Public security

What exactly is Urban Shield preparing law enforcement for?

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors put together a task force in January after voting unanimously to continue their support of the training exercise, but as a condition, a panel of community members whose purpose was to address concerns over the event, was comprised.

Urban Shield was launched several years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, which sheriff's officials said showed that law enforcement agencies weren't well prepared for such attacks. A main contributor to the training is Execushield, a private security firm based in San Francisco that was founded, not ironically, on 9/11 2001. Their website displays the slogan, "Peace through security".

“As an activist I’ve been concerned with over policing, police militarization and online surveillance. I had a reputation as someone who had concerns," Rosenberg said in a phone interview this week.

“We’re sort of funneling a large amount of Homeland Security money with taxes on emergency training in the region. Millions of dollars are coming in to support this event. The question is: Are we preparing police for situations they encounter on a daily basis?”