Federal help possible as Oakland police cope with recent violence, layoffs

Police Chief Anthony Batts said Thursday that he will ask for federal help in reducing violent crime in the city, and a summit scheduled to be held in August will draw those agencies to town to hammer out some details. The two-day summit scheduled for late August will bring "the alphabet soup of federal agencies," including the FBI, DEA, ATF and ICE, U.S. Attorney Joe Russoniello said. Those federal officials will meet first with community leaders to discuss what type of help is most needed, Russoniello said, and on the second day they will meet with local government and police officials to discuss specifics. "This will be modeled on a gang violence summit we did in Salinas last September," Russoniello said. That program resulted in "a singular success." In 2008 and 2009, Salinas saw 53 gang-related murders. The city has had only four so far this year. "When Chief Batts came on, obviously he was aware of what happened in Salinas," Russoniello said. "He instigated the discussion, and this was something that was very welcome."