Oakland Police Chief James Beere stands at the podium next to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, right, during a press conference in May.
Annie Vainshtein/S.F. Chronicle
A court monitor found that Oakland’s police force has for the first time achieved full compliance with reforms mandated by a federal court after a brutality scandal, according to a report obtained by the Chronicle, a major win for a department that has struggled under supervision for nearly 25 years.
Court monitor Robert Warshaw’s report, which was sent to the city, stopped short of calling for an end to oversight of the beleaguered department. A judge will ultimately decide whether the Oakland Police Department, which has gone through multiple scandals and nearly a dozen police chiefs in over 20 years, can regain independence. A meeting is scheduled with the judge, attorneys and the city on Wednesday.
While the monitor’s report signals a potential breakthrough for the city under Mayor Barbara Lee, the police department has been close to shedding federal oversight for years. A recent court filing indicated that, as of Warshaw’s prior report, the department still had not completed two of several dozen reforms under an agreement it entered in 2003.
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“For the first time in the history of the NSA (negotiated settlement agreement), the Department has achieved compliance with all 51 Tasks,” Warshaw wrote in the report. “We will continue to monitor the Department’s performance, and are hopeful that these findings will remain.”
Lee said in a statement that she’s grateful for the monitor’s findings.
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“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.
The court oversight stems from a class action lawsuit in 2000 that accused four officers, known as the Riders, of violating civil rights by beating residents and planting evidence. In 2003, the court ordered Oakland to enter into federal oversight that requires the department to fulfill tasks designed to improve how the department trains, tracks and disciplines officers.
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In 2022, Judge William H. Orrick ruled that the department could enter a one-year probationary period to end oversight. But that period was extended after former police Chief LeRonne Armstrong was placed on administrative leave and ultimately fired after the release of a report that detailed the department’s mishandling of two officer misconduct cases.
City attorneys and two longtime plaintiff’s attorneys, Jim Chanin and John Burris, filed a joint statement on Wednesday applauding the department’s progress.
“The City of Oakland continues to represent that it is on the cusp of full compliance with the NSA. Plaintiffs’ attorneys agree that the Department is headed in the right direction,” Chanin and Burris wrote.
Chanin and Burris said the department still had not yet reached full compliance with two of the more than 50 tasks: efficiently completing internal investigations and addressing disparities in disciplinary actions taken against officers. Warshaw now says the department has.
Despite the work remaining, Burris and Chanin said they were impressed with Lee’s leadership and the police command staff’s commitment to “aggressively attain compliance.”
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Burris struck a measured tone on Friday after the release of the report.
“The findings are very encouraging, but it ain’t over until it’s over,” he said. “This is the light at the end of the tunnel.”
City and police leaders have at times accused Warshaw of prolonging federal oversight in part because his team is paid for its work. Warshaw and his consulting team previously made about $1 million annually, but his monitoring fees dropped to approximately $400,000 per year as the department approached the end of its federal oversight.