BATTS WILL STAY AS OAKLAND CHIEF, BUT DOESN’T SOUND VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT
By Greater Long Beach
Anthony Batts, who resigned as chief of the Long Beach Police Department last year to sign a three-year contract as police chief in Oakland—then shocked that city this month by applying for police chief of the San Jose Police Department—learned Thursday that his latest dream-job-come true … well … didn’t. San Jose city manager Debra Figone picked the city’s acting police chief, Chris Moore.
Batts now returns from his interviews in San Jose to the Oakland police department he was prepared to jilt. That’s shaping up as a nightmare, not because of all the apologizing and schmoozing necessary to get back that loving feeling—until two weeks ago, Batts was probably Oakland’s most-popular public official—but because he’s not doing any of it.
Instead, Batts spent Thursday afternoon issuing ultimatums: unless Oakland dramatically changes the conditions in the police department, said Batts, he might not be staying there for long. To emphasize his point, Batts asked an Oakland Tribune reporter to identify him as “Anthony Batts” rather than “chief of police.” We get it.
“This police department is underfunded and is in need of the very basics to get the job done,” Batts told the Tribune. He said he had not spoken up until now because “the decisions were being made by my bosses.”
Batts said the July layoffs of 80 officers were “a horrendous decision,” adding, “The police department cannot be seen as a pariah, with no support, sitting out there by itself.”
The same may go for the police chief.
FOR F
15 Comments
Oakland currently has a different Mayor than the one who hired Batts. The previous Oakland Mayor supported Batt’s ideas on police staffing and funding. The current Oakland Mayor does not see eye-to-eye with Batts and reduced police staffing. This is also how Mayor Foster drove Batts away from Long Beach, by reducing police staffing after originally promising to increase staffing. It will be interesting to see whether Oakland will renew Batt’s contract next year considering how Batts applied to the San Jose job and appears to NOT be committed to Oakland’s community.
Christine Shippey is currently the Assistant City Manager of San Jose. Prior to being pushed out by Long Beach City Manager Pat West when West was appointed took his job, Christine Shippey was Assistant City Manager of Long Beach. In her capacity in Long Beach, Ms. Shippey oversaw the Police Department and was familiar with Batts’ performance. This is notable because Ms. Shippey is the only decision makers on the San Jose City Manager’s staff familiar with Chief Batts’ previous performance in Long Beach. Could that be why Batts was not selected? Or could it be the UNDERWELMING loyalty Batts has demonstrated to the two different cities he has worked for in the past two years?
Hows it feel batts…what goes around comes around…karma baby karma
A quote from Chief Batts Oakland Police Department website at the below link,
“Our goal is to build and maintain long-term relationships with you, the people we serve.”
So how much of what Batts says does anyone actually believe?
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/OPD/index.htm
Oakland’s budget problem isn’t the only reason behind Batt’s plan to jump ship. KALW radio news reported that federal Judge Thelton Henderson is not happy with Batts’ efforts in living up to the consent decree in the Riders case, and may follow through on his threat to put Oakland Police Department in receivership. Such a move would irreparably tarnish Batts’ reputation.
The Riders case involved rogue Oakland cops who allegedly falsified evidence, and the radio station noted that as of last month, Independent Monitor Robert Warshaw, who is reviewing OPD’s compliance in the case, indicated that the department had made unsatisfactory progress under Batts. Moreover, in a written statement last month, Henderson appeared to call out Batts personally for failing to adequately address a police use-of-force allegation that Warshaw uncovered.
Warshaw is scheduled to release his next report on Oakland police soon, and defense attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin, who represented defendants allegedly abused by the Riders, aren’t optimistic that Batts has made sufficient progress in the last few weeks. Henderson apparently isn’t optimistic either.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/would-the-departure-of-anthony-batts-be-that-bad/Content?oid=2394728
Here are five reasons why losing Batts may not be bad for Oakland and other cities considering him as their Chief:
1. HE HASN’T BEEN LOYAL OR TRUTHFUL. After the November election, Batts told Mayor Jean Quan and City Council President Larry Reid that he intended to stay in Oakland. In truth, he had applied for the San Jose job BEFORE the election after barely a year on the job.
2. BATTS HAD UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. Batts has repeatedly said Oakland’s police force should have at least 925 officers. However, Oakland, can’t afford the 700 officers they currently have because the police union steadfastly refuses to pay 9 percent of its pension plan like other city employees do.
3. HE’S NOT A TEAM PLAYER. When the police union refused to contribute to its retirement plan last summer, the city had little choice but to dismiss eighty cops. When then-Mayor Ron Dellums backed the council’s decision, Batts quietly took the police union’s side and undermined his boss’ position. Batts also legitimized the hard-line stance of police union veterans who had no fear of being laid off.
4. HE’S NOT A TEAM PLAYER, PART 2. After the police layoffs, Batts immediately went to the Oakland Tribune and announced the department would no longer respond to some calls for service. It was a bush-league move that made the council and the mayor look bad. Lost in the controversy was the fact that Oakland has had fewer cops in the past then it has now, yet previous police chiefs somehow managed to make sure the department responded to crime.
5. HE IS UNDEPENDABLE. Oakland Mayor Quan had it right when she told the Tribune: “People need to want to be in a job. … I want a chief who will be committed for at least two or three years, so we can make some real systemic changes.”
There’s one group that won’t be shedding any tears if Oakland’s police chief, Anthony Batts, heads elsewhere – the cops themselves.
“Showboat,” “overrated” and “in it just for himself” are among the more common descriptions you hear when you talk with beat cops about Batts.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-23/bay-area/27044822_1_oakland-police-officers-association-cops-anthony-batts
It must be quite a challenge to be the chief executive of a large municipal police department. The chief bears the ultimate responsibility for the departments failures but usually enjoys little of the credit for the departments successes.
The chief has little direct control over his or her portion of the city’s budget, yet is expected to produce positive results with whatever is provided. Results that are dependent upon other conditions and circumstances within the community that are entirely out of his or her control.
Some chiefs of police are fortunate in that they seem to find just the right mix of circumstances that allow them to work well with all of the stakeholders involved (the community, its elected officials, the other department heads, special interest groups, the sworn and civilian employees they are expected to lead, etc) and some are not so fortunate.
I think Chief Batts unfortunately finds himself among the latter in this case. But even so, it is a position he willingly accepted, even if the circumstances are not quite the same as they were when he did so.
According to Greet, “The chief bears the ultimate responsibility for the departments failures but usually enjoys little of the credit for the departments successes.”
Yeah, right. How often do we really hear about a police chief or the department being held accountable for their failures. I can list numerous failures I personally know about that were swept under the rug just like the Zerby case is being swept under the rug.
Meanwhile, I receive a press release almost every day telling me how wonderful the police are doing and how great a job the chief is doing. It’s all about spin and who controls the press. It has little to do with police/Long Beach Council accountablity.
Mr. Ruehle speaks of controlling the press and of media spin and I agree that these can have a considerable impact upon public perception. However perception is not always reality and those who desire to be well-informed can receive credible and reliable information from any number of sources beyond TV sound bytes or carefully composed press releases.
As to whether chiefs of police are held accountable for police department failures, a simple google search of “chief and police and fired” will render hundreds and hundreds of stories from 1980 to present day of (now) former police chiefs throughout the U.S. who would no doubt say that they had been held very *much* accountable for the failures of their former departments.
Batts always blames others for his shortcomings. Didn’t take long for the shine to wear off–it took way too long in LB.
Chris Shippey left the City of San Jose almost 2 years ago. So much for that theory.
Mike, do you have “911″ on your cell phone speed dial? If so, before you think of using it in the future, I think you should google, “rat’s ass chance in hell,” and/or “millennium.”
Chistine Shippey is no longer the assistant City Manager of San Jose. It’s Ed Shikada, another former LB employee. He wasn’t pushed out.
Batts is not a man of his word. He says one thing and does another. I remember he once said in a meeting that he had with all the rank in file,when they were transfering to other agencies. He said the grass is not any greener on the other side. If you leave this organzation you will not be allowed back. He is a two facer.
Harris your so full of it. Your a lier and did anything to make yourself look like a victim, along with your two other clown friends. You are lazy and you thought just becuase you have seniority things should be given to you. You are an embarrassment to the dept. Because you and your clown friends we are now paying the price for your lies.