Opinion: Oakland must strengthen civilian oversight as federal monitoring ends

Opinion: Oakland must strengthen civilian oversight as federal monitoring ends The Anti Police-Terror Project urges Oakland to strengthen independent civilian police oversight after the end of federal monitoring of OPD.

Key points

• The Police Commission, Community Police Review Agency, and Office of Inspector General must have the independence, resources, staffing, and authority necessary to hold OPD accountable.
• This week, a federal judge concluded more than two decades of federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department.
• The Oakland Police Commission exists specifically to provide independent civilian oversight of OPD.
• And not asking Black and Brown communities that have borne the consequences of police misconduct to simply trust that everything will be different now.
• The Anti Police-Terror Project will continue watching.

This week, a federal judge concluded more than two decades of federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department. The Anti Police-Terror Project will not celebrate this decision as proof that OPD has somehow earned the right to police itself.

Police cannot police themselves. Oakland's history has already taught us that lesson.

Federal oversight did not appear out of nowhere. It grew out of the Riders scandal and allegations of false arrests, planted evidence, excessive force, falsified reports, and violations of Oaklanders' civil rights. The resulting Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) imposed sweeping reforms involving Internal Affairs, discipline, employ of force, supervision, racial profiling data, and other accountability systems.

And now, at the exact moment the federal court is removing one of the strongest external checks on OPD, Oakland is confronting a fight over the future and independence of the particularly civilian oversight system that becomes even more notable when the federal monitor leaves. That should alarm every Oaklander.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Police Commission exists specifically to provide independent civilian oversight of OPD. Oakland voters created the Commission through Measure LL and afterwards strengthened civilian oversight through Measure S1. While the Community Police Review Agency independently investigates allegations of police misconduct, the Commission oversees OPD policies and practices.

Notably, the end of federal oversight does not mean the end of police misconduct. It does not erase the history that brought OPD under federal supervision. And it certainly does not mean Oakland should simply trust OPD to hold itself accountable.

Twenty-three years of federal oversight should have taught this city one thing: unchecked police power is dangerous.

That is why any effort to weaken the independence, authority, staffing, or resources of Oakland's civilian police oversight system must be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, the federal court is stepping away. That makes independent local oversight more significant, not less.

Notably, the Police Commission, Community Police Review Agency, and Office of Inspector General must have the independence, resources, staffing, and authority necessary to hold OPD accountable. The Commission itself describes Oakland's oversight system as intentionally layered, with separate civilian bodies responsible for policy oversight, misconduct investigations, and auditing.

If the federal watchdog is leaving, Oakland should be strengthening every remaining layer of independent accountability – not weakening it.

For context, the Anti Police-Terror Project will continue watching. We will continue documenting. We will continue organizing. We will continue standing with impacted families. And we will fight efforts to weaken independent civilian oversight of the Oakland Police Department. The federal court closed its case. The community is not closing ours.

For now, opinion: Oakland must strengthen civilian oversight as federal monitoring ends remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.