Oaklanders rallied and gathered on Wednesday to voice their concerns over the city’s police pursuit policy, claiming it is currently not working and needs to change. The police commission attempted to clarify any confusion over the policy nearly three weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsm publicly called out the oversight body. “It has to be chasing to get the consequences done,” said Edward Escobar of the Coalition for Community Engagement. “We need to send a message across the Bay Area that you cannot come here to Oakland for crime tourism.” The policy issue has become front and center again because Newsom told the police commission that the policy needs to change or he would remove the additional California Highway Patrol help. “Put us as targets and [blame] us,” said Ricardo Garcia-Acosta, Oakland Police Commissioner Chair. “That has been unfair and misguided.” According to Garcia-Acosta, the body makes recommendations to the chief, who has already signaled a desire to expand the policy’s language. The two main sticking points are that an officer can only chase a person if the person committed a violent, forcible crime or a crime involving a gun. Some in the community expressed they want to expand the language to include activities like sideshows. Secondly, some want to eliminate the requirement that officers get their supervisors’ approval to exceed the 50-mile-per-hour threshold for a chase. “It wasn’t too long ago that we were mourning the death of Black men at the hands of police, so we need to watch the tone of this meeting,” said one man at Wednesday’s meeting.’ Others expressed that “something is wrong here.” “I ask and plead on behalf of all of the businesses that you guys need to come up with something; this is not working,” said another person at the meeting. The current policy was modified after an audit found that pursuits were causing too many crashes and injuries, which some community members still worry about. “I am concerned about innocent victims and police officers themselves being harmed by unwarranted police chases,” said Cathy Leonard of Oakland. The commission is expected to vote on the proposal next week.