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Oakland police 'woefully behind state,' ordered to relinquish some controls

Published on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Last updated on 08:46AM, Wednesday, January 25, 2012
OPD by Demond Henderson, file photo

OPD by Demond Henderson, file photo

Writing that "this Department finds itself woefully behind its peers around the state and nation," U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson gave significant decision-making powers to the independent monitors charged with overseeing the court-ordered reforms at the Oakland Police Department. 

This decision brings Oakland closer to federal takeover.

In his statement, Henderson wrote: " ... the Oakland Police Department is, without a doubt, better off now than when these cases were filed in 2000 and 2001. Also without a doubt, however, much significant work remains if the Department is ever to achieve the promises of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (“NSA”) reached by the parties in 2003. The Court remains in disbelief that Defendants have yet – nine years later – to achieve what they themselves agreed was doable in no more than five years. Moreover, this is not a case where the end goals were originally out of reach or in any way extraordinary."

He also wrote: "The City makes much of its changed leadership – the Mayor, City Administrator,Chief of Police, and City Attorney – and the Court does not doubt the earnestness of the letters submitted by these individuals. However, as the Court has explained time and time again, words and promises are not enough. Indeed, each time a previous new Mayor or City Administrator or Chief of Police has come on board, the Court was reassured that the individual was strongly committed to reforming the Oakland Police Department, and that a change in administration and leadership was all that was necessary to push the City into full compliance."

This decision by Henderson means that interim Police Chief Howard Jordan has to check in with the independent monitor Robert Warshaw regarding any departmental changes that could affect the consent decree.

What can't Jordan do independently? According to the decree, Jordan no has to get approval from the monitor for disciplinary actions, personnel changes; changing policy or the manual of rules; using tactical initiatives that have a direct bearing on the NSA; and procuring equipment used for compliance with the reforms.

Does this mean the independent monitor is going to be involved in any police planning for the planned Jan. 28 Occupy Oakland Move-In Day? One would think so.

See the document below:January 2012 Henderson-Order

About Susan Mernit
Susan Mernit is the co-founder of Oakland Local. She is also a circuit rider for The Community Information Challenge, a program of The John S and James L Knight Foundation, a popular speaker and facilitator, and a consultant to media, non-profit and community organizations. Susan lives in North Oakland with a rescue dog named Cazzie, a little dog named Violet, a fat grey cat named Gracie, a very cool housemate, and a yard in serious need of soil remediation. She is an aspiring gardener, a long-time blogger & entrepreneur, and a recovering journalist who's found home in Oakland.
Len Raphael commented at Wed, 25 Jan at 1:47pm

Judge Thelton summed up the main reason for recalling Mayor Quan:

"words and promises are not enough".  Our Mayor came to her new job with 16 years public office experience and almost a decade as a council member. A year later she still can't manage her own police department.

She's relieved to have an excuse for the assured failure of her vague 100 block program. Now she can blame all future crime increases on the Feds.

Next she'll lead us to the brink of Chapter 9 and blame the Feds again.

After that, she'll be free to do what she does best: go to Washington DC and attend official dinners.

-len raphael, temescal

recallquan.com

Kevin L. Thomason commented at Wed, 25 Jan at 4:08pm

I would be interested to see what OPOA thinks on this.

Our city has demonized the police department, and that is like demonizing anything, it is just not an accurate way of viewing a complex issue.

The OPD oficers that I have talked to simply want to do their jobs, and I look forward to the day when their reputations are not tarnished by by missteps downtown at city hall.

Having a city at war like this (where everyone is split into factions) is part of the VERY REASON we have the violence here.  Chaos at the top, creates chaos everywhere.

The fix is not some pie in the sky happy BS sort of thing, it is real UNITY - and that means that people need to get past the partisan politics, and the greed, and just figure out what is best for Oakland, as a community of people.

This means that people who do not even like each other, need to get real serious about sitting down and hashing out solutions. If we FIX the fueds at city hall, and the fueds on the street, we fix Oakland.

Leslie Lee commented at Wed, 25 Jan at 9:46pm

Hi Len
This has nothing to do with Mayor Jean Quan. This is a legacy of the "Riders" case that happened under Jerry Brown's term in 2003. How come your  "Committee to Recall Mayor Jean Quan" group didn't  try to recall Jerry Brown? I think the "Recall Committee" is judging Mayor Jean Quan on a different  and harsher standard than it judges previous Oakland Mayors.

She is not responsible for everything wrong under the sun.

I think her 100 blocks program will work.  I don't recall Jerry Brown, Dellums or  Harris even having a public safety program.

Len Raphael, you have been advocating Oakland to go into bankruptcy on your public postings. Please don't insinuate that Mayor Jean Quan is responsible for Governor Jerry Brown's policy. ie. cutting of the re-development fund. That would be dishonest.

The Mayor of Oakland is the figurehead of the City of Oakland. That's in the City Charter. She is doing her job when she attend DC official dinners. That's call publicity.  Under her term, Oakland was  5th place in NYTime's  "places to visit" and "2nd as 'can-do' city" in Newsweek. I hope she generates more publicity to bring in businesses for us.