Oakland police don't want to be caught unprepared for a violent response to the sentencing for former BART cop Johannes Mehserle so they're starting they're preps months in advance.
The sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5, but on Wednesday, city police got together with representatives from other law enforcement agencies to lay out their plans.
Mehserle was convicted on July 8 of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of Oscar Grant. The case has been controversial since the fatal incident on the Fruitvale station platform on New Year's Eve 2009. Protests disrupted Oakland after the incident, as well as after the conviction.
Taking a look back at the July 8 protests, police surmised that the biggest problem of the night was understaffing in downtown Oakland.
Protesters set fires to trash cans, broke windows of some shops and looted the Foot Locker store. All told, they caused about $800,000 in damage to nearly 40 businesses. Police blamed the bulk of the disruptions on anarchists and troublemakers.
