Oakland Police Department leaves two decades of federal oversight, shifts to sustaining reforms

A federal judge on Tuesday lifted 23 years of federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department, returning full control to the city and ending the longest-running federal oversight case of a police department in U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick said the department had sufficiently complied with 52 court-ordered reform tasks agreed to in 2003, which stemmed from a civil rights lawsuit brought by 119 plaintiffs that alleged brutality by four police officers known as the “Riders,” including beatings, kidnapping and planting evidence. All four were fired and criminally charged. Three were acquitted of most counts and one is a fugitive who fled before the trial. 

The city settled the case for nearly $11 million, and agreed to significant reforms of its Police Department. 

Those reforms required the department to overhaul policies on internal affairs investigations and use of force reporting, strengthen safeguards against repeated misconduct, and improve officer training, among other tasks. A monitor was appointed to oversee the implementation process and provide progress reports.

Federal oversight was initially supposed to last five years, maximum seven but turned into more than two decades, as scandals involving police misconduct continued and the department fell in and out of compliance with key tasks. 

“Now it’s important for the court to get out of the way,” Orrick said.

City officials assured the judge they are committed to ensuring OPD’s continued compliance with the tasks in the Negotiated Settlement Agreement and in making sure those changes stick. They said today’s department does not at all resemble that of two decades ago, noting reforms have been institutionalized and the department is committed to transparency and accountability. 

Orrick made the decision after hearing statements from lawyers representing the plaintiffs and city officials, including Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Police Chief James Beere.

“We live and breathe it,” Beere said, “The NGA is part of the Oakland Police Department’s DNA.”

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, Jim Chanin and John Burris, agreed the department has made real progress over the past few decades, even though there were significant setbacks. Burris likened the experience to the mythological Sisyphus, pushing a rock up a mountain only to have it roll back down. But comparing today’s department to that of 23 years ago, Chanin said, “is like night and day.” The attorneys agreed they were ready for oversight to end.

But they weren’t without concerns.

Falling slightly short

Just weeks before the hearing, court-appointed monitor Robert Warshaw noted in a progress report that during the first quarter of the year, the department had fallen out of compliance with a key reform task: to complete 85% of its most serious police misconduct investigations within 180 days. It fell short, completing 83% of cases.

With the status of federal oversight hanging in the balance, Chanin argued the department should have done everything in its power to maintain compliance. 

“The fact that they did not bodes very poorly for how they will be when there is no federal oversight,” he said.

But city officials argued the difference between 83 and 85% was a matter of two cases. They said the department would not compromise the quality of complex investigations just to make the mandated timeline. 

Orrick said his decision wasn’t about any single task but had to do with his assessment that the Police Department had shown an overarching commitment to constitutional policing. Orrick said he would be issuing a final order in the next few months, dismissing the case.

Now attention turns to what’s next.

Burris and Chanin emphasized the importance of maintaining the implemented changes.

Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Lee said work would continue to ensure they are.

“This is the floor, not the ceiling,” she said. “[We have] a lot of work to do, but this is a major step towards constitutional policing.”

Auditing the progress

A transition plan is in place, including hiring a permanent constitutional policing administrator to review the department’s internal operations and coordinate public safety responses, a position created in 2025. Assistant City Administrator Michelle Phillips has filled the position in the interim.

In a statement to the judge ahead of the hearing, the city’s independent civilian-run Police Commission said it also will be responsible for making sure the department stays on track, pointing to a section of the city charter that hands auditing responsibility of the reform tasks to the Office of the Inspector General, its auditing arm. 

The Coalition for Police Accountability, an activist group that helped write the ballot measure creating the commission in 2016, voiced concerns that the commission doesn’t have the funding to fulfill those duties, arguing the city has “starved it of resources.” Coalition member Millie Cleveland feels this issue wasn’t adequately addressed during the hearing.

The commission has also emphasized the need for sufficient funding and staffing to be able to fulfill oversight tasks. In an interview after the hearing, Inspector General Zurvohn Maloof said he’d need at least $750,000 and five additional staff members, as well as, ideally, a contract with an outside firm to work on audits before more staff are brought on.

Lee said during the hearing that she would make it a priority to push for the resources needed for effective independent civilian oversight. Maloof said they can’t come fast enough.

Burris is relieved federal oversight has been lifted but reiterated that the reforms have to withstand the test of time.

“It’s not today that’s important,” he told the courtroom. “It’s tomorrow.”

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