“I will be talking to the city, and we’ll be dealing with this place.”
That is the grim threat made by Oakland police Officer Hector Chavez in March 2015 as he stood in the open doorway of the Ghost Ship warehouse, talking to a party promoter and looking over the inside of the cluttered firetrap for 20 minutes. Chavez was responding to a call about excessive noise and drugs being sold, and he determined that the “illegal rave” at the unsanctioned artist collective had no permits, according to body cam footage obtained exclusively Wednesday by the Bay Area News Group.
But there is no record of his following through. Spokespersons for the police department and city administration said Wednesday that they could not find a record of Chavez sending a report to City Hall.