City Government

Attorneys Burris, Chanin Meet with Community to “Sustain” Police Accountability

Published

11 years ago

July 25, 2014

Two leading local civil rights attorneys, John Burris and Jim Chanin, met this week with community members who belong to an Oakland police accountability coalition that is seeking ways to improve oversight of police and sustain reforms that have been achieved over the last 12 years while the Oakland Police Department has been under federal court supervision.

Burris and Chanin were two of the main lawyers who helped develop the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) with the federal court and the City of Oakland and have been involved in its implementation since the beginning.

The NSA is likely to begin winding down within the next year or so, the attorneys have said.

John Burris

“There needs to be some accountability. Some kind of continued review has to occur,” said Burris, agreeing with community concerns that OPD could backslide once the department is no longer under court supervision.

“The number one issue is the racial profiling issue,” said Chanin. “That’s why we started the NSA to begin with. It was not clear at the beginning that this was the massive kind of systemic failure that it turned out to be – of an amazing and horrible nature,” he said.

“We thought it would never end, but now it’s clear that (the NSA) will end,” Chanin said. In the last few years, there has been significant progress, including a reduction in the number of officer involved shootings, he said.

In the past, he said, officers had resisted turning on lapel video recorders when making arrests, but now do so after they heard directly from commanders that they would face dire consequences if they fail to activate their recorders.

There are now early warning systems for police misconduct in place, said Burris, “But none of it works if you don’t do anything about it. Ultimately, what counts is the integrity of the people at the top,” he said.

Praising Burris and Chanin for making a “heroic” commitment to the people of Oakland, community members talked about their ongoing concerns about police accountability.

Jim Chanin

Attorney Yolanda Huang mentioned the persistent difficulties she faces when representing criminal defendants. “(Written) police reports are inaccurate to the point of wondering if they are falsehoods,” she said, also complaining of photo lineups, “which Oakland police do terribly.”

“We want effective public oversight, that is transparent,” said community activist Paula Hawthorne.

Before federal oversight ends, “There must be some structural change the city must commit to,” said Rashidah Grinage of People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO).

“At some point, the city will petition the judge to vacate this judgment,” Grinage said. At that point, the court needs to say, “The city is not in full compliance until it has made a commitment to assure that the compliance will be sustainable and ongoing,” enacting something like an independent police oversight commission, she said.

Chanin said that he was surprised when he and Burris were originally picked to be involved in the NSA.

“They limited our salary to $5,000 a year for the first five years. I believe they thought we would not actually go through with it,” he said, pointing out that he would receive $5,000 for his fee in January and then work February through December for free.

The Negotiated Settlement Agreement can be traced back to the Allen v. City of Oakland federal civil lawsuit, which began in December 2000 when Chanin, Julie Houk and Burris became involved in what they saw as a pattern of civil rights abuses by members of OPD in what became known as the “Riders” scandal.

Eventually, 119 individual plaintiffs, almost all African American, joined the lawsuit. Their claims involved many constitutional violations, including false arrests, unreasonable seizures, false imprisonments, the planting of evidence, excessive use of force, falsification of police reports, racially biased policing and kidnapping.

Criminal cases were brought by the District Attorney’s Office, but many of these cases were dismissed or overturned.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit settled with the city for $10.5 million. The city also agreed to enact and implement institutional reforms by means of a non-monetary settlement agreement, the NSA, to prevent the recurrence of the civil rights violations that gave rise to this litigation and to bring OPD in line with professional policing practices.

The NSA was the product of more than a year of negotiations between plaintiffs, the city and OPD. The NSA became a federal court order in January 2003.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

5 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

1 week ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.