The Week Online reported two weeks ago that Oakland Police Chief Richard Ward had recommended that four Oakland police officers known as "The Riders" be fired for numerous acts of brutality and official misconduct (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/157.html#oakland).

Since then, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has charged the four with 63 criminal charges, including 49 felonies, stemming from the criminal tactics they used on their late-night patrols in West Oakland. The charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, filing false police reports, and making false arrests.

The Riders face from nine to more than twenty years in prison if convicted of all charges.

The criminal charges are not the only problem facing the four officers and the Oakland criminal justice system. Although they are now on paid administrative leave, the city of Oakland intends to fire them once their appeals are concluded. The FBI has opened an investigation into possible civil rights violations by the four. And a man who says the Riders framed him in a drug bust has filed the first of what could be many civil rights lawsuits naming the four and/or the Oakland Police Department.

Alameda County DA Tom Orloff, meanwhile, told the Los Angeles Times on November 3rd that his office had dismissed 23 cases -- mostly for drug possession -- in which the officers were involved.

The scandal broke after a rookie officer working with the Riders -- Frank Vasquez, 43; Jude Siapno, 32; Clarence Mabanag, 35; and Matthew Horning, 28 -- complained to his superiors in July. Officer Keith Batt, 23, saw Mabanag order another rookie to write a false report saying a suspect had tried to toss away rocks of crack. That, on top of prior similar incidents, convinced Batt to go to department higher-ups.

In the Alameda County criminal case, the DA's office alleges that Mabanag told Batts not be a "snitch" and the Rider's ringleader Frank Vasquez threatened to physically harm Batts if he talked. Batts has since left the force.

In one incident in the criminal case, according to court documents, the Riders falsely arrested a man for discarding drugs and drinking in public, then handcuffed him, drove him to a different part of the city, and beat him severely. Vasquez and Mabanag then attempted to intimidate the man when a supervisor asked him about his injuries.

In another incident, two weeks earlier, Vasquez and Mabanag falsely arrested and assaulted a 16-year-old boy.

Eight victims were involved in the incidents.

One of them, 19-year-old Rodney Mack of Oakland, has now filed the first civil rights lawsuit against the Riders and their immediate supervisor, Sgt. Jerry Hayter.

In the lawsuit filed in US District Court, Mack alleges that the Riders stopped him on July 3rd near 10th and Center Streets in West Oakland, then planted rocks of crack cocaine on him and falsely arrested him for possession with intent to distribute.

Mack was jailed for five weeks. The DA's Office dismissed the charges in September as its investigation of the Riders got underway.

Mack's attorney told the San Francisco Chronicle Mack was framed. "I can categorically say that the drugs were planted on him," said Berkeley attorney Jim Chanin. "There was no cocaine."

The false arrest of Mack resulted in criminal charges after Officer Batt told superiors he saw Mabanag order rookie Rider Hewitt to write a false report stating he had seen Mack throw down 17 rocks of crack.

The charges cover only a three-week period from mid-June to early July, a period which matches the time Batt was assigned to their unit.

Police Chief Richard Word, who has recommended the four be fired, deplored the corrosive effect of the Riders scandal on community relations.

"Reducing crime, fear, and disorder means nothing if by doing so you lose community confidence, trust, and support," Chief Ward told the Times.

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