The Oakland Tribune Reports-An unidentified Oakland police officer shot and killed 46 year-old Brownie Polk Saturday Night on 71st and International Blvd. The video surveillance from the liquor store where the incident happened has been taken by OPD. The officer had responded to the store owners, who claimed that Polk was wielding a hatchet and was being a disturbance. The owners of the liquor store now feel like the neighborhood holds them at fault for Polk's death, as they were the ones who flagged down the police in the first place.

In a perfect world, the store owners would have a better rapport with the community and would be able to resolve conflicts without resorting to outside law enforcement agents. And in a perfect world, the now deceased Brownie Polk would feel comfortable with an officer of the law coming to aid in a minor conflict. But Oakland is about as far away as one can get from "the perfect world", at least as far as policing goes. Brownie Polk is the fourth Oakland citizen to die of police-related homicide this year; the fourth person on record.