Calling Oakland’s crime rates “alarming and unacceptable,” Gov. Gavin Newsom sent California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland last year in a “surge operation.” In doing so, the governor threw his weight into a years-long political debate in the city over whether police should chase more suspects — and used the CHP to demonstrate the more aggressive style of policing he’d like to see.

Newsom singled out the Oakland Police Department’s restrictive policy regarding vehicle chases, calling it an “outlier” that needs to be changed. OPD allows pursuits only if the person they’re chasing has committed a violent crime or is believed to have a gun.

“You could be drunk. You could run a red light. You can come close to sideswiping a school bus during the morning hours, right in front of a

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