North Side Oakland Gang Members
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1 NSO’s qualification as a criminal street gang (paragraphs 52 to 55); (F) the identification of 2 specific gang members (paragraphs 56 to 76f; and (G) my conclusions in support of 3 injunctive relief against the NSO criminal street gang and all of its members (paragraphs 4 77-78). 5 A. SPECIAL EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION, AND EXPERTISE REGARDING 6 CRIMINAL STREET GANGS AND GANG MEMBERS 7 1. I am employed as a sworn California Law Enforcement officer employed by 8 the Oakland Police Department (“OPD”). I make this declaration in support of the People’s 9 request for a gang injunction and other relief against the North Side Oakland (NSO) 10 criminal street gang within a proposed Safety Zone, located in the City of Oakland. 11 2. In this Declaration, except where I state something to be based on my 12 personal observations, I am stating my opinion as a gang expert, or am referring to 13 information that I used to form my opinions. The information I used to form my opinions on 14 the NSO criminal street gang includes gang-related training, discussions with other law 15 enforcement officers including other gang experts, conversations I have had with 16 members, associates, and affiliates of the NSO criminal street gang, conversations I have 17 had with non-gang members who live and work in the community, and my review of police 18 records, internet materials, music, documentaries, and a review of criminal records of 19 gang members. 20 3. I am currently employed as a police officer with the Oakland Police 21 Department. I have been so employed for three years. My current assignment is Problem 22 Solving Officer in District 2, which covers the physical area of the proposed Safety Zone. 23 4. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and International Relations 24 from the University of California at Davis. 25 5. For the opinions about the NSO Gang that I discuss in this declaration, I also 26 have drawn on my personal experience as a police officer in patrol performing gang and - 2 - DECLARATION OF OFC. JOHN CUNNIE ISO RELIEF AGAINST NORTH SIDE OAKLAND STREET GANG 1 controlled substances enforcement over a three-year period, especially while working as a 2 Problem Solving Officer in north Oakland. Many of the assignments I had at OPD have 3 directly involved investigating the North Side Oakland gangs and gang members and their 4 criminal activity. 5 6. I have received the following training as a police officer relating to the 6 investigation and identification of gangs and controlled substances trafficking - ongoing 7 training from my supervisor, Sgt. Bernard Ortiz; 40 hours of investigative training from the 8 OPD Criminal investigation division; California POST1 training block on awareness of 9 black, Hispanic and white gangs from the police academy; 30 hours POST training on 10 interview and interrogation provided by the Walnut Creek Police Department; 12 hours of 11 training on controlled substances and street drugs while at the police academy; 16 hours 12 of training from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department on documenting and tracking 13 gangs and gang members; training on the identification, documentation, and prosecution 14 of gangs and gang members from the Gang Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s 15 Office and from the San Francisco Police Department Gang Task Force; 8 hours of POST 16 certified training from Global Investigative Industries on gang investigations and courtroom 17 testimony; training from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on the development, 18 documentation, and execution of civil gang injunctions. I am a member of the California 19 Gang Investigator’s Association. 20 7. In my work investigating gangs, as explained above, my work involved 21 gathering intelligence on criminal street gangs, including the number and names of gang 22 members, gang trends, the gang’s method of operation, gang terminology, and the gang’s 23 turf, rivalries, alliances, tattoos, graffiti, and clothing. I have had over 250 direct contacts 24 with gang members and their rivals through traffic stops, pedestrian stops, consensual 25 1 California Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training, a state legislatively created agency 26 that sets minimum selection and training standards for California law enforcement officers. - 3 - DECLARATION OF OFC. JOHN CUNNIE ISO RELIEF AGAINST NORTH SIDE OAKLAND STREET GANG 1 encounters, preliminary investigations and follow up investigations involving gang member 2 as victims or suspects, and through parole and probation compliance investigations. I 3 have spoken directly with gang members a majority of the days I have been on duty 4 investigating gang crimes and activities. I have participated in over 50 investigations of 5 crimes involving gang members. 6 8. As an officer who is very familiar with NSO and gang investigations, I have 7 taught other OPD officers assigned to patrol in north Oakland, OPD specialized units, and 8 OPD Criminal Investigations Division commanders and staff on the recognition and 9 activities of the NSO gang. I have also trained officers and specialized units from the 10 Oakland Housing Authority Police and the Berkeley Police Department on awareness and 11 identification of the NSO gang. 12 9. A primary objective of my current assignment as a Problem Solving Officer 13 “PSO” is to investigate the NSO gang’s activities in north Oakland. My PSO team is 14 supervised by Sgt. Bernard Ortiz. My assigned beat is 12X, which is bounded by on the 15 north by 51st Street, on the south by 40th Street, on the east by Broadway, and on the west 16 by Telegraph Avenue. I work closely with other PSO Officers Nadia Clark, Patrick 17 Gerrans, and Jason Trode, whose beats are adjacent to mine. Though each PSO is 18 responsible to focus his or her work on their assigned beat, we PSOs regularly support 19 each other’s investigations in other nearby beats. This is especially true of we officers 20 whose beats, like mine and the officers mentioned above, have the bulk of NSO’s criminal 21 activities. 22 10. I obtain information about the NSO criminal street gang and its activities by 23 conducting custodial and non-custodial interviews with gang members, associates, and 24 affiliates, rival gang members, members of the community, other OPD officers, other law 25 enforcement representatives, and by reviewing crime reports involving gang-related and 26 gang-involved incidents. I also obtain information about the NSO gang and its activities - 4 - DECLARATION OF OFC. JOHN CUNNIE ISO RELIEF AGAINST NORTH SIDE OAKLAND STREET GANG 1 from evidence obtained during search warrant services, probation and parole searches, 2 and searches for gang-related documentation on the internet. 3 11. Additionally, I received the standard block of initial controlled substances 4 training while in the police academy. My training included knowledge of controlled 5 substances that are commonly abused on the streets of Oakland. I learned to recognize 6 the substances, common packaging for transportation, paraphernalia used to ingest 7 controlled substances, and drug symptomology. I have spoken to users and sellers 8 regarding the use and sale of controlled substances. I have made and assisted in dozens 9 of controlled substances related investigations and arrests. My training and experience in 10 controlled substances investigation helped me better understand criminal street gangs and 11 gang members because the illegal sale of controlled substances is a major source of 12 money to most street gangs in Oakland, and is the source of crimes done to maintain the 13 ability to continue drug sales, such as murders, loitering, graffiti, assaults, and robberies 14 12. In addition to the formal instruction I have received, I have also learned 15 about street gangs and gang members from senior OPD and FBI officers over the past 2 16 ½ years in informal settings, such as working in patrol or working in special drug and gang 17 projects. My best source of information about criminal street gangs and gang members, 18 however, comes from my routine contact with them on the job, talking with gang members 19 or community members, and from other PSO’s who are also investigating the NSO gang. 20 B. THE PROPOSED SAFETY ZONE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE 21 13. The proposed Safety Zone is described as follows: Starting at 37th Street 22 and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, then west on 37th Street until Adeline Street; then north 23 on Adeline Street until 53rd Street; then west on 53rd Street until Boyer Street; then north 24 along Boyer Street and along the northerly line as it continues along Vallejo Street until 25 66th Street; then east on 66th Street until Herzog Street; then south on Herzog Street until 26 Alcatraz Street; then east on Alcatraz Street until Market Street; then southeast on Market - 5 - DECLARATION OF OFC. JOHN CUNNIE ISO RELIEF AGAINST NORTH SIDE OAKLAND STREET GANG 1 Street until 61st Street; then east on 61st Street until Dover Street; then north on Dover 2 Street until Fairview Street; then east on Fairview Street and along the easterly line as it 3 continues along 66th Street until Telegraph Avenue; then south on Telegraph Avenue until 4 60th Street; then east on 60th Street until Canning Street; then south on Canning Street 5 until 58th Street; then west on 58th Street until Telegraph Avenue; then south on Telegraph 6 Avenue until 49th Street; then west on 49th Street until Shattuck Avenue; then north on 7 Shattuck Avenue until 52nd Street; then west on 52nd Street until Martin Luther King, Jr. 8 Way; then south on Martin Luther King, Jr.