CrimeWatch

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Members of the Bay Area Rapid Transit board held another community meeting in Oakland on Sunday to help ease tensions surrounding the New Year's Day slaying of an unarmed Hayward man by a transit police officer, but few of the 100 or so people who attended seemed appeased by what they heard.

Most of the speakers at the MetroCenter gathering criticized BART for what they described as the agency's slow response to the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III and demanded to know if 27-year-old Officer Johannes Mehserle would be arrested.

Alameda County prosecutors, Oakland police and BART said they still were investigating why Mehserle shot Grant, who had been detained at the Fruitvale BART station following a fight on a train.

"Why hasn't anyone with authority just arrested this guy?" asked Oakland resident Nader Bey, echoing the frustration prevalent at the more than two-hour-long meeting.

Speakers also tied the shooting to the larger issue of race.

"We don't need any more analysis. BART needs to 'fess up about discrimination toward minorities," said Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Keith Muhammad of the Oakland mosque of the Nation of Islam mentioned the suffering of the other men who were handcuffed on the Fruitvale station platform and forced to witness what he called a "horrific murder."

Mehserle resigned from the force before his department's internal affairs division could interview him. BART Police Chief Gary Gee pleaded for patience and said Sunday that he hoped to present the division's findings about the case to the Alameda County district attorney by week's end.
 
Mehserle, who was a BART officer for two years, received all required police training, including on avoiding racial profiling, Gee said.

Last week, demonstrators outraged by the shooting torched cars, smashed store windows and threw bottles at officers in downtown Oakland. This was the transit agency's second public meeting in four days intended to ease tensions.

At one point during the gathering, heated words were exchanged between frustrated Oakland City Council member Delsey Brooks and BART director Carole Ward Allen, who represents the district where Grant was shot.

Brooks said she wanted to know when the board would respond to a list of demands she and other Oakland leaders submitted on Thursday. The list included identifying the other officers who were present during the shooting and asking the state attorney general and U.S. attorney's office to take over the investigation.

"When are you going to take some action, Carole, some real action? It is clear something has to be done..."

Allen, who earlier had said the board was doing its best to satisfy the public's desire for information without compromising the investigation, left the room visibly agitated.

Before the meeting, Allen had said she hoped it would be "another step in the healing process.''

But instead, the board members present at Sunday's meeting, just like on Thursday, listened to fierce testimony from community members, elected officials and church leaders, many of whom accused BART officials of being unforthcoming with the facts of the investigation.
 
Allen eventually returned to Sunday's meeting and said afterward that she and her colleagues also were frustrated with the pace of the investigation.

''I'd like for it to have been done yesterday, but the district attorney is going to take his time,'' Allen said.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said he would decide within two weeks whether to bring criminal charges. On Saturday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said he would dispatch a state prosecutor to monitor Alameda County's investigation and make sure it is completed as soon as possible.

Speaking at a news conference at his Oakland office after meeting with officials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other black leaders, Brown warned that the pace of the judicial system is not always swift and counseled "patience."

Brown said he had already been in close contact with Orloff and added, "I have confidence in him."

Brown also condemned the actions of vandals this past week, calling them "crazy" and "stupid," but he acknowledged that demonstrators had real concerns.

BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger responded to Brown's monitoring announcement Saturday, saying BART officials were pleased by Brown's participation in the investigation.

"We welcome the attorney general's participation," Dugger said. "We are committed to an effective and thorough investigation in full cooperation with the district attorney and the attorney general. We hope the investigation is concluded as quickly and as efficiently as possible and that the district attorney provides the answers that BART and the public are all seeking."

The BART Board of Directors has also scheduled a special meeting for Monday, at 1:30 p.m. at the BART boardroom at 300 Lakeside Drive in Oakland, to discuss creating an oversight committee that would have responsibility for monitoring police-related incidents.

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