating in uniform for less police brutality is worse than gunning down a child with a toy gun in two seconds after arriving at the scene. Ask me if I think it is worse than an officer putting a banned choke hold on a suspect who dies as a result. Ask me if I think it is worse than shooting an unarmed teenager six times? Ask me if it is worse than the district attorneys in each of the last cases using the grand jury to throw the case against the officer. Ask me if it is worse than defending that behavior, as you are doing.

And welcome to DU, eh?

70-75 kilometres south of San Francisco.

and other cops are raising hell about it. Those fucking assholes. I guess the rest of them were gung ho to break out the military gear and attack citizens who are peacefully protesting.

I could not help but notice that the cops in Ferguson were all congregated with the peaceful protestors harassing the hell out of them while the city burned. They let their city burn while they harassed the peaceful protestors. They were way more interested in harassing them than stopping the most likely outside agitators who were burning the city down. That speaks volumes.

This cop deserves respect for standing with the peaceful protestors instead of harassing them.