The Oakland Police Department appears closer than ever to shedding federal oversight after 23 years, having finally reached compliance with dozens of court-ordered reforms, according to a report filed by the department’s federal monitor Friday.
Robert Warshaw, the last in a string of monitors overseeing OPD’s long journey to independence, said that the department’s efforts have now resulted in compliance with all 51 reforms, or “tasks,” it was ordered to implement back in 2003.
The monitor was installed that year as part of a court settlement following the so-called “Oakland Riders” scandal, during which police officers routinely falsified police reports, planted evidence, beat suspects and generally abused Oaklanders’ civil rights.
The Negotiated Settlement Agreement requires the department to initiate reforms focused on use of force policies, racial profiling, internal affairs investigations, officer discipline and transparency, among other things.
“For the first time in the history of the NSA, the Department has achieved compliance with all 51 Tasks,” Warshaw wrote in his court filing Friday. “We will continue to monitor the Department’s performance, and are hopeful that these findings will remain.”
Warshaw singled out Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s leadership and OPD’s commitment to addressing the last three items that remained incomplete on the reform list — maintaining a consistent and fair discipline policy for officers, ensuring that internal affairs investigations are completed in a timely manner and are complied with, and improving the protocols for handing citizen complaints about the department and its officers.
Lee issued a statement Friday expressing gratitude for Warshaw’s “guidance” via the report, which will be the subject of a hearing next week in front of U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick.
“We look forward to addressing the Court on May 27 at the Case Management Conference as we continue to build the momentum and forward progress on community trust and constitutional policing,” Lee said.
John Burris, one of the original attorneys who sued OPD over the Riders scandal, also filed a statement with the court expressing optimism about the department’s progress, particularly around its efforts to combat racism within its ranks.
“We look forward to addressing the Court on May 27 at the Case Management Conference as we continue to build the momentum and forward progress on community trust and constitutional policing.”
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee
“It is critical that the Department does not backslide in this area,” Burris wrote. “OPD’s racial bias was the original reason for the NSA, and the department and all other stakeholders must remain vigilant and proactive to ensure that the hard-fought gains that has brought OPD to the brink of NSA compliance are not squandered.”
If, at Wednesday’s hearing, all parties agree that OPD has indeed reached full compliance with the NSA, the judge could grant its independence at the next court date in September.
