Profile: Alex Gronke

Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker's last day is supposed to be Saturday. On Wednesday, Tucker is scheduled to deliver a summary of his accomplishments at City Hall. He will no doubt cite the department's shift to an area command deployment structure in November 2007 as a signal achievement of his tenure. He will also tout the change to a 12-hour shift for Oakland cops that same month. What he won't be able to say is that he is leaving Oakland with a lower crime rate than when he started four years ago, or that a year of those innovations made Oakland residents any safer. Violent crime in Oakland was up four percent in 2008 over the previous year. As Tucker's stint ends, Oakland police officers are waiting. They are waiting to see if Tucker really will resign on February 28, or if his squealing that his lost confidence in the City Council when he announced his resignation marked a desire to fight for his job behind the scenes. If he does resign, who will replace him? His assistant chief David Kozicki wants the job. There have also been rumors that Ron Davis, who used to be with OPD and is now the chief of police in East Palo Alto has been spotted in City Hall recently. Oakland police officers are waiting for leadership that will make them proud of being a cop in Okaland again.