Bay Area Planner Accosted by Building Security

An extremely problematic encounter occurred last week when a black planner was accosted by security while taking photos of bike racks on the street outside of a luxury building.

1 minute read

December 18, 2019, 9:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Senior government transit planner and longtime Oakland resident Kenya Wheeler says he ended up in a tense confrontation outside of a new luxury apartment building near Broadway and Webster, seemingly just by walking down the street," reports Adam Brinklow.

"Wheeler contributed to Oakland’s Broadway Valdez district plan, only to now end up accosted in the very same neighborhood," adds Brinklow.

Wheeler, who is black, documented the encounter, which included one of the security guards drawing a gun, on social media. Wheeler was detained until the Oakland Police Department arrived on scene. A manager from the Alexan Webster apartment building at 2330 Webster Street has since apologized for the incident, and the security company responsible for the encounter fired.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019 in Curbed San Francisco

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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