The Oakland Police Department. (File)
OAKLAND — The long, fraught journey taken by the Oakland Police Department to extricate itself from federal oversight may once again be hitting a snag after the latest federal report found additional shortcomings in the department’s ability to police itself.
This time, the core takeaways — a flawed internal affairs probe and a technical hang-up caused by a city police auditor’s resignation — aren’t as severe as those brought to light by a recent misconduct and cover-up scandal that led to the firing in February of the former police chief.
But the report’s findings do make it less likely that Judge William Orrick will lift the department’s court-mandated oversight, which has lasted two decades since the infamous Riders brutality cases, at the next hearing on the issue in September.
“Interim Chief (Darren) Allison has done a commendable job in the daily operations and administration of the Department,” states the report, compiled by federal monitor Robert Warshaw. “The Department, with the support of the City structure, must continue to address and resolve issues that are still of concern.”
OPD is still expected to shore up its internal affairs investigations of complaints lodged against officers by the public, and in one recent case the department fell short, leaving “systemic and other deficiencies that need to be addressed,” the report found.
Investigating officers had looked into — and sustained — an allegation that another officer had been “engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a crime victim,” according to the report.
It’s unclear who this involved, when it took place or precisely what kind of relationship played out between the two parties. Whatever the case, the officer in question was found not to be credible in interview statements to the internal investigator.
Still, the investigator concluded he “would not ever be able to prove” that the officer “was in fact untruthful” — the kind of reasoning used in criminal cases, where wrongdoing needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
These internal investigations, though, are expected to follow a less rigorous standard, one that seeks a “preponderance of evidence” or a 51% barrier that suggests wrongdoing more likely than not took place — “it does not require definitive proof,” the report noted.
Another task that OPD still hasn’t completed is establishing consistent levels of discipline for all officers, and not letting officers evade punishment if they’re well-connected or well-liked within the department.
Past reports had also cited data showing that Black officers “very clearly experience more severe discipline” than white officers when they fail to accept — or refer to internal affairs — a citizen complaint about their conduct.
The report noted that the OPD made no progress in complying with this mandate since the last report was compiled in January because one of its staff members — “a major contributor to data-gathering and analysis” — left the city for another job.
“We look forward to the Department filling this important position,” the report states.
The OPD now has an uphill battle to leave federal oversight in September’s court hearing — which had been seen as a possibility by city officials after Judge Orrick gave encouraging signs in April that the department wasn’t too far from the finish line.
“I was disappointed that they haven’t done better, because I was sort of hoping that we could wind it up in September,” said Jim Chanin, the attorney who first represented victims in the Riders’ brutality cases, in an interview.
“That being said, I will never agree to wind it up because of some emotional desire to end it,” he added. “They should know by now that they can’t wait me out.”
Originally published at Shomik Mukherjee