Oakland Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2003. Yesterday, Judge William Orrick said he is “very optimistic about the future” for Oakland to finally exit the NSA.
1. Kudos to Mayor Lee for putting her stature and credibility on the line to push publicly for ending the decree, which seems to be paying off.
2. The judge's remarks that perhaps for the first time ever Oakland has prioritized constitutional policing are offensive. Of course, there have been very serious constitutional issues going back to "The Riders" days, but a great many people in the OPD and the Oakland government since then have been prioritizing constitutional policing, though the department, being comprised of human beings, is not going to be perfect. It seems to me that the judge is attempting with these remarks to justify his lack of attention to actually managing and resolving this case in a timely manner to the detriment of the people of Oakland and giving himself by negative implication an undeserved pat on the back.
3. Interesting that there is no mention of the Oakland Police Commission, demonstrating yet again how irrelevant and redundant they are.
For clarity, the Police Commission was addressed directly at the January CMC. Judge Orrick stated that responsibility for constitutional policing properly rests with elected and appointed city leadership, including the Police Commission, rather than the federal court, once oversight ends. The Commission Chair spoke to the court about the Commission’s role working with OPD, CPRA, and the OIG, and the Constitutional Policing Administrator, Michelle Phillips, likewise emphasized coordination among OPD, Internal Affairs, CPRA, and the Commission as part of the structure intended to function after court oversight. Mayor Lee also referenced the Police Commission, noting her recent appointments as part of preparing the city to sustain constitutional policing post-NSA.
My Substack recap was intentionally scoped to keep the summary accessible and focused on the parties formally responsible for NSA compliance in the court record, while additional detail was shared with my email list for readers seeking more depth. Feel free to send me a direct message if you’d like to be added.
Thank you for the clarification, Rajni. That is very helpful. I guess it makes sense that submissions to the court would cite the Commission as yet another factor in favor of terminating the decree. That being said, I'll stick by my position that the Oakland Police Commission is redundant and counterproductive in light of all the other means and processes for supervising OPD. Thanks again for your hard work in keeping everyone informed.
Readers should not have to look up bureaucratic/legal jargon such as “constitutional policing.”
Hi Roland - Thank you for the good suggestion, it is appreciated. A footnote has been added with a definition.
1. Kudos to Mayor Lee for putting her stature and credibility on the line to push publicly for ending the decree, which seems to be paying off.
2. The judge's remarks that perhaps for the first time ever Oakland has prioritized constitutional policing are offensive. Of course, there have been very serious constitutional issues going back to "The Riders" days, but a great many people in the OPD and the Oakland government since then have been prioritizing constitutional policing, though the department, being comprised of human beings, is not going to be perfect. It seems to me that the judge is attempting with these remarks to justify his lack of attention to actually managing and resolving this case in a timely manner to the detriment of the people of Oakland and giving himself by negative implication an undeserved pat on the back.
3. Interesting that there is no mention of the Oakland Police Commission, demonstrating yet again how irrelevant and redundant they are.
For clarity, the Police Commission was addressed directly at the January CMC. Judge Orrick stated that responsibility for constitutional policing properly rests with elected and appointed city leadership, including the Police Commission, rather than the federal court, once oversight ends. The Commission Chair spoke to the court about the Commission’s role working with OPD, CPRA, and the OIG, and the Constitutional Policing Administrator, Michelle Phillips, likewise emphasized coordination among OPD, Internal Affairs, CPRA, and the Commission as part of the structure intended to function after court oversight. Mayor Lee also referenced the Police Commission, noting her recent appointments as part of preparing the city to sustain constitutional policing post-NSA.
My Substack recap was intentionally scoped to keep the summary accessible and focused on the parties formally responsible for NSA compliance in the court record, while additional detail was shared with my email list for readers seeking more depth. Feel free to send me a direct message if you’d like to be added.
Thank you for the clarification, Rajni. That is very helpful. I guess it makes sense that submissions to the court would cite the Commission as yet another factor in favor of terminating the decree. That being said, I'll stick by my position that the Oakland Police Commission is redundant and counterproductive in light of all the other means and processes for supervising OPD. Thanks again for your hard work in keeping everyone informed.
Maybe the judge looked at what is happening in our country and decided the bar for "good policing" is lower than he thought...